Posted on 12/01/2014 4:13:45 PM PST by artichokegrower
The remains of a World War II airman from San Francisco, who was missing for seven decades after his plane was shot down over New Guinea, will be returned to the United States and buried with full honors, the Department of Defense said Monday.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
And the remains of a fellow from Athens Ga. Welcome home indeed.
Welcome home is right, my late Father was in New Guinea at that time also aboard a B-24.
Charles A. Gardner was identified using circumstantial evidence
recovered from the crash scene as well as DNA,
which matched that of a maternal niece and nephew.
The other recovered airmen were:
Lt. William D. Bernier of Augusta, Mont.,
Lt. Bryant E. Poulsen of Salt Lake City, Utah,
Lt. Herbert V. Young Jr. of Clarkdale, Ariz.,
Tech Sgt. Charles L. Johnston of Pittsburgh, Pa.,
Tech Sgt. Hugh F. Moore of Elkton, Md.,
Staff Sgt. John E. Copeland of Dearing, Kan.,
Staff Sgt. Charles J. Jones of Athens, Ga.
Gardner, along with the other recovered airmen,
will be buried Thursday with full military honors
in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.
Thanks for posting that. You beat me to it.
My uncle was in graves registration in New Guinea. He told stories of fighting in the mountains trying to get to these crashes.
His unit was made up of soldiers not “fit” for other duty—for example, he was blind in one eye. They fought more and saw more crap that some of his brothers in Europe.
The stories of getting the bodies back would make a great movie. Talk about a living hell.
These men died to make our county great and free.
What would they think of what Obama and the Democrats have done to it?
I wonder if you could add a bracket to the end of the headline, in recognition of the other seven brave American servicemen whose bodies were also recovered.
Something like:
[Along with seven other Americans]
Thanks.
/johnny
“...My uncle was blind in one eye...”
-
My daddy failed the eyesight test when he tried to enlist in the navy
and he served in the Merchant Marines from May 1942-July 1945.
My late father was a combat engineer in New Guinea. He used to tell me that the rats were as big as dogs.
They were from my father’s squadron, “Bombs Away” 321st, of the “Jolly Rogers” 90th bombardment group, heavy, Fifth Air Force.
The Jolly Rogers kicked jap ass.
Here is a web page with details about this plane and crew:
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-24/42-41188.html
A salute. My Father was in that group too!
Kinda disturbing to read that four the the crew members were executed by the Japanese 1 to two weeks after the plane was shot down.
Thanks for the post, they aren’t forgotten. Japanese routinely beheaded pilots upon capture. Actually, if there were several, like after a big raid, they’d wait a day or so and do it with ceremony, as on the pier on Tol island,Truk Lagoon after the big raid. Five pilots died that day. Navigators, gunners, bombadiers not as prized, but New Guinea natives were on the Japanese payroll (ears count). SW Pacific fliers almost went on strike it was so crazy dangerous. A compromise was they received combat pay all their missions, not just the combat part like in Europe. What was it $35/month? My dad was at Nadzab too, B-25’s.
RIP.
My dad was w/ 511PIR/11th Airborne and they were held in reserve on New Guinea. They fought across width of Leyte but did not parachute until it came to Luzon. After reaching Ormoc on west side of Leyte my dad volunteered for grave registration detail. Back up to mountain jungles to haul
bodies of buddies. He wrote an article about the mission
and titled it The Strangest Detail. Two guys from a different
regiment got killed on the mission.
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