[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 11 (Thursday, February 12, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E184-E185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           TRIBUTE TO SGT. HERMAN SMITH: WE WILL NEVER FORGET

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HAROLD ROGERS

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 12, 1998

  Mr. ROGERS. Mr. Speaker, on February 20, 1998, Sgt. Herman Smith of 
Williamsburg, Kentucky, and nine other World War II crewmen of the B-
24H ``Liberator,'' serial number 42-95064, will be buried with full 
military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
  This ceremony is a long-overdue recognition of the honor, bravery and 
devotion displayed by ten World War II servicemen who lost their lives 
nearly 54 years ago when their plane crashed in northeastern Brazil on 
April 11, 1944.
  At 9:05 a.m. on that fateful day, 42-95064's pilot requested weather 
information. That was the last word from 42-95064 and her crew.
  Today, no one quite knows where the crew of 42-95064 was heading, 
what their mission was, or why the plane went down. For 51 years, no 
one even knew where the plane and her crew were. Sgt. Herman Smith's 
mother passed on without ever knowing what happened to her boy. Like 
thousands of other mothers, fathers, wives, sons and daughters whose 
loved ones were listed as missing in action, Mrs. Smith lived her life 
with an empty place in her heart, never knowing the fate of her son.
  Although Herman Smith and thousands of other American servicemen have 
been listed as missing, they have never been forgotten. Over the years, 
we have continued efforts to discover the fate of American service 
members lost during times of war. And, with the help of the Army 
Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, hundreds of missing 
servicemen have been identified, providing their families with peace of 
mind and final resolution.
  That is the story of the long-lost crew of 42-95064. During the 
1990s, reports started coming back of plane wreckage in an uninhabited, 
isolated area of the Amazon jungle. After a 1994 search party failed to 
find the site, officials finally confirmed the plane's location. On 
Independence Day 1995, a 15-man team from the U.S. Army Central 
Identification Laboratory arrived in Brazil to begin the arduous 
process of bringing our boys back home.
  Next week, the 10 crew members of 42-95064 will be placed in their 
resting place after 54 long years. Phyllis Bowling of Williamsburg, a 
first cousin of Sgt. Herman Smith and his closest living relative, will 
attend the service. For the people of Williamsburg, Kentucky, this 
service means that one more man, whose name has been forever captured 
on the VFW Post 3167's memorial commemorating those killed from Whitley 
County during the Great War, will finally receive the military honors 
he deserves.
  Every day, men and women from counties all across our nation 
volunteer, like Herman Smith did, for one of the most important jobs 
America has to offer--military service in the United States Armed 
Forces. These men and women have so much faith, honor, love and respect 
for this nation that they are prepared to sacrifice their lives in 
order to preserve and protect the United States and all that she stands 
for.
  In turn, we must remain committed to them. We must support our 
service personnel in times of war and times of peace. We must help 
their loved ones cope with the demands and stress placed upon them as 
military families. We must honor them after they return from service, 
and if they don't return, we must be dogged in our pursuit to bring 
them home. But, most important, we must never forget the sacrifices 
they have made.
  We should remember, because every man and woman who has served in 
this nation's armed forces has helped secure the peace that we enjoy 
today. In times of peace and war, American's military personnel have 
been a beacon of hope in the darkness of conflict. They answered the 
call of service, prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice in the line of 
duty. The next generation must know about the courage, honor and 
strength of the men and women who gave their lives for us. Our service 
members must know that we will never forget.
  Mr. Speaker, so everyone will remember the story of the men on B-24H 
``Liberator,'' serial number 42-95064, I ask that a newspaper article 
appearing in the Whitley Republican-News Journal in Williamsburg, 
Kentucky, be printed here, for everyone to read.
  May God bless all the men and women who serve in America's Armed 
Forces, and may God bless the United States of America.

               [From the News Journal--February 4, 1998]

    Local Man Was Ball Turret Gunner on Long-Lost WWII B-24H Bomber

     Somewhere in some foreign field, The gunner sleeps tonight . 
           . .
     But we cannot write off his final scene--Hold onto the dream 
           . . .
     ``The Gunner's Dream,'' Pink Floyd, 1982

                          (By Philip A. Todd)

       Like thousands of his fellow World War II servicemen, a 
     Williamsburg man listed as missing in action (MIA) for over a 
     half century will never come home.
       However, after making the ultimate sacrifice for their 
     country, Sgt. Herman Smith and the nine other crewmen on his 
     B-24H bomber will finally receive the remembrance they earned 
     with their lives.
       The remains of the ten Army Air Corps aviators, who died on 
     April 11, 1944 when their plane crashed in northeastern 
     Brazil, will be buried Feb. 20 with full military honors in 
     Arlington National Cemetery, official sources said.
       Sadly, this recognition comes much too late for most of 
     those who waited in vain for news of their loved ones--while 
     for 51 years, the bomber's crash site remained lost, hidden 
     in a dense and uninhabited region of the Amazon jungle.
       Smith's mother, Martha E. Smith of Cumberland Ave., 
     Williamsburg, apparently died years ago; and now, no one at 
     Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3167 seems to remember him.
       His name appears on the VFW's memorial outside the 
     courthouse, along with the other Whitley County men listed 
     and killed during the Great War. Other than that, there has 
     been nothing but silence surrounding Smith, the plane's ball 
     turret gunner, and his crewmates for nearly 54 years.


