I Thought This Should Be Seen... And Said

Thought/Opinions/Commentary by Jim Campbell, ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief

Nearly two months ago, ANN covered the fact that the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, from World War II, had been identified and were being returned to his family for burial with full military honors. 

It was one more way that the best of America shows that those who made the ultimate sacrifice are not and will not be forgotten by those of us who understand that freedom is NOT free.

Army Air Force 1st Lt. Robert G. Fenstermacher, 23, of Scranton, Pa., was buried on Oct. 18, in Arlington National Cemetery. On Dec. 26, 1944, Fenstermacher was a pilot of a P-47D Thunderbolt that was on an armed-reconnaissance mission against targets in Germany, when his aircraft crashed, near Petergensfeld, Belgium.

A U.S. military officer reported seeing Fenstermacher’s aircraft crash. Reaching the site shortly after impact, he recovered Fenstermacher’s identification tags from the burning wreckage. No remains or aircraft wreckage were recovered from the crash site at that time and Fenstermacher was declared killed in action.

Following the war, the U.S. Army Graves Registration Service (AGRS) investigated and interviewed a local Belgian woman who told team that an aircraft crashed into the side of her house. The team searched the surrounding area, but was unsuccessful locating the crash site.

In 2012, a group of local historians excavated a private yard in Petergensfeld, Belgium, recovering human remains and aircraft wreckage consistent with a P-47D. The remains were turned over to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC). To identify the remains, scientists from JPAC used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, such as dental comparisons, which matched Fenstermacher’s records.

I caught a look at the attached Facebook video, the other day, of the military honors Lt. Fenstermacher received... and the emotional impact they had here were pretty intense...and profound. I hope that you find this as moving as I did.

FMI: http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo, If the video will not play in your browser, click on this link -- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4735603408103