Joel Junior Burklund was born on July 19, 1921, in Belding, Ionia County, Michigan. He was the son of Joel Frederick Burklund and Mabel Naomi Moore Burklund Bennett. He served in the 339th Bomber Squadron, 96th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Sergeant and Tail Gunner of B-17G #42-3322 nicknamed "Full House" during World War II.

On April 11, 1944, the B-17 Flying Fortress Full House departed RAF Snetterton Heath in Norfolk, England, as part of the 96th Bomb Group, 339th Bomb Squadron, operating under the Eighth Air Force. The mission was originally directed against the Focke-Wulf aircraft factories at Poznań and Krzesiny in occupied Poland, key industrial targets responsible for producing a substantial portion of Germany's Fw 190 fighter aircraft. As the bomber force advanced toward Poland, worsening weather conditions and heavy cloud cover prevented attacks on both the primary and alternate objectives. Consequently, mission commanders redirected the formation to a secondary target at Rostock, Germany. Although initially protected by American fighter escorts, the bombers lost much of their fighter cover over the Baltic region and soon came under attack from German interceptors, primarily Focke-Wulf Fw 190s and Messerschmitt Bf 109s. During the ensuing aerial battle, Full House sustained severe damage. Realizing that the aircraft could no longer remain airborne, pilot 2nd Lt. Ralph N. Winslow ordered a ditching in the Baltic Sea off the coast near Dankerdorf (present-day Dąbki) and southwest of Rügenwalde (present-day Darłowo). Upon impact with the water, the bomber broke apart and began sinking almost immediately. Four crewmen were trapped inside the aircraft and lost their lives; their remains were never recovered. The remaining six crew members escaped into two inflatable life rafts and drifted for several hours before currents carried them ashore near Dąbki, then known as Neuwasser. After reaching land and attempting to seek assistance, the airmen were captured by German authorities, interrogated, and subsequently transferred to prisoner-of-war camps in Germany.

Sgt Burklund was Killed in Action and his name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England. He also has a cenotaph in the Rosedale Memorial Park, Tallmadge Township, Ottawa County, Michigan, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.b17flyingfortress.de, americanarchive.iwm.org.uk