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War is about orphans and widows. Doesn't matter what kind of war it is, a war of terrorism or combat between nations... The war never ends for those who lose loved ones. That may be even truer when the dead and missing are never found and questions never answered. When I say "M.I.A.", you probably think of those missing in Vietnam. But tens of thousands of American families relate that term to World War II. If that seems a lifetime ago now, it was. | ||
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THEY WERE TOGETHER FOR 57 YEARS, BUT NOT A SOUL KNEW WHERE. THEIR WIVES REMARRIED AND GREW OLD. THEIR CHILDREN NOW HAVE CHILDREN OF THEIR OWN. AND THEN, MYSTERY RELEASED ITS GRIP.
“Do you have any memory of your father?"
Nancy Lewis, Daughter: "Absolutely none. Absolutely none."
Jerry Ahr, Son: "That’s the big thing, I guess. Never getting to know him."
THEY NEVER MET EACH OTHER, BUT JERRY AHR STILL MISSES HIS FATHER. HE WAS 8 MONTHS OLD WHEN HIS FATHER'S PLANE VANISHED.
Jerry Ahr: "They were coming back on a bombing run over the cloud cover was so heavy that visibility was almost zero."
HIS DAD WAS THE CO-PILOT ON THAT B24. THE PLANE HAD COLLIDED WITH ANOTHER BOMBER, BUT THE CRASH SITE OR THE CREW COULD NOT BE FOUND.
YET ONE DAY, ALMOST LIKE THAT, NINE MEN - AND PAINFUL MEMORIES - WERE UNEARTHED.
Col. Paul Bethke, Chief of Mortuary Affairs: "1997, in September, French salvage personnel were in the site looking for parts of the aircraft wreckage, when they came across the site and found some remains."
THE B24 LAY DEEP IN A MOUNTAINOUS FOREST IN FRANCE, EVERY SOUL STILL ON BOARD. SIX WEEKS TURNED UP PIECES OF TEETH AND BONE, HIGH SCHOOL RINGS, WATCHES, AND ID TAGS.
Nancy Lewis: "You can see from the dog tags that it must have been a very violent crash. They're all gnarled and mangled. But it's possible to read the name and identification number. So we’re proud of these. We’re glad we have these.”
NANCY LEWIS CARRIED HER FATHER'S DOG TAGS TO HIS FUNERAL AT ARLINGTON
NATIONAL CEMETERY.
NOW, THE FAMILIES CLUTCH NEATLY FOLDED FLAGS … FINALLY, SOMETHING TO HOLD ONTO.