World War II MIA's need your help to come home...

[thedrifter]

World War II MIA's need your help to come home...
Subj: World War II MIA's need your help to come home...
Date: 2/19/2003 9:42:18 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: USMC-Vietnam-Grunt@att.net

Sent from the Internet



From: Jen Bauer
Organization:
POW/MIA Freedom Fighters - http://www.powmiaff.org
Dear Friends,

Being the great niece of a World War II MIA, I know the frustration of
trying to find answers to so many nagging questions from a war so very
long ago. World War II POW/MIA families don't have access to databases,
and so many of the military records were destroyed in the St Louis fire
in 1972. What we do hope for is that we can call upon the POW/MIA
activist community to help and get involved to bring even these long ago
heros home.

I don't know where my uncle's physical body is buried, but I do know
what happened, thanks to the help of so many wonderful POW/MIA
activists. I hope I can count on you to help someone else that is
trying to bring home some of our men for a proper burial. In this
letter, contains the facts of the case. Please contact your government
officials to investigate and bring these men home.

I was contacted by Sparky Corradina, the Historian of the 40th Bomb
Group which was attached to the 58th Bomb Wing in 1944 India and China.
He told me about some of our missing men from World War II, that have
yet to come home for a proper burial.

On 7 December 1944, a B-29, serial number 42-6359, named "Missouri
Queen" aka "Vixen", from the 58th Bomb Wing, 462nd Bomb Group, 770th
Bomb Squadron went on Mission 19 to Mukden, Manchuria. The "Vixen" was
low on fuel and was going to try and land at a friendly airfield to
refuel. She was MIA on the return trip from Mukden on 12/7/44 and never
heard from again.

A statement from Capt. Harold R. Ebbeler, Army Air Corps says:

"Captain Johnson and crew in ship # 359 and designated as H-3 was flying
in the same formation and same element as I was on 7 December 1944. For
a while he was flying as lead ship of "C" element with my ship on his
left wing and # 362 on his right wing. Shortly thereafter he took the
right wing position and # 362 took lead at # 362 ship commander's
request. I heard Captain Johnson call the lead ship and tell him that he
was going to have to land at one of the fields on the route and refuel,
as he was getting low on gasoline. He stayed with the formation,
however, and when the formation started to penetrate the overcast, ship
# 359 was still flying # 2 position of "C" element.

"As we proceeded into the overcast he was still in position and when our
plane became lost from the formation at 0432
the ship # 359 was still with us flying in the same element. We
proceeded on individual navigation from this time on and
had no further contact with Captain Johnson."

>From GHQ/SCAP Records sent by Toru Fukubayashi, B-29 Historian, Japan:

"42-6359 was believed to have crashed into a mountain at 36.07' North
and 112.39' East on 7 December 1944. The above mentioned is identified
as the mountain near Chinyuan Prefecture, southern Shansi Province,
which had been occupied
by the Japanese 114 Division, which was headed by Lt. Gen. Saburo Miura.


"B-29 # 359 was not heard from after being seen at 37 degrees 29' N, 116
degrees 20' E at 0338Z.

"This aircraft is known to have passed Tehsien, above coordinates, with
formation and is possible that it continued into friendly territory. As
the formation approached the battle line, this plane radioed its
formation leader that it was low on gasoline and might have to make a
landing at an emergency field. The aircraft was not actually observed at
the time the message was sent, but it is believed to have been in the
formation. This may have been the B-29 that was reported to have crashed
into a mountain at 36 degrees 07' N - 112 degrees 39' E."

At the end of a 1947 document, Investigation Division #1785, from Graves
Registration still says "PENDING."

In 1947, Headquarters American Graves Registration Service China Zone
was sending a team to this site to retrieve the remains according to one
government document, but because of the political unrest in Northern
China at the time, couldn't. Nobody has ever followed through. These
men paid with their life's and deserve to have a proper burial in the
country that they died for and loved.

The entire crew are still listed as MIA, but were declared dead by USAAF
in 1946.

Crew

Capt. Gilbert E. Johnson - MIA
2nd Lt. Eldon Campbell - MIA
2nd Lt. Alton Lauman - MIA
2nd Lt. Frank Sherman - MIA
2nd Lt. Smith L. Williams - MIA
Cpl. John F. Jones - MIA
2nd Lt. Leon Lichard - MIA
Cpl. George F. Corton - MIA
Sgt. George M. Peacock - MIA
Sgt. Roland Diorio - MIA
Cpl. Robert L. Ziegler - MIA

Please forward this e-mail out to your lists if you have them.

All we are asking the POW/MIA activist community is that you contact
your government officials and ask them to investigate why these men were
left behind, and to bring them home for a proper burial.

Thank you all for your time.

Sincerely,

Jen Bauer
Great Niece of Lt. Benjamin Franklin Edwards, World War II MIA
http://www.20thAAF.com/500thBG/881s...et/edwards.html


--
Tony C.

Once a Marine.......... ...Always a Marine

OOORAHHH !!!!!

http://www.Vvof.org/
Vietnam Veterans of Florida Inc., State Coalition


Sempers,

Roger

United We Stand
God Bless America

Remember our POW/MIA's
I'll never forget!