Funeral service held 79 years later

MIA Veteran receives full Military Honors

“I grew up hearing about my Uncle Moses, but never dreamed in my lifetime that he would be located” said Geneva Janovsky of Branson, niece of Moses Tate, “he has been missing in action for over 79 years!”

On May 4, 2022 Geneva’s sister Peggy Crider called to tell her that she had received information from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency that they were in the process of identifying remains that had been found in the vicinity of Ploiesti, Romania, where her Uncle Moses Tate was last located.  Several relatives stepped up and submitted their DNA to find out if in fact Moses Tate remains had been recovered. That included Thelma L. Prudhomme Sister, Lola M. Tate Sister, Dennis W. Tate Nephew (Paternal), Cynthia A. Murphy Niece (Maternal), and Pamela M. Prudhomme Niece (Maternal).

Staff Sergeant Moses Frank TATE, a 23-year-old U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), served with the 415th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force, during World War II as a tail gunner on a B-24 bomber.  As historic documents confirm, on January 1943, Allied leaders settled on a strategy that called for “progressive destruction and dislocation of the German military, industrial, and economic system.” In effect, this meant the bombing of prioritized industrial targets, including oil refineries. The most important refineries were the facilities that ringed the city of Ploiești, in southeast Romania. When the Operation TIDAL WAVE aircraft arrived over Ploiești, pilots were surprised to find German defenders expecting them. Hovering above the city were large barrage balloons, tethered with metal cables. The Germans had also placed anti-aircraft guns along railroad tracks leading to the refineries, amongst the oil tanks themselves, and in fields outside of town. Finally, the Germans opened smoke pots in the fields and set oil tanks around the refineries aflame, sending up dense clouds of black smoke to blind the bombers.  On August 1, 1943, Staff Sergeant TATE was killed while participating in this code-named Operation TIDAL WAVE, a bombing raid against the oil refineries around Ploiești, Romania.

Operation TIDAL WAVE, while successful in damaging the Ploiești oil refineries, cost the lives of hundreds of USAAF Airmen, many of whom were buried by Romanian citizens into the Bolovan Cemetery in Ploiești. During postwar operations there, the Army Graves Registration Command was the organization that searched for and recovered dozens of remains that could not be identified but were believed to belong to casualties from fallen American personnel after World War II. As the DPAA Europe-Mediterranean Regional Directorate DPAA began exhuming the unknown remains for comparison with the unaccounted-for Airmen lost during Operation TIDAL WAVE it was concluded that the available historical evidence supported an association between unknown remains recovered from Operation TIDAL WAVE.

In 2013, historians and anthropologists at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command initiated a project to disinter the Unknowns recovered from Romania. It was part of an emerging organizational strategy to begin disinterring the remains of large groups of Unknowns for examination and identification.

As a result, in 2016 a historian was assigned to construct a comprehensive proposal to disinter the Unknowns associated with Operation TIDAL WAVE.  In 2017, they obtained approval for a pilot project to exhume 15 Unknowns associated with Romania losses. At that time DNA testing and dental analysis was performed at the Armed Forces DNA Identification in Dover AFB, DE. The DNA obtained from the specimens was compared to all completed family reference samples associated with Operation TIDAL WAVE casualties.  Following exhumation, the remains were transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, in Nebraska.

Many hours, and years passed, and now there is positive DNA proof that the remains of Staff Sergeant Moses Frank Tate have been located. A full documentation of his journey has been provided from the Defense POW/MIA Agency to the Tate family.  In this document is detailed information, family correspondence from when he went missing to current date, DNA proof, Forensic report, and photos.

79 years later, Moses Tate will be moved to Branson, MO where he will have his funeral, with full Military Honors and then escorted by the Patriot Guard to be buried in the MO Veterans Cemetery, in Springfield, MO.

“It will be a blessing to finally put my Uncle Moses to rest” Geneva said, “with the honor he deserves and surrounded by his family.  We give thanks to the U.S. Army Air Force, the Veteran and Military Coalition of the Ozarks, and all involved that make this emotional event take place.”

Moses Tate’s funeral will be held at Faith Lutheran Church, 221 Malone Street in Branson on October 27, 2022, at 10am, and burial immediately following at the MO Veterans Cemetery in Springfield, MO with full military honors.  Arrangements are under the direction of Greenlawn Funeral Home in Branson.

The funeral service will be streamed live on Faith Lutheran Branson Facebook Page.