Donald L. Beals

World War II
Service #O-706338
Unit494th Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Group
RankFirst Lieutenant U.S. Army Air Forces
Entered Service From South Dakota
Date of DeathApril 17 1945
StatusRecovered
Memorialized
Tablets of the Missing
Air Medal
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 7 Oak Leaf Clusters
Notes

The remains of 1LT Beals' have been recovered and identified. 1LT Beals was piloting a P-47D-26 aircraft during an armed reconnaissance mission over the Dresden area in Germany when he sighted some aircraft on the ground and attacked. His aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft ground fire. The aircraft crashed and exploded. 1LT Beals' name is permanently inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial at Henri-Chapelle, Belgium.

rosetta medal
When an individual’s remains have been accounted for by the U.S. Department of Defense, a rosette is placed next to the name on the Wall/Tablet/Court of the Missing to mark that the person now rests in a known gravesite.