[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 144 (Thursday, October 6, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 6, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   TRIBUTE TO LT. WAYLAND E. BENNETT

                                 ______


                            HON. J.J. PICKLE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 6, 1994

  Mr. PICKLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Lt. Wayland 
E. Bennett, a Marine Corps pilot who perished on a training mission 
during World War II, but was only recently brought back to this country 
for burial. The story of his return is a remarkable tale of friendship 
and dedication, and deserving of special recognition.
  Mr. Bennett was a young man of 18 when he left home to join the war 
effort in the South Pacific. In 1943, he was commissioned a second 
lieutenant in the Marine Corps, and was sent to a small island 1,200 
miles northeast of Australia to complete his training and join the 
elite Black Sheep Squadron of fighter pilots. On October 22, 1943, his 
Corsair crashed into a jungle area of the island too dense and too 
dangerous to risk a patrol. The wreckage, and Mr. Bennett's remains, 
were considered by the military to be unrecoverable.
  But the story doesn't end there, thanks in large measure to the 
devotion of Mr. Robert Bowden of Texarkana, TX. He refused to let his 
memories of his childhood friend end with a plane crash in the jungle. 
In 1988, he began a friendship with Dr. Dan Bookout, and together the 
two men decided to search for the wreckage. Enlisting family, friends, 
and strangers alike, Mr. Bowden and Dr. Bookout began to raise money 
and to organize an expedition to the South Pacific to scour the jungle 
for the plane.
  Dr. Bookout led teams of volunteers in searching high and low within 
a 15-mile radius of the estimated crashsite. Ultimately, however, they 
were frustrated by their lack of success and the strain of the trips--
in both physical and financial terms--and they called off the searches 
in 1993. Their luck changed when, a couple of months later, they 
received news from a friend that natives on the island had discovered 
an ancient plane wreck with the skeleton of the pilot still in the 
cockpit. A military investigation confirmed that the body was indeed 
that of Lieutenant Bennett. On September 16, 1994, more than a half-
century after the crash, Lt. Wayland Bennett was finally given the 
welcome home he deserved.
  I know I speak for all Members when I say the selflessness and 
dedication of Mr. Bowden and Dr. Bookout deserves recognition. I hope 
you will all join me in extending best wishes to them, as well as to 
the families of Lieutenant Bennett. I am proud that their efforts led 
to the return of a native son of Texas.

                          ____________________