A static map depicting the WW2 combat flights of Captain Francis J. Kranz, USAAF. Imagery and cartographic effects courtesy of Earthstar Geographics and Esri.
According to an enlistment record on the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA-AAD) site, Francis J. Kranz enlisted in the Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet on February 21, 1942. He was born in Michigan in 1919 and had completed four years of high school. He was single, without dependents, and listed machinist as his occupation.
As one of the original cadre of the 501st Bomb Squadron, 345th Bomb Group, he flew at least 41 missions from June 1943 til March 1944 and returned to the United States in April of 1944.
Flight data for Captain Kranz was extracted from archival mission reports and load lists from the 345th Bomb Group Association. His return to the US date was found in the May 1944 Unit History for the 501st Bomb Squadron, on digitized microfilm documents provided by the Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.