Airman Missing In Action From WWII is Identified

[Lonnie J. Potter]

Airman Missing In Action From WWII is Identified
Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:40:00 -0500


U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release

On the Web:
http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11365
Media contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132 Public contact:
http://www.defenselink.mil/faq/comment.html
or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1


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IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 1162-07
September 27, 2007


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Airman Missing In Action From WWII is Identified


The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office
(DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in
action from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to his
family for burial with full military honors.

He is 1st Lt. James W. Blose, U.S. Army Air Forces, of Sharpsville,
Pa. He will be buried Sept. 29 in Hermitage, Pa.

Representatives from the Army met with Blose's next-of-kin in her
hometown to explain the recovery and identification process and to
coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the
Army.

On April 22, 1942, Blose and another pilot, 2nd Lt. William S. Shaw,
departed Nausori, Airdrome, Viti Levu Island, Fiji, on an airborne alert
mission. Soon after takeoff, bad weather forced the pilots to fly below the
level of several mountaintops in the area and land their P-39D Airacobras at
Nandi Airdrome. Shaw successfully landed his plane, but Blose was not seen
or heard from again. Initial ground searches in the thick jungles and rugged
terrain were unsuccessful.

In late 2004, a Fiji citizen reported to a U.S. official in Fiji that
he located possible aircraft wreckage on Viti Levu Island. The official
visited the site and saw the wreckage bearing a data plate that correlated
to Blose's plane. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) investigated
the crash site in early 2005 and collected additional data plate
information.

In 2006, a JPAC team excavated the site and recovered human remains
and other items including a pilot's microphone electrical plug with Blose's
initials on it.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence,
scientists from JPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of
Blose's remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to
account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at
http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/ orcall (703) 699-1169.






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[Bert-Jan[_5_]]

Very good to hear another pilot finally made it "HOME"

I have been part of several digs here in The Netherlands where we unearthed
pilots (and their planes). German, American and British.
Mostly German though. Most of the allied pilots were dug up, identifid and
sent "home" pretty soon after the war. The German pilots... well, they were
"The Germans".

For me as a "youngster" it always is a very special moment when we can tell
the family that we have found and identified the pilot as their long lost
husband, brother, and/or (sometimes) son.

I've had the wive of a German Pilot crying in my arms. She was so thankful
she finally knew where her husband was.
They were married only a few days when he went missing and she never got
remarried because she did not know if he was in captivity or dead.

I can not imagine how special it must be to finally be able to close that
chapter and finally knowing he is found after some 60 years.

--
Cheers,

Bert-Jan

[octothorpe]

"Lonnie J. Potter" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> Airman Missing In Action From WWII is Identified
> Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:40:00 -0500
<snip>

I graduated high school with his niece, Sue. Here's the local paper's
obituary,
http://www.sharon-herald.com/fullobits/local_story_270135557.html, and news
story, http://www.sharon-herald.com/community/local_story_268180728.html.
Click on the "print" icon to get to a page with better graphic links. Then
click on those images to get the full size image. Example:
http://www.sharon-herald.com/community/images_sizedimage_268175744/original.
Hillcrest Memorial Park, Hermitage, Pa, where Blose was interred this
morning, has it's own claim to fame going back to the Iranian hostage crisis
during the Carter presidency: http://www.avenueofflags.com/.

--
Tom