Utahn WWII pilot laid to rest on 81st anniversary of his death

BOUNTIFUL, Utah (ABC4) — A Bountiful man, 1^st Lt. George Frank Wilson, was killed during an aviation mission over France in 1944. His body was missing for 80 years but remains found on a French farm were positively identified as his at the end of last year. Today, he was laid to rest next to his mother and sister on the 81^st anniversary of his death.  

At Bountiful City Cemetery, a military flyover welcomed Lt. George Wilson Tuesday around noon. Dozens of people gathered to pay their respects and say goodbye, including Vernon Atkinson. 

“I think about Wilson and the sacrifice his family made for all those men who survived,” he said. Atkinson grew up hearing about the heroic actions of Lt. Wilson from his grandfather, Vernon Atkinson, who was Wilson’s copilot during WWII. He made the trip to Utah from Georgia to pay his respects.  

“I don’t think they realized what he did, and it wasn’t just those dying men,” stated Atkinson. “It was hundreds. Hundreds of family members that those men had were given a chance because of Wilson’s sacrifice.”  

Just hours before people gathered at the cemetery, civilians and military personnel alike gathered at Hill Aerospace Museum.  

“Though his earthly journey ended far from home, Lt. Wilson’s story never faded,” Utah National Guard Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Daniel Boyack said during the invocation. “And now, oh Lord, by a grace we do not fully comprehend, he has returned home.”  

On July 8, 1944, Lt. Wilson was just 22 years old. On this day, he took off for his third mission as pilot of a B-17 bomber.  “And just two minutes away from the ‘bombs away’ call Lt. Wilson’s aircraft was struck by flack between the number one and number two engines,” Utah National Guard Commander Maj. Gen. Gene Buckner. 

Lt. Wilson was hit by glass but managed to keep the plane stable enough for the other eight men to escape before crashing on a French farm.   

“Stories like Lt. Wilson’s played out thousands of times leaving forever their mark on history, the world, and the hearts of the families left behind,” Maj. Gen. Gene Buckner added.  

The hearts of Lt. Wilson’s grandchildren are a little fuller today. “We fulfilled her promise to bring him home today,” Brian Frank Wilson told ABC4.  

Lt. Wilson is home today, thanks in part to Utah Air National Guard Master Sgt. Erik Bornemeier. “I always feel like I was in the right place at the right time and guided, directed and it’s just been an amazing experience,” he said. “It’s been an honor.”  

Bornemeier is married to Lt. Wilson’s great niece. In 2018, he started the process to find Wilson. Over the last few years, he took three trips to France where he interviewed witnesses of the plane crash. On one trip they found reminants of plane wreckage and human remains. In November 2024, DNA confirmed that they belonged to the Utah native.  

“His mom never stopped writing the government,” Bornemeier stated. “His sister, every time she looked into a crowd and saw someone who looked like Frankie, she’d run up to him and this gives closure to the family because now they know more than ever about his sacrifice and that he wasn’t just a B-17 pilot. He was a hero. He was the defender of freedom.”  

For his decedents, the anniversary of his death now brings closure. “The more I learn about him the more I just love him, and I love our family,” his granddaughter Nancy Maksym said after the service. “This just brings us together. It’s amazing.”  

For those who credit their existence to him, it is a special day.  “It was very emotional,” said Atkinson. “I was thinking today that my grandad was the last guy to sit by him while he was alive.”  

“I’ll never forget this day,” said Brian Wilson. “It’s probably one of the most important days of our lives.”