Page 14 - Aerotech News and Review, June 16 2017

WWII veteran’s remains return home after 73 years
get any closure.”
Oxford’s plane departed Kumming, China, on
Jan. 25, 1944, said Staff Sgt. Kristen Duus at the Defense Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Agency. Oxford was declared dead two years later.
Oxford’s family didn’t know the wreckage had been found until 2007 when Merrill Roan saw a message on a genealogy website from a relative of another service member on the aircraft. That relative wanted help persuading military officials to investigate the crash site.
Duus’ agency confirmed the crash site cor- related with the missing aircraft in 2008. But harmful weather coupled with access issues and security delayed recovery operation efforts until late 2015, Duus said.
Officials say a DNA analysis of Oxford’s re- mains matched his niece and nephew.
Roan said the family was “shocked and ex- cited” when they heard the news.
Duus said Oxford is one of 74 veterans who have been identified so far this year. She said all service members are returned to the U.S. for identification before the family is notified and the service member is provided a funeral with honors.
Eighty service members were identified in 2015, and that number more than doubled with 164 the following year, Duus said.
The Missing in Action Agency website says there are more than 86,000 Americans still miss- ing abroad from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Advancements in DNA testing technology and partnerships with other nations have helped find and identify more miss- ing service members than ever, Duus said.
Oxford’s parents, siblings and any other relatives who saw him leave for World War II have all died since he went missing, said Terrell Moody of Moody-Daniel Funeral Home, which is handling burial arrangements. Still, the long- overdue homecoming of his remains won’t go unnoticed.
A State Patrol escort guided the hearse car- rying Oxford’s casket 50 miles (80 kilometers) south on Interstate 75 from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to the funeral home. A funeral was held June 11 in a school audito- rium — the biggest venue in town, Moody said.
“It’s just a huge historical event for our little town,” Moody said. “The phone constantly rings from people wanting information.”
Oxford will be buried in the same plot with
by Jonathan Landrum Jr.
Associated Press
More than 70 years ago, a U.S. Army bomber plane dubbed “Hot as Hell” was headed for India on a supply mission. It never arrived, and no one went looking for the doomed aircraft or the eight men on board because military officials had no way of pinpointing where it went down.
All signs of the mission were lost until 2006, when a hiker in northeast India spotted a wing and panel sign inscribed with the bomber’s name. It wasn’t until 2015 that the U.S. Defense De- partment investigated the crash site and found the remains of 1st Lt. Robert Eugene Oxford.
June 8, Oxford was finally be returned home and laid to rest this weekend with full military honors in his tiny hometown of Concord, Ga. Photos of his seven fellow crewmen, none of whom was ever found, will lie beside the coffin and then be placed inside it for burial.
“We were ecstatic that Eugene was found, but we feel guilty there are seven other men on that mountain top,” said Merrill Roan, the wife of Oxford’s nephew.
So we are honoring the other seven. We have to honor them as well, because they may never
Hometown Heroes
U.S. Air Force Airman Devon A. Felix graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lack- land, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week pro- gram that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physi- cal fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic
training also earn four credits
toward an associate in applied science degree through the Com- munity College of the Air Force.
Felix is the son of Bobbi-Jo and Craig A. Felix, and husband of Madilynn A. Felix, all of Edwards, Calif. He is a 2016 graduate of Desert High School, Edwards, Calif.
U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Joshua Reyes-Linares graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio- Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training also earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Com- munity College of the Air Force.
Reyes-Linares is the son of Dolinda and Tacito Reyes of Lan- caster, Calif., and husband of Katrina Reyes-Pouncil of Palm- dale, Calif.
He is a 2009 graduate of Lancaster High School, Lancaster, Calif. He earned an associate degree in 2014 from College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita, Calif.
U.S. Air Force Airman Ab- ner J. Godoy graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week pro- gram that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physi- cal fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training also earn four credits
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his parents, Charles and Bessie Oxford, who had placed a memorial marker for their lost son at the gravesite after his plane went missing seven decades ago.
toward an associate in applied science degree through the Com- munity College of the Air Force.
Godoy is the son of Yalta and Erick E. Godoy, brother of Erick A. Godoy, Iris M. Godoy, and Allan E. Godoy and cousin of Josue Hererra, all of Palmdale, Calif.
He is a 2013 graduate of William J Pete Knight High School, Palmdale, Calif.
U.S. Air Force Airman Quintin J. Escobar graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training also earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Com- munity College of the Air Force.
Escobar is the daughter of Belinda M. Henley of Lancaster, Calif., and sister of Amanda M. Dunham of Palmdale, Calif., and wife of Blayke W. Escobar of Lancaster, Calif.
She is a 2015 graduate of Lancaster High School, Lancaster, Calif.
U.S. Air Force Airman Cal- vin A. Gonzalez-Camacho graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San An- tonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week pro- gram that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physi- cal fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic
training also earn four credits
toward an associate in applied science degree through the Com- munity College of the Air Force.
Gonzalez-Camacho is the son of Mirna Y. Maravilla of Lan- caster, Calif.
He is a 2016 graduate of Eastside High School, Lancaster, Calif.
U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Emmanuel A. Aguilar gradu- ated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio- Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force
Aerotech News and Review
core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training also earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Com- munity College of the Air Force.
Aguilar is the son of Veronica Aguilar of Palmdale, Calif. He is a 2013 graduate of Highland High School, Palmdale, Calif.
U.S. Air Force Airman Jessy A. Rivera graduated from ba- sic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training also earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Rivera is the son of Maria C. Torres of Lancaster, Calif., and Salvador Rivera of Lit- tlerock, Calif., and brother of Jonathan Rivera of Santa Clarita, Calif.
He is a 2014 graduate of
William J. Pete Knight High School, Palmdale, Calif.
Casey Evans has graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. The graduate received a bachelor of science degree and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.
The academy is a four-year military institution of higher learning that develops and inspires new air and space leaders with a vision for the future. Its curriculum provides instruction, education, training and experience in academics, military train- ing, physical and athletic conditioning, and spiritual and ethical development to all cadets.
Cadets graduate with the knowledge, character and skills es- sential for future career officers in the U.S. Air Force. As new lieutenants, they will go on to serve as pilots, navigators, engi- neers, maintenance officers or professionals in various technical fields, while other cadets may go on to attend medical or gradu- ate school with special scholarships, or directly to non-rated Air Force-wide assignments.
Evans is the daughter of Dave Evans of Lancaster, Calif., and Wendy Winters, also of Lancaster, Calif. She is a 2013 graduate of Choctawhatchee Senior High School, Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
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June 16, 2017