Airmen's Remains May End Mystery
Matt Leingang
Associated Press
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Columbus, Ohio (US):
Jeanne Pyle hopes she may finally find out what happened to her brother, who has been missing since his military plane crashed during World War II.She believes there's a chance that the well-preserved remains of an airman found this month in a Sierra Nevada glacier were those of her brother.
Pyle, 85, remembers her brother, Cadet Ernest Munn, as a handsome, 6-foot-4 man with blond hair and blue eyes. He was among four airmen who died when their navigational training plane crashed after leaving a Sacramento airfield in November 1942. None of the members of that flight was ever found.
Mountain climbers found the remains on Oct. 16 in California's Kings Canyon National Park, the head and arm jutting out of the receding glacier. The body was in an Army uniform, and the hair was blond. It was flown Monday to Hickam Air Force Base on Oahu, Hawaii, where it is being examined at the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command for identification.
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WWII mystery stirs hope for family
Families of missing WWII airmen hope frozen body will yield clues
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Airman Found Frozen in Mountains Arrives at Military Lab
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Confirmation that the body is that of her brother would end a painful mystery that has lasted 63 years, said Pyle, who lives near St. Clairsville, about 110 miles east of Columbus."It would be exciting, in a sad way," said Pyle, who recalled last seeing her brother at a party on his 21st birthday, days before he enlisted in the Army.
"We've been living with an empty feeling for so long. It would be nice to finally resolve this."Forensic anthropologists there said they have a lot to work with. The ice preserved the body's skin and muscle, as well as the man's sun-bleached hair and his green uniform.Military officials said the identification process would take weeks, possibly months.
They also cautioned that the airman might not be blond at all and that his hair could have been discolored by the sun.
The three other men on the plane were pilot 2nd Lt. William A. Gamber of Fayette, Ohio; Cadet John Mortenson of Moscow, Idaho; and Cadet Leo M. Mustonen of Brainerd, Minn.
Oct 27, 2005
Matt Leingang
Associated Press
_____________
Columbus, Ohio (US):
Jeanne Pyle hopes she may finally find out what happened to her brother, who has been missing since his military plane crashed during World War II.She believes there's a chance that the well-preserved remains of an airman found this month in a Sierra Nevada glacier were those of her brother.
Pyle, 85, remembers her brother, Cadet Ernest Munn, as a handsome, 6-foot-4 man with blond hair and blue eyes. He was among four airmen who died when their navigational training plane crashed after leaving a Sacramento airfield in November 1942. None of the members of that flight was ever found.
Mountain climbers found the remains on Oct. 16 in California's Kings Canyon National Park, the head and arm jutting out of the receding glacier. The body was in an Army uniform, and the hair was blond. It was flown Monday to Hickam Air Force Base on Oahu, Hawaii, where it is being examined at the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command for identification.
___________________________________
See Also:
WWII mystery stirs hope for family
Families of missing WWII airmen hope frozen body will yield clues
See in Archive:
Airman Found Frozen in Mountains Arrives at Military Lab
___________________________________
Confirmation that the body is that of her brother would end a painful mystery that has lasted 63 years, said Pyle, who lives near St. Clairsville, about 110 miles east of Columbus."It would be exciting, in a sad way," said Pyle, who recalled last seeing her brother at a party on his 21st birthday, days before he enlisted in the Army.
"We've been living with an empty feeling for so long. It would be nice to finally resolve this."Forensic anthropologists there said they have a lot to work with. The ice preserved the body's skin and muscle, as well as the man's sun-bleached hair and his green uniform.Military officials said the identification process would take weeks, possibly months.
They also cautioned that the airman might not be blond at all and that his hair could have been discolored by the sun.
The three other men on the plane were pilot 2nd Lt. William A. Gamber of Fayette, Ohio; Cadet John Mortenson of Moscow, Idaho; and Cadet Leo M. Mustonen of Brainerd, Minn.
Oct 27, 2005