                       Do you read me, 42-95064?

       As the Allied war effort in Europe escalated towards the 
     ``longest day''--the actual invasion of Hitler's ``Fortress 
     Europe'' on D-Day, June 6, 1944--America and her allies 
     mounted heavy bombing raids throughout Axis-held Europe, 
     North Africa and Italy.
       Daily aircraft losses reaching 50 percent in some raids 
     meant new, replacement planes moved in a steady stream from 
     American factories to the front.
       Secrecy concerns kept security so tight that even the very 
     crews flying these replacement aircraft didn't know where 
     they were going; and after a half-century, memories have 
     dimmed and files have disappeared--so no one may ever know 
     the complete story of Smith and the men on B-24H 
     ``Liberator,'' serial no. 42-95064.
       Exact details remain a mystery; however, Smith's aircraft 
     was apparently headed for duty in Europe by way of a series 
     of refueling stops leading from the U.S. to Africa by way of 
     South America when it crashed in the Brazilian jungle.
       This ferry route enabled new planes to replace lost combat 
     aircraft in a matter of a few days, instead of the weeks it 
     would take to ship them across the Atlantic Ocean.
       After probably flying from Colorado Springs to Florida and 
     then south to Trinidad, Smith's B-24H reportedly left 
     Trinidad's Waller Field at 6:09 a.m. April 11, 1944, enroute 
     to Belem, Brazil.
       Around 9:05, about an hour from Belem, 42-95064's pilot, 
     2nd Lt. Edward J. Bares, reportedly requested weather 
     information.
       A ground station in Brazil responded with a report, but 
     heard nothing further from the plane.
       Nothing further was ever to be heard from 42-95064.


                         Lost but not forgotten

       ``We were on the same route, departing probably the 16th of 
     April,'' remembers R.F. ``Dick'' Gelvin, a B-24 navigator 
     whose aircraft took the same route to the front only days 
     later.
       ``I don't remember them telling us about having lost an 
     airplane in the previous week.''
       ``I do recall them telling we navigators, we would have 
     enough fuel that we could follow the (South American) coast 
     if we wanted to do so, but that over the (Brazilian) jungle 
     would be closer,'' he said.
       ``After a crew discussion, we opted to take the `great 
     circle' (globe-line) route, over the jungle.''
       Apparently 42-95064's navigator, 1st Lt. Floyd D. Kyte Jr., 
     took the same shortcut to Belem, but the plane crashed some 
     250 miles short of that Brazilian port city.
       Authorities have never issued an official explanation for 
     the crash.
       The aircraft remained lost until the 1990s, when a group of 
     gold prospectors reportedly stumbled across it.
       A joint expedition by the Forca Aerea Brasileira (FAB, 
     Brazil's air force), and the U.S. Army located the crash site 
     and recovered the crew's remains in July 1995.
       ``They told me that the place was 150 miles off course,'' 
     said James K. Leitch, whose brother, Staff Sgt. John E. 
     Leitch, was 42-95064's flight engineer.
       James Leitch, also a World War II veteran, said he 
     contacted government officials in 1995 after reading a short 
     news report that the plane had been found.
       ``They don't know why it went down, but it could have run 
     out of gas.''
       ``They feel that the whole crew was killed on impact,'' he 
     said.


                        A half-century's silence

       When 42-95064 and its crew of 10 went down in April 1944, 
     James Leitch was a 19-year-old infantry-man waiting to be 
     shipped to duty in the Pacific.
       His company commander called him to the office and told him 
     he needed to go home to Los Angeles.
       There, his parents told him his brother was reported 
     missing in action somewhere in the Brazilian jungle.
       About a month later, A Brazilian native reportedly told 
     officials he had seen the wreckage of a four-engine plane and 
     six bodies, but the man disappeared before anyone

