Warbird Information Exchange

Just got this e-mail yesterday and thought y'all might like to read it.......

Dear CAF,

I thought you all would want to see this news release today from the
Department of Defense. The DoD POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today
that a B-24 Liberator's crew has finally returned home after departing on a
mission 16 April 1944.

They are not forgotten.

Very sincerely,
Larry Atha

-----Original Message-----
From: DoD News [mailto:dlnews_sender@DTIC.MIL]
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 2:24 PM
To: DODNEWS-L@DTIC.MIL
Subject: Ten Missing WWII Airmen are Identified

NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense

No. 399-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 09, 2007
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public/Industry(703) 428-0711

Ten Missing WWII Airmen are Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that
the remains of ten U.S. servicemen, missing in action from World War II,
have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with
full military honors.

They are 2nd Lt. Raymond A. Cooley, of Leary, Texas; 2nd Lt. Dudley R. Ives,
of Ingleside, Texas; 2nd Lt. George E. Archer, of Cushing, Okla.; 2nd Lt.
Donald F. Grady, of Harrisburg, Pa.; Tech. Sgt. Richard R. Sargent, of North
Girard, Pa.; Tech. Sgt. Steve Zayac, of Cleveland, Ohio; Staff Sgt. Joseph
M. King, of Detroit, Mich.; Staff Sgt. Thomas G. Knight, of Brookfield,
Ill.; Staff Sgt. Norman L. Nell, of Tarkio, Mo.;and Staff Sgt. Blair W.
Smith, of Nu Mine, Pa.; all U.S. Army Air Forces.The dates and locations of
the funerals are being set by their families.

Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men in their
hometowns to explain the recovery and identification process and to
coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the secretary of the
Army.

On April 16, 1944, a B-24 Liberator crewed by these airmen was returning to
the aerodrome at Nadzab, New Guinea, after bombing enemy targets near
Hollandia.The aircraft was altering course due to bad weather and was
proceeding to the aerodrome at Saidor, but it never returned to friendly
lines.

In late 2001, the U.S. Embassy in Papua New Guinea notified the Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command that wreckage of a World War II bomber had been
found in Morobe Province.Early the next year, a JPAC team surveyed the site
and found aircraft wreckage and remains.They also collected more remains and
Grady's identification tag from local villagers who had found the items at
the crash site.

Later in 2002, a JPAC team began excavating the crash site and recovered
remains and crew-related items, including identification tags for Knight and
Smith.The team was unable to complete the recovery, and another JPAC team
re-visited the site two weeks later to complete the excavation.The team
found additional remains and identification tags for Sargent and King.

Among dental records, other forensic identification tools and circumstantial
evidence, scientists from the JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification
Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account
for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo
or call (703) 699-1169.

Saw this story on the newswires last night..it's good to hear these men haven't been forgotten.

It amazes me the way they're able to identify crew members from a few bone fragments over 60 years later. I read a book a few years ago called something like "One Of Our Aircraft is Missing," about a similar recovery of remains from a B-24 crash site in New Guinea, and the identification efforts by the military lab in Hawaii..a fascinating read.


SN

Glad to hear these airmen are finally coming home after 60+ years. Thanks for sharing the story Gary!

John

Thank you for sharing such an incredible story with us. That's really quite amazing. It certainly reaffirms the "Gone but not forgotten" idea.

_________________
"It is the greatest shot of adrenaline to be doing what you have wanted to do so badly. You almost feel like you could fly without the plane." Charles Lindbergh