Three more ID’ed
Three more airmen from WWII have been identified, after they were lost on a low-level bombing raid over Burma. (Myanmar for you kids.)
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Charles W. McCook, 23, U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Henry J. Carlin, 27, and U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Sidney Burke, 22, were carrying out a low-altitude bombing raid in Meiktila, Burma, on Aug. 3, 1943, the DPAA said.
The mission was carried out with a B-25C “Mitchell” bomber. McCook was the plane’s pilot. Carlin was its navigator, and Burke was the armor-gunner. There were three other men also aboard the plane. B-25 bombers were among the most famous American planes used in World War II, according to the National Museum of the United States Air Force, and were used in every combat area and extensively in the Pacific Theater.
Four of the crew were killed when the plane crashed during the raid. Two other crew were captured by the Japanese. Neither the two POWs nor the fourth crew member were named or accounted for (not surprising, Japanese POWs were treated very poorly and about 60% of our boys captured never made it home. For contrast, about 3% of POWs taken by the Germans died in captivity.)
McCook, Carlin and Burke’s remains were not recovered after World War II ended. All three were declared missing in action. More details about how the three mens’ (sic)remains were found and identified will be released once their families receive a full briefing, the DPAA said.
Perhaps some of the more astute readers can enlighten me – is there any other country maintaining an ongoing search for missing war dead as we do? As a reminder – if anyone in your family is MIA in any recent war, you should contact DPAA to give them a DNA sample. You could help ID our fallen.
Category: Army, We Remember, WWII
I have watched a couple you tube history based channels. One covers digging up battle fields in west Russia and in Eastern Germany looking for relics like soldier’s gear, weapons, or other equipment. They have often found bodies of both German and Russian soldiers. The authorities are called when they do find a body. The Germans are more often the ones who respond while the searchers are still there. Same for German EOD when they find explosive materials like grenades or arty shells.
Welcome Home, Gentlemen. Our apologies that it took so long. The identification and return of our missing is one government program I have no problem with the money being spent. Every Fallen Service Member deserves, at the very least, A Marked Resting Place. I doubt very seriously that any country spends the time and resources that we do.
“…POWs were treated very poorly and about 60% of our boys captured never made it home.” Anyone who questions the need for dropping Fat Boy and Little Man on Japan needs to study the history of what the Japanese did. I do believe that the Japanese learned their lesson.
Thanks, David.
Over on Instagram there are pages dedicated to announcing these recoveries and identifications — I’m shocked at the number of “proud” American youth leaving comments on the articles declaring that the pilots and their crews are/were “war criminals” and deserved to die for fighting for America.
This country is in sad, sad shape. Sometimes I doubt it will turn itself around. The media and academia are to blame.
Too bad we can’t identify those yutes and give them some history education.
Five minutes. In a closed room.
So… young people who most likely claim to be against fascism hold the opinion that those who fought against actual fascists are war criminals.
You’d be surprised how many of them claim Germany wanted peace before Dresden was set ablaze and that we only dropped two heavy boys on Japan to test it on minorities. It’s like they never heard of Trinity…
Of course, this is the same group of idiots who now say outer space isn’t real. What a time to be alive…
Welcome home, men.
Rest well.
As to your last sentence, Germany is so embarrassed by their WWII war dead that all of their military cemeteries (and they have a lot) are maintained solely through private funds, as I understand it. Stationed in Germany three times, I saw many of them and always made a point of putting a couple euro in the inevitable cash box. Some of them were incredible to look at—probably exactly because of the lack of government involvement.
Thank you, welcome home.
We have one this weekend in middle Georgia
https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/georgia-korean-war-hero-returns-home/93-877d7a4f-a4c3-4070-bca6-eb4dabe4d903
TELFAIR COUNTY, Ga. — After nearly three-quarters of a century, the family of Master Sgt. Luther Grace will finally welcome him home.
The Georgia native, who disappeared during the Korean War in 1950, has been officially identified, bringing long-awaited closure to his loved ones and his hometown.
Grace, who was born in Lumber City, was just 34 when he went missing during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. The brutal winter fighting claimed the lives of thousands of American soldiers, and for decades, Grace’s fate remained a mystery.
Grace was assigned to the Heavy Mortar Company of the 31st Infantry Regiment, part of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division. Although the military conducted extensive searches, no proof ever surfaced that he had been captured, leading the Army to officially declare him deceased in December 1953.