Warbird Information Exchange

You are very encouraging. However we are a team. I'm just the writer on this forum but without help of my friends I'ld do nothing!

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SALERNO 1943 AIR FINDERS www.1943salerno.it

Our FB group: http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/129119250509719/

Do you have some idea to contact relatives of crew and of these deceased soldiers?

That can come about in time...as we say "Don't jump the gun"....yet...you have only just started to research this event!

The co-pilot Butz, lived and died two miles from where I live and is buried about ten miles away. His family is still in this area as well.

The only veteran of the 904 AIR BASE SEC BN buried in a National Cemetery (and listed by that unit designation) is buried about 15 miles from where I live...but he died in 1969 so probably not from this incident.

I understand that we are beginning of research but we are exicted because in this research (it is our 10th crash site we find) we are lucky to find aircraft number and name of a man on it. In other crash site we are just sure to identified 3 and have great difficulties to identify others.

Do you are able to contact family of Butz to ask they some informations about theri beloved and a photo of he during WWII? I'm planning to write a article about this crash and to do small exibhition in our small museum.

Please note that for today I stop here: Family ask for me. I'm very beaten for all work and long trek of this morning....

Good night and again: THANKS!

_________________
SALERNO 1943 AIR FINDERS www.1943salerno.it

Our FB group: http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/129119250509719/

Do you are able to contact family of Butz to ask they some informations about theri beloved and a photo of he during WWII? I'm planning to write a article about this crash and to do small exibhition in our small museum.

I completely appreciate your enthusiasm, but I would professionally suggest that you wait on contacting the SURVIVORS until you have COMPLETELY studied the casualties and put all of the events in their proper context----particularly any discussion of a "cover up" or any overtones of racism as was suggested.

WAIT until you have a complete background on the incident!

Very cool developing thread!

I am impressed!

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S.

A further check at Jefferson Barracks reveals that while there are THREE numbered graves, there are actually nine soldiers in this group burial:

Dozier, Walker , d. 07/31/1944, US Army, PFC, Plot: 79 0 461-463, bur. 01/17/1950

Fairfield, Morgan Jr, d. 07/31/1944, US Army, PFC, Plot: 79 0 461-463, bur. 01/17/1950

Gaston, James A, d. 07/31/1944, T SGT Plot: 79 0 461-463, bur. 01/17/1950

Harrison, Theodore , d. 07/31/1944, US Army, PFC, Plot: 79 0 461-463, bur. 01/17/1950

Wyatt, James C, d. 07/31/1944, SGT Plot: 79 0 461-463, bur. 01/17/1950

Hill, Earnest , d. 07/31/1944, PFC Plot: 79 0 461-463, bur. 01/17/1950

Hill, William L, d. 07/31/1944, US Army, PFC, Plot: 79 0 461-463, bur. 01/17/1950

Portee, Loney , d. 07/31/1944, US Army, PFC, Plot: 79 0 461-463, bur. 01/17/1950

Wright, James A, d. 07/31/1944, US Army, PFC, Plot: 79 0 461-463, bur. 01/17/1950

This would appear to account for the NINE casualties mentioned.

It would also appear to take the list I presented earlier off the table.

If the civilians account is accurate we still have other deceased to locate.

With these nine confirmed deceased you will have nine IDPFs to acquire. IDPF is the Individual Deceased Personnel File (File 293). If you are lucky there will be a manifest in one of the IDPFs listing all persons on board the plane. Each one should also have a report on the initial interment and disinterment of each of the casualties.

With a crew of four and sixteen to eighteen passengers it is very curious that the crew survived along with seven to nine passengers---and those passengers deceased died in such a way that their remains were "co-mingled" necessitating the group burial.

Here is a photo of the burial stone at Jefferson Barracks:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... i=20444603

It is also important to note the very bottom line on the stone indicating these men were INFANTRY.

The 904th ABS Bn was most assuredly AIR CORPS. So again we have the problem of unit identification to consider.

Just in case any WIXers have access to local newspaper archives in their area, here are the names of the casualties with their State and County of record when they were buried at Jefferson Barracks on Jan 1 1950.

Dozier, Walker Carroll County, GA

Fairfield, Morgan Jr Palm Beach County, FL

Gaston, James A Norfolk County, VA

Harrison, Theodore Sussex County, VA

Wyatt, James C Brunswick County, VA

Hill, Earnest Surrey County, VA

Hill, William L Shelby County, TN

Portee, Loney Washington, DC

Wright, James A Atlantic County, NJ

Dear Pathfinder,
your job is very precious! Do you have suggestion how ask IDPF of every soldier? We hope to find a list of all passengers so we can give a name also to other 2 or 3 soldiers deceased in the next days after crash.
I'm posting photos of some small objects (just a few of a lot) find yesterday.
Again many thanks!

_________________
SALERNO 1943 AIR FINDERS www.1943salerno.it

Our FB group: http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/129119250509719/

Yesterday we returned on crash site to search for some references about names of passengers.

Gigi, Gerardo, Pierpaolo e Mario




Some buttons




Other buttons




Fragments of personal items




STILO EXTRA




Personal item: James A. Wright 32070411 U.S.A.




More photos of other objects find as soon is possible.

_________________
SALERNO 1943 AIR FINDERS www.1943salerno.it

Our FB group: http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/129119250509719/

IDPFs are available from PERSCOM in Alexandria, VA. You have to submit a FOIA request. That's Freedom of Information Act. The request can take the form of a Form Letter. The problem is it takes MONTHS to receive the file. Depending on where you get your information, you can request one, or two, at a time. Best to have you and eight friends submit a request for the nine names individually. It is unlikely that you will receive them all at once.

No two IDPFs are ever the same--even those from the same incident.

You're going to hope to find a Narrative of Events as well as Reports of Burial. At some point an official will have made the determination that the remains were so co-mingled that individual identification was not possible and a recommendation for group burial would be made and approved by higher authority.

They had to have some way of knowing WHO they were designating for group burial--so that suggests that there will be a complete manifest of persons involved and their status.

It is also likely that you will find correspondence between the families and the military regarding the disposition of the remains.

Since they were repatriated to Jefferson Barracks, there will also be paperwork designating the escort detail.

IDPFs are usually free. But shipping overseas may entail a charge. I don't know. Maybe you could get nine volunteers here in the States to make the requests and then scan and email the results to you.

Again--this is going to take MONTHS. There is a way to make the request by email---but BETTER to make the request via regular ground mail.

Salerno--

I have just found an email contact for the nephew of casualty Sgt. James C. Wyatt. My email bounced back, but I am going through another resource.

Will advise.

The item marked STILO EXTRA is the nib of an ink pen.

David Berry contacted me today. My uncle, James C. Wyatt, one of the men on this downed C-47. This has been something our family has sought to learn more about for years. He located me via the following link:http://www.wiz-worx.com/366th/wyatt/.

I will be following this forum with great interest.

Question: Is the Montevertine mentioned here in Toscana? I worked for an Italian winery (Antinori) a few years ago and know of an winery named Montevertine.

Hi Ken--

The village is Montevergine, not Montevertine. It is ESE of Naples.

Put this in a Google map search and it should get you in the neighborhood. The mountain is west of Avellino.

Montevergine, Mercogliano, Italy

Glad you are here.

DB