Hi:
Although logged in as Ann, this is Hal blogging (I have never blogged before). I have started reading Unbroken which, as you know, is the 2011 Couples Book about a WWII airman who crashes in the Pacific. On Friday morning (2/11/11) I saw an article in the Baltimore Sun that tied the subject of the book to current events. Since I assume that many of you did not see the article (given that the Sun has a current readership of about three) I thought I would share it.
The article, titled “World War II airman finally comes home” describes how a local Highlandtown man, Tech. Sgt. Charles A. Bode and a crew of 10 other men, took off from New Guinea in the Pacific on November 20, 1943. They were flying in a B-24 bomber (the same type of aircraft that is described in Unbroken) on a sea search mission (the same type of mission that the protagonist in Unbroken was on when his plane went down). After a routine radio check, the 11 crewmen were never seen or heard from again.
Decades later, the tail of the plane was discovered by villagers in eastern New Guinea sticking up from the rocks in a steep ravine. Further investigation by the U.S. military then found remains which were later identified using DNA techniques. So 67 years after Sgt. Bode was lost, yesterday he was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.
Bode had been 23 years old when he died. He was not married and left no direct descendants. His parents died in 1967 and 1971. His one brother died in 2000. Attending the funeral were nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren, none of whom had ever known Sgt. Bode because they had all been born after his death. They said they came to the funeral out of respect for their father and because Sgt. Bode was part of their family’s legacy.
As I read Unbroken and this newspaper article, I am struck by how cheap life had become, owing to the exigencies of war. Airman in the Pacific had about a 50% chance of not surviving the war.
Attached is a link to the Sun article as well as a video published today describing the burial ceremony at Arlington yesterday. I look forward to seeing all of you in April.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-bode-burial-20110210,0,2033937.story
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-bode-arlington-burial-20110211,0,7759792.story
Hal
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