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Lost WWII Pilot's Long Journey to End April 8
The Pilot ^ | 4-2-2006 | JOHN CHAPPELL

Posted on 04/02/2006 10:25:31 AM PDT by Cagey

A long-lost American pilot will finally be laid to rest Saturday, April 8, in High Falls.

Second Lt. Robert Hoyle Upchurch, flying his P40 -N-20 on his first mission with the famed “Flying Tigers” of the 23rd Fighter Group, 74th Squadron, disappeared into the mists of China on Oct. 6, 1944.

As his cremated remains are interred in the little cemetery outside High Falls United Methodist Church, jets from Pope Air Force Base — now home to the Flying Tigers — will streak overhead in a “missing man” formation to honor one of their own.

Some time later, the haunting drone of one of the last of the World War II P-40 fighters will echo down the banks of Deep River, as Jerry Yeagan pilots his restored aircraft overhead in a final tribute to the lost airman.

For years, the family knew only that Upchurch had been lost, like many, in the midst of furious fighting against Japanese invaders of China over the mountainous terrain on The Burma Front.

Six months after he went missing, his mother had written seeking to find out whatever she could about her son and what hope there might be for his survival. Chaplain Albert Buckley answer-ed, in sad detail.

“I am going to recount the mission of Oct. 6, and thus give you all the information we have,” he wrote. “Your son, with a number of other pilots, took off from their base on a strafing mission to the Hengyang, Lingling area. They completed the mission and landed at Linchow to refuel. They then departed from there to their home base.”

Members of the group had to thread their way through rough country, and the weather closed in.

“En route, they encountered bad weather, and your son was last sighted about 100 miles west of Kanchow, China, climbing through the overcast but dangerously close to the mountains,” Buckley wrote.

The rest of the flight turned back and sought a different route, according to the official search report

“Sometime later we received a report from the Chinese net that a plane crashed and burned at Shangpaow (90 miles west of Kanchow),” Buckley wrote, saying that he could not encourage any reasonable hope that Hoyle Upchurch survived — though nothing was certain.

“No identification of the pilot or plane was possible,” he wrote. “Since there was no means of identification, we cannot be absolutely sure it was Bob and thus his status remains ‘missing in action.’ It is a difficult task for me to write this, because I realize it just about reduces to a minimum any hope you have for your son’s return, but I cannot bear to see you enduring the future months, yes, and even years in constant expectation of some favorable report.”

The chaplain did his best to offer words of comfort to a mother in High Falls.

“Be assured that Bob was ready to meet his Divine Master if Almighty God saw fit to take him from this vale of tears,” he wrote. “If I can be of any further service, please feel free to write to me.”

Some 60 years later, last May, remains of an American pilot were discovered in a Chinese cemetery. The unknown pilot had been buried with full honors beneath a cross whose Chinese characters identified him only as “American pilot.”

Villagers, hearing of the crash, had trekked over mountain paths to bring back the body for a funeral and burial. One 79-year-old man remembered it all, though he had been a boy at the time.

They revered the grave, which was at the foot of a Ming dynasty tower. They tended it and visited it. In May, a team of scientists excavated that grave to take the remains to Hawaii for identification. DNA tests using samples contributed by three Upchurch relatives confirmed Upchurch’s identity.

It brought to a close the long wait — one shared by family who never even met Upchurch.

“As one of the youngest Upchurch nieces and nephews, I never knew Uncle Hoyle but loved him and missed him just the same,” Dale Upchurch said. “I never thought the mystery of his disappearance would ever be solved.”

His own son and son-in-law are in wartime military service.

“My wife, Sue, and I have a son-in-law, Heath, who has been in Baghdad, Afghanistan, and South Korea over the past four years,” he said. “Our Son, Dale Jr., has been stationed on the Kitty Hawk in Japan for two years patrolling countries like China, Korea, and Russia.”

The family legend of the missing pilot intensifies his normal concern as a father.

“When we don’t hear from our kids by e-mail or phone, after a couple of weeks we get antsy and apprehensive,” he said. “As a nephew to this hero and a father to my other hero, I want to help provide a network for all family members to reunite, bond, and honor our parents, family, and Uncle Hoyle.”

On Wednesday, April 5, Upchurch family members will be waiting at the Raleigh Durham International Airport for the return of Hoyle Upchurch. A military officer will deliver his urn to representatives from Powell Funeral Home.

And the following Saturday, his long journey will end.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: North Carolina
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This story was sent to me by a man who served with this Pilot.
1 posted on 04/02/2006 10:25:32 AM PDT by Cagey
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Laraine Beal of Sanford never expected to have a part in the identifi­cation of the remains of her great uncle, Second Lt. Robert Hoyle Upchurch, whose pictures she holds. The young Flying Tiger pilot died in 1944 when his plan crashed in China following a dogfight with a Japanese plane. He was listed as missing in action for 62 years, until the Army found his remains and identified them by matching their DNA with DNA from Beal and her sister, Karan Lake, of Carthage.

