News-Info-Alerts

Re: WW II Pilot Returned After 60 Years

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: May 18, 2003

"Pilot's remains returned after more than 60 years

Associated Press

OWOSSO -- Army Lt. Carl C. Hoenshell left home over 60 years ago to fight in World War II.

On Friday, he finally returned.

A helicopter with a flag-draped casket carrying Hoenshell's remains and an Army uniform bearing his name were brought to Owosso, The Flint Journal reported.

The young officer was out of ammunition and low on fuel June 10, 1944, when three German planes chased his P-38 Lightning into the clouds above Bulgaria. He was never seen again.

But his family's nearly 60-year ordeal will come to a close May 25 when he is buried with full military honors. His remains were identified after an Army excavation last year of a plane crash site near the Serbian-Bulgarian border.

''It was the greatest single tragedy and greatest single mystery our family ever experienced,'' said Hoenshell's nephew, Ron Wilson of Owosso. Wilson, 60, was a toddler when his uncle disappeared but grew up hearing the story of Hoenshell's final mission.

Hoenshell was part of an allied bombing mission in Romania when German planes attacked, downing 23 P-38s, according to his family and the recollections of another pilot.

He regrouped with three other P-38s and tried to get back to Yugoslavia, but was spotted by six German planes. Out of ammunition after shooting down three enemy planes, Hoenshell drew three of his pursuers into the clouds and away from the allied planes.

It was assumed his plane crashed along the Serbian-Bulgarian border and U.S. officials listed him as presumed dead and declared his remains nonrecoverable. But Hoenshell's family refused to give up.

Six years ago, Wilson and his sister, Beth Wilson, went to Bulgaria in hopes of finding answers.

''There was always a cloud of doubt and uncertainty,'' Ron Wilson said. ''Maybe he was a (prisoner of war) and had escaped.''

With the help of a man who had written a book about World War II plane crashes in Bulgaria, the family finally found the steep hill where Hoenshell and his plane met their end.

A farmer who found part of the nose of Hoenshell's plane had buried it under his barn floor, fearing it was a machine gun. The family presented the P-38 parts to the Army, which agreed to search the area for Hoenshell's remains.

An excavation found a sterling bracelet with his serial number and an engraved ''oenshell,'' the ''H'' melted off by the heat of the fiery crash. On the back was his wife's name, Ruth Weeks.

The government also recovered some small bones, but could not determine their identity.

But the family convinced the Army to go back and search again in August. That time, the Army found enough to positively identify Hoenshell, as well as his wedding ring.

©Liberty Groups Newspapers"