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After our government
was notified that the B-24, “Cold Iron,” had been found, the Army’s
Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii sent a team to excavate the
site. In her story for the
Salina Journal, Amy Sullivan wrote about it.
The area where the wrecked aircraft was found was much like an
archaeological project. The
team sectioned off the area and began to dig and sift through the remains.
Shari Lawrence, public
affairs officer for the US Army explained the process to Amy. The wreckage and bodies are taken
from wherever they are in the world back to Honolulu. The identification process begins at
the lab. Dental and skeletal
records are checked before technicians move on to DNA testing, which has
been used since the early 1900s. But before that can happen, the families
must be found. And in cases
where many years have passed, a match for the remains can only be made with
DNA from the deceased’s mother’s bloodline.
Enter the detective! Army Historian Linda Abrams is
Lineage Specialist for the US Army. She
is also a dedicated genealogist, and the person who searches for the
families of MIAs. When she went to work on the “Cold Iron” crew, the
forensic scientists in Honolulu pretty well suspected from papers and dog
tags who the crew members were…..ten men, and among them Billy Van Camp. If she could locate the missing
men’s families, then DNA testing might begin.
The
first seven families were quickly located…….then Billy. But she ran into a blank wall. So she went on and found the
families of the 9th and 10th men, then came back to
work on Billy some more. She
knew he was from Hartford, Michigan, so she started calling Hartford people.
After going through this process that genealogists know so well, Linda got
some answers. Billy’s parents
had their marriage recorded at the Van Buren County Courthouse. Helen Mayhak found that they were
both buried in Maple Hill Cemetery. From
there Linda went back in both families and found that Billy had a younger
brother. Adopted back then by
his mother’s sister, Charlie was found to be alive and well out in
California.
Linda
called Charlie and arranged for DNA testing. Then an amazing thing happened. About this time Bick Beckwith read
in a local California paper a story by a feature writer named Rusty Harris. Harris wrote about the finding of
his great uncle’s remains on the remote island of New Guinea. This was too much to be just a
coincidence. So Bick called the
writer. Yes, his great uncle,
Mack Sparks was the co-pilot on the B-24 “Cold Iron!” He grew up looking at pictures
of Mack Sparks and hearing stories about him.
He said, “I received wonderful news from my family…..news that
told me why I felt a chill when I read the AP story a couple of weeks ago. After 55 years, my Great Uncle Mack
is coming home!” And so was
Billy Van Camp!
Shari
Lawrence explained to Amy Sullivan how the notification process works. A man from Army Personnel Command
came one afternoon to Violet Mertz’ home and explained exactly what had
happened to her first husband, Mack Sparks.
He brought a manuscript containing the crash report. He even had Lt. Mack Sparks’ dog
tags. He also showed her a
photo of the plane’s tail section in the jungle.
Shari said that such moments can affect
family members just as though the crash had happened yesterday. Throughout most of the two-hour
visit, Violet held her grief inside. Then
the Army officer told her the options for burial. He said they could bury him in a
group grave, in a separate, nearby plot, or wherever they wished. That is when Violet cried. She said through her tears, “I
want him to be with them (the other men who died in the crash)…..well,
they’ve been together all this time.”
And so it was to be.
DNA
samples from all the “Cold Iron” families were sent to the US Army Lab
in Maryland. The results:
seven crewmembers were positively identified. There weren’t enough remains from
the other three to perform DNA tests. They
were all placed in a group coffin.
So
on that cold early December day, the black caisson pulled by black horses
led the solemn procession (about a mile and a half long) to the burial site. There a Military Chaplain eulogized
the lost airmen. Then a 21-gun
salute, and two bugles playing taps with an echo….a most dramatic moment,
and one that always sends shivers down my back. Guards presented every next of kin
with the folded American flag, and display boxes with awards. In Billy’s case, they handed to his brother Charlie The
Purple Heart, Air Medal, campaign medals, and Aircrew wings.
This
young man and all his crewmates now rest for all time in most hallowed
ground. They traveled half way
around the world to do what they had to do. This is the best, the quietest kind of heroism. And it is what has made our country
great……..all part of the golden threads woven into the tapestry of our
life.
Part 1:
The
Heroes
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