2 posted on 04/02/2006 10:26:58 AM PDT by Cagey (You don't pay taxes - they take taxes. ~Chris Rock)
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To: Cagey

Second Lt. Robert Hoyle Upchurch was a member of the Flying Tigers, who helped defend free China against the Japanese during World War II. The young pilot flew a P-40, such as this one. The men shown were other airmen stationed at the Kumming, China, air base with Upchurch. .........Family Photo

3 posted on 04/02/2006 10:28:20 AM PDT by Cagey (You don't pay taxes - they take taxes. ~Chris Rock)
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To: Cagey

Welcome home, 2nd Lt. Upchurch
RIP


4 posted on 04/02/2006 10:30:02 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Have you hugged an illegal alien today?)
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To: Cagey; 91B; HiJinx; Spiff; Da Jerdge; MJY1288; xzins; Calpernia; TEXOKIE; windchime; Grampa Dave; ..

May he rest in peace. Hope Phred Phelps' wackos don't show up to protest.


5 posted on 04/02/2006 10:35:35 AM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: Cagey

THANK YOU for posting this.


6 posted on 04/02/2006 10:39:00 AM PDT by radar101 (The two hallmarks of Liberals: Fantasy and Hypocrisy)
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To: radar101

Here's a tribute to this man.

http://community.webtv.net/China4345/RememberingShared

There are still some in China that haven't forgotten that America helped them during their greatest crisis.


7 posted on 04/02/2006 10:44:44 AM PDT by Cagey (You don't pay taxes - they take taxes. ~Chris Rock)
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To: Cagey

I presume this was the work of some (not the government) who have done everything they can to find missing military from the past. So glad they are out there working for the families. Thank you whoever it was. Families need to know what happened to their loved ones.


8 posted on 04/02/2006 10:50:01 AM PDT by Snoopers-868th
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To: Trout-Mouth
In May 2005 the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command solved the mystery of what happend to Lt.Upchurch. A team from the command dug up his remains and identified him through DNA samples obtained from his family. The remains have been transported back to High Falls,NC a small community near Carthage in Moore County for a formal military burial with a Fly-By performed by the present day members of the 74th Fighter Squadron. Thanks to one Mr.Huang a Chinese that was a young boy at the time of the crash and the rest of the viallagers that took care of the grave site these last sixty odd years Lt. Robert Hoyle Upchuch is ~HOME AT LAST~

So it was the government. I take that statement back. Sorry.

9 posted on 04/02/2006 10:53:11 AM PDT by Snoopers-868th
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To: Trout-Mouth
Actually, it was our government.

From another article:

"Little known to most Americans, the Army operates a search and recovery program for the remains of military members missing in action, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.
"

It was this group who recovered his remains home.

10 posted on 04/02/2006 10:54:25 AM PDT by Cagey (You don't pay taxes - they take taxes. ~Chris Rock)
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To: Cagey

See post #9. I saw my mistake because of the link someone posted. So I have hoof and mouth disease.


11 posted on 04/02/2006 11:02:33 AM PDT by Snoopers-868th
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To: Cagey
Some 60 years later, last May, remains of an American pilot were discovered in a Chinese cemetery. The unknown pilot had been buried with full honors beneath a cross whose Chinese characters identified him only as “American pilot.” Villagers, hearing of the crash, had trekked over mountain paths to bring back the body for a funeral and burial. One 79-year-old man remembered it all, though he had been a boy at the time.

What a heartwarming story. Bless those Chinese villagers, and welcome home, Lt Upchurch.

12 posted on 04/02/2006 11:09:35 AM PDT by American Quilter
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To: Cagey

Free movie: 14th AAF in China (40 min)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1835435072057474675&q=air+force+duration%3Along&pl=true


13 posted on 04/02/2006 11:14:46 AM PDT by wolficatZ (yada yada trolls)
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To: American Quilter

welcome home, job well done


14 posted on 04/02/2006 11:15:12 AM PDT by oldenuff2no
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To: Cagey; robowombat; snippy_about_it; Iris7; alfa6; Professional Engineer; conservatrice; ...

ping


15 posted on 04/02/2006 11:15:16 AM PDT by DJ Taylor (Once again our country is at war, and once again the Democrats have sided with our enemy.)
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To: Cagey

Thanks Again!


16 posted on 04/02/2006 11:45:49 AM PDT by radar101 (The two hallmarks of Liberals: Fantasy and Hypocrisy)
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To: wolficatZ
Thank you very much and I book-marked it and I'll watch it later on.

The fellow who sent me the story has WEB/TV so I'm not sure he can view it. I hope he can.
17 posted on 04/02/2006 11:59:52 AM PDT by Cagey (You don't pay taxes - they take taxes. ~Chris Rock)
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To: Cagey

I think you would need broadband and macromedia flash installed to watch it.

I got to check it out last night, had never seen this film before, was well done. I would like to get a higher quality version for my documentary collection.


18 posted on 04/02/2006 5:21:57 PM PDT by wolficatZ (yada yada yada trolls)
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To: Trout-Mouth
I ran across this idea on a blog today.

The United States Government is divided into two branches (not three). One branch is the State Department ("American" Leftist Liberals) and the other is the Defense Department (all those of us who are not Leftist Liberals).

Boy, those people must just HATE Secretary Rice!

There are exceptions, Ambassador Joshua Bolten comes to mind, and the infamous John Walker.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/spies/walker/1.html
19 posted on 04/02/2006 7:15:24 PM PDT by Iris7 (Dare to be pigheaded! Stubborn! "Tolerance" is not a virtue!)
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To: SandRat

We got many Freepers that live near this Phelps guy?


20 posted on 04/02/2006 11:28:36 PM PDT by U S Army EOD (LINCOLN COUNTY RED DEVILS STATE CHAMPIONS)
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