Remains of three lost servicemen to be returned to families
Associated Press
DUNCAN, Okla. - The remains of two World War II-era servicemen and one who died in the Vietnam War are being returned to their families in Oklahoma for burial.
Sgt. Wilburn W. Rozzell of Duncan and Tech Sgt. Alfred Wesley Hill of Tyler were last reported alive more than 62 years ago aboard an Army Air B-24 bomber near Morobe Province, New Guinea. Air Force Sgt. Patrick Shannon of Cordell disappeared 38 years ago in Laos.
Villagers in New Guinea found the downed bomber in 2002. Military officials later found the remains of the two men and seven other crew members.
"The report said they were on a mission, looking for Japanese ships," said Larry Forbes, Rozzell's nephew. "They found one and sank it, and reported it. They then reported at 1:20 (p.m.) that they were running low on fuel. That's when they lost contact.
"When they found the plane, the clocks read 1:21 (p.m.). They must have called right before going down."
"Ever since I can remember, this has been a mystery in my family -- what became of my uncle?" he said. "Naturally, this was always a topic of conversation with my grandmother (Goldie Rozzell). She was obsessed with finding him and looked for him until the day she died.
"I know my mother is just thrilled to death to finally have some closure."
LaVoice Forbes, 81, is Rozzell's sister. She was 18 when the family received news that her brother was missing in action. Saturday, she will mourn her brother's death and celebrate his heroism at a funeral in Duncan. Services will be at 10 a.m. at the Don Grantham Funeral Home Chapel.
Hill will be honored in a separate ceremony April 28 at the same chapel. That will be the a day of closure for Earl Hill, 85, of Comanche. Alfred Hill was his big brother.
"This is something I've waited 63 years to relish," Earl Hill said. "I've dreamed about it. I've prayed about it. And now it has happened."
The remains of Shannon were discovered in Laos in 2003, and DNA tests confirmed his identity.
Shannon's half brother, Clyde Shannon, of Owasso, said he's glad the waiting is over.
"That was a long time ago, 1968," said Clyde Shannon, whose brother Charles "Click" Shannon, also lives in Owasso. "It's not like somebody dying yesterday. But all of our family is going to get together.
"We're going to get to have some closure on this for his kids. It's going to be a pretty good deal to get him recognized like he should have been."
Graveside services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Resurrection Cemetery in Oklahoma City.
Patrick Shannon was 33 when he vanished in March 1968. His wife, Amelda, who never remarried, died in March 2005.
Clyde Shannon said he has a letter from President Reagan recognizing his brother's mission, which was declassified in 1983.
He was among 11 radar technicians killed when North Vietnamese soldiers attacked a secret radar installation on a mountaintop in northeastern Laos. The site was used to guide Air Force bombers to Hanoi.
"We never did know if he had been captured or was a prisoner who was being tortured," Clyde Shannon said. "It was so classified that you didn't know anything. I've always wondered what happened to him."
Raised primarily by his grandparents in Cordell, Patrick Shannon was vice president of the Cordell High School graduating class of 1953, said Connie Sasseen, a cousin who lives in Oklahoma City. Shannon played football in high school and spent a lot of time with Sasseen's family before joining the Air Force, she said.
"He was kind of like the big brother you looked up to," Sasseen said.
Oklahoma City's Paula Wallace, the youngest of Patrick Shannon's four children, was only 11 months old when he disappeared. Her siblings are Pamela Shannon and Cody Shannon, also of Oklahoma City, and Carrie Wallace of Wafilla, Alaska.
"It has taken a big toll, and we've all dealt with it in our own way," Paula Wallace said.
©2006 The Associated Press