Tech Sgt. Elton L. Gomillion
U.S. Army Air Forces Tech Sgt. Elton L. Gomillion, 31, of Iola, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for March 30, 2023. He died on August 1, 1943 while serving on a mission for the Army Air Corp near Ploiesti, Romania.
Elton was born on October 22, 1911. He was the son of the late Joseph “Joe” John Gomillion and Tennie “Fannie” Davis Gomillion. He attended schools in Grimes County.
In the summer of 1943, Elton was assigned to the 409th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator bomber on which Gomillion was the engineer was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Elton enlisted in the Army Air Corp on February 1942 at Fort Sam Houston, TX. He trained in Louisiana, California and Nevada before going overseas to Benghazi, Libya. He was a Flight Engineer on a B-24 Liberator on assignment with the 409th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force when shot down in Romania. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency gained ID through DNA tracing on March 30, 2023.
The funeral procession will depart from Nobles Funeral Home, Navasota on Thursday, September 14 at 9:30 a.m. The interment, with full military honors, will be held at Lake Grove Cemetery, Iola at 10:30 a.m.