Litz, Andrew J.
Army 2nd lieutenant

Andrew J. Litz, age 21, from Rock County Nebraska.

Parents: Ora Litz

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, April 24, 1945
Death details: On Dec. 23, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains of U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Andrew J. Litz, missing from World War II. Litz entered the service from Nebraska and served with the 458th Bombardment Squadron, 330th Bombardment Group. On April 14, 1945, he was the navigator on a B-29 Superfortress aircraft that took off on a combat mission against targets in Tokyo, Japan. During the mission, the aircraft was shot down. Litz survived the crash but was captured and later imprisoned at the Tokyo Military Prison. He died on the night of May 25–26, 1945, when an air raid ignited a fire that burned much of Tokyo, including the Military Prison. Following the war, the American Graves Registration Service recovered 65 sets of remains from the prison but was unable to identify any as Litz. Thirty-nine Unknowns associated with the Tokyo Military Prison were interred at Fort McKinley Cemetery, now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, in Manila, the Philippines. In 2022, DPAA exhumed those 39 Unknowns for laboratory analysis. There, scientists used modern forensic techniques to identify Litz.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Rock County Leader