Honoring our Heroes

Eddies66 · 05-27-2022, 03:06 PM

Airmen missing in action from WWII identified, My great uncle, Staff Sgt. Henry Garcia, was among the missing.

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced Sept. 20 that the remains of nine servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors. I found this out on March 15, 1985 at my grandmother’s funeral from Henry Garcia Jr.

Army Air Forces 1st Lt. William J. Sarsfield of Philadelphia; 2nd Lt. Charles E. Trimingham of Salinas, Calif.; Tech. Sgt. Robert L. Christopherson of Blue Earth, Minn.; and Tech. Sgt. Leonard A. Gionet of Shirley, Mass., will be buried as a group in a single casket on Sept. 21 in Arlington National Cemetery, along with remains representing previously identified crew members 2nd Lt. Herman H. Knott, 2nd Lt. Francis G. Peattie, Staff Sgt. Henry Garcia, Staff Sgt. Robert E. Griebel, and Staff Sgt. Pace P. Payne, who were individually buried in 1985. These nine Airmen were ordered to carry out a bombing mission over Rabaul, Papau New Guinea, in their B-17E Flying Fortress nicknamed Naughty but Nice, taking off from an airfield near Dobodura, P.N.G., on June 26, 1943. The aircraft was damaged by anti-aircraft fire and ultimately shot down by Japanese fighter aircraft. A tenth man, the navigator and only survivor of the crash -- 2nd Lt. Jose L. Holguin -- was held as a prisoner of war until his release in September 1945.

In 1949, U.S. military personnel in the area were led by local citizens to a B-17 crash site on New Britain Island. Remains were recovered but couldn't be identified given the technology of the time. The remains were buried as unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

In 1982 and 1983, Holguin returned to the area and located the crash site. A fragment of the aircraft nose art was recovered and is displayed in the War Museum in Kokopo, P.N.G. In 1985, the remains were exhumed and identified as Knott, Payne, Garcia, Peattie, and Griebel. In 2001, a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command excavated the site and found additional human remains and crew-related equipment.

Staff Sgt. Henry Garcia’s Awards for his action:

★ World War II Victory Medal
★ Distinguished Flying Cross
★ Silver Star (2nd award)
★ Air Medal
★ Purple Heart
★ American Campaign Medal
★ Army Presidential Unit Citation
★ Army Good Conduct Medal
★ Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal

https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/47102

05-27-2022, 03:06 PM	#1
Eddies66 VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Rancho Mirage, CA Posts: 1,120 Likes: 282 Liked 794 Times in 383 Posts	Honoring our Heroes Airmen missing in action from WWII identified, My great uncle, Staff Sgt. Henry Garcia, was among the missing. The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced Sept. 20 that the remains of nine servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors. I found this out on March 15, 1985 at my grandmother’s funeral from Henry Garcia Jr. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. William J. Sarsfield of Philadelphia; 2nd Lt. Charles E. Trimingham of Salinas, Calif.; Tech. Sgt. Robert L. Christopherson of Blue Earth, Minn.; and Tech. Sgt. Leonard A. Gionet of Shirley, Mass., will be buried as a group in a single casket on Sept. 21 in Arlington National Cemetery, along with remains representing previously identified crew members 2nd Lt. Herman H. Knott, 2nd Lt. Francis G. Peattie, Staff Sgt. Henry Garcia, Staff Sgt. Robert E. Griebel, and Staff Sgt. Pace P. Payne, who were individually buried in 1985. These nine Airmen were ordered to carry out a bombing mission over Rabaul, Papau New Guinea, in their B-17E Flying Fortress nicknamed Naughty but Nice, taking off from an airfield near Dobodura, P.N.G., on June 26, 1943. The aircraft was damaged by anti-aircraft fire and ultimately shot down by Japanese fighter aircraft. A tenth man, the navigator and only survivor of the crash -- 2nd Lt. Jose L. Holguin -- was held as a prisoner of war until his release in September 1945. In 1949, U.S. military personnel in the area were led by local citizens to a B-17 crash site on New Britain Island. Remains were recovered but couldn't be identified given the technology of the time. The remains were buried as unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. In 1982 and 1983, Holguin returned to the area and located the crash site. A fragment of the aircraft nose art was recovered and is displayed in the War Museum in Kokopo, P.N.G. In 1985, the remains were exhumed and identified as Knott, Payne, Garcia, Peattie, and Griebel. In 2001, a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command excavated the site and found additional human remains and crew-related equipment. Staff Sgt. Henry Garcia’s Awards for his action: ★ World War II Victory Medal ★ Distinguished Flying Cross ★ Silver Star (2nd award) ★ Air Medal ★ Purple Heart ★ American Campaign Medal ★ Army Presidential Unit Citation ★ Army Good Conduct Medal ★ Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/47102 Last edited by Eddies66; 05-29-2022 at 10:01 AM.