US Bomber crew remains found

Kyt · Oct 12, 2007

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1037554

The site has a picture of Sgt. Hyman Stiglitz

Remains of doomed WWII aircrew found

WASHINGTON - The remains of nine U.S. airmen including two from Massachusetts, one from New Hampshire and one from Vermont, missing in action since a World War II mission over Germany, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial, the Pentagon said.

The B-24 crew took off from North Pickenham, England, on July 7, 1944, to bomb a German aircraft factory near Bernburg, Germany. The plane was last seen by other crews in the target area. Captured records showed that it crashed near Westeregeln, about 20 miles northwest of the target, the Defense Department said.

The New England men whose bodies were recovered are 1st Lt. David P. McMurray, of Melrose, Mass.; Tech Sgt. Hyman L. Stiglitz, of Boston; Staff Sgt. Francis E. Larrivee, of Laconia, N.H.; and Staff Sgt. Robert L. Cotey, of Vergennes, Vt.

Stiglitz’s nephew, Bill Stuart, 47, of San Diego, said, “My lost uncle, which was a name only, became a person. It was the first time I ever had an uncle.”

Stuart said about a year and a half ago, members of his family were asked to provide DNA samples, and Stiglitz was identified from that and dental records. Stuart’s father rarely spoke about his lost older brother, and Stuart said he was little more than a “figment of my imagination” until the military recently met with the family. They gave a detailed explanation of his uncle’s mission, and the recovery process.

Stuart said he will bury Stiglitz’s remains with his mother and father in Tucson, Ariz., in December. Stuart said he’s glad he finally has an uncle to remember.

“The guy’s a hero,” he said.

The airmen were found after German civilians learned of a potential crash site in 2001 and began excavating. They uncovered human remains from what appeared to be two burials, and notified the U.S. military, which excavated and recovered all the remains.

The other crewmen were 1st Lt. Raymond Pascual, of Houston; 2nd Lt. Millard C. Wells Jr., of Paris, Ky.; Tech Sgt. Leonard J. Ray, of Upper Falls, Md.; Staff Sgt. Robert J. Flood, of Neelyton, Pa.; and Staff Sgt. Walter O. Schlosser, of Lake City, Mich.

Paul Arnett of Mesa, Ariz., a historian and the son of a pilot for the same bomber group, said the 492nd was known as the “hard-luck group” and the nine men were known as the “hard-luck crew” because they typically returned battered from their missions.
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Antipodean Andy · Oct 12, 2007

Another nine men missing no more.

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US Bomber crew remains found

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