[[Page E185]]

     could verify his story, said Peter Muello, an Associated 
     Press writer in 1995.
       Shortly after that initial report, a British man told 
     authorities he had found the plane, and even reported the 
     aircraft's correct identification number, said Muello.
       The Leitch family never heard about either of these 
     sightings.
       A letter to Leitch's parents from a Brazilian official, 
     dated July 14, 1944, said American authorities were searching 
     ``where the plane is supposed to have made a forced 
     landing.''
       Five years later, Leitch's mother contacted a U.S. vice-
     consul in Belem, who told her that tribes in the area were 
     friendly, and if anything had been found, they would have 
     contacted the Brazilian authorities.
       During that same time year (1949), the Los Angeles Times 
     reported that the U.S. Adjutant General's Office issued the 
     statement that ``no evidence has been submitted that any of 
     the crew parachuted to the safety, nor has any indication 
     been received that the men were found by natives.''
       ``Any that was all we heard,'' said Leitch.
       ``My mother went to her grave believing her John was still 
     alive, somewhere in the jungle,'' he said.
       After these reports, no official statements about 42-95064 
     were made until 1995, when Brazilian army authorities said 
     their 3rd Jungle Infantry Battalion discovered the wreckage 
     in August 1994 and brought back ``a leather artifact'' that 
     one official said was probably part of a crewmember's flight 
     jacket.
       But in December 1994, a joint search party mounted by 
     Brazil's air force and the U.S. Embassy to Brazil failed to 
     find the site.
       Finally, officials confirmed the site; and on Independence 
     Day, 1995, a 15-man salvage team from the U.S. Army Central 
     Identification Laboratory arrived in Brazil to join a 
     Brazilian army expedition to travel to the site and recover 
     anything that was left.


                      ``Bring The Boys Back Home''

       When millions of Americans sang along with war-era stars 
     like Vera Lynn and Glenn Miller, hoping that ``We Will Meet 
     Again'' and praying to ``Bring The Boys Back Home,'' few 
     would dream their government and their tax dollars would 
     still be busy trying to do exactly that, more than 50 years 
     later.
       Thanks to the ongoing mission of the Army Central 
     Identification Laboratory in Hawaii (CILHI), many missing 
     servicemen--especially from Vietnam--have been positively 
     identified from even the smallest of remains, after a process 
     involving long hours of scientific analysis.
       Apparently, that's where 42-95064's crew has been since the 
     summer of 1995, while U.S. Army officials attempted to track 
     down next-of-kin for each man.
       An FAB (Brazilian air force) team prepared the site, and 
     assisted the CILHI researchers during a three-week recovery 
     effort in a dense jungle area some 50 miles northeast of the 
     Amazon River city of Macapa, located about 250 miles 
     northwest of the plane's destination, Belem.
       Searchers found two sets of ``dog tags'' and numerous bone 
     fragments at the site, said Johnie Webb, a CILHI civilian 
     deputy commander.
       ``It is, very dense jungle,'' he said, adding that ``all 10 
     (crewmen) perished in the aircraft.''
       Two weeks of digging at the crash site brought nothing, 
     Leitch said officials told him.
       ``They had dug several meters deep and were starting to 
     lose hope, when suddenly, they started finding bones, rings, 
     necklaces and dog tags with names and ranks written on 
     them,'' said Fernando Allegretti, a spokesman for the 
     Brazilian state of Amapa, where the plane crashed.
       One investigator found a wallet, and another found several 
     1944 dollar bills, he said.
       The high-speed impact of the crash meant little was left of 
     the aircraft, and most of it--spread over a wide area and 
     undisturbed for 51 years--will never be recovered, officials 
     said.
       After three weeks, the team recovered the remains of all 10 
     on board.
       Officials then held a memorial service for the crew at 
     Macapa, capital city of Amapa.
       A short time later, CILHI forensics experts confirmed the 
     remains were, indeed, those of the long-lost crew of 42-
     95064.


                            Give them peace

       After more than two-and-a-half years of attempting to find 
     surviving relatives of the crew, the U.S. Army has apparently 
     decided against returning the remains to the families.
       ``I made call after call'' to the authorities, said Leitch 
     after hearing of the plane's discovery in 1995.
       ``I was told they were going to use a DNA process to 
     identify each man,'' he said.
       ``We wanted him (John) buried out here in Los Angeles, with 
     my parents.''
       Leitch said the family has kept a burial plot for John all 
     these years.
       However, last month's announcement of plans for the Feb. 20 
     group burial in Arlington put an end to each family's own 
     hopes for closure.
       Army officials apparently identified Peggy Bowling, a 
     Williamsburg woman who is Smith's first cousin, as Smith's 
     closest living relative.
       Bowling and another Whitley County resident are expected to 
     attend the Feb. 20 ceremony.
       Leitch said the government is arranging to fly family 
     members to Washington for the event.
       The 42-95064's crew included:
       2nd Lt. Edward I. Bares, pilot, Chicago; Flight Officer 
     Robert W. Pearman, co-pilot, Miami; Flight Officer Laurel 
     Stevens, bombardier, Monroe, Iowa; 1st Lt. Floyd D. Kyte Jr., 
     navigator, Elmira, N.Y.; Sgt. John Rocasey, nose gunner, El 
     Monte, Cal.; Staff Sgt. John E. Leitch, engineer, Los 
     Angeles; Sgt. Michael Prasol, tail gunner, Northampton, 
     Mass.; Sgt. Herman Smith, ball turret gunner, Williamsburg, 
     Ky,; Sgt. Max C. McGilvrey, upper gunner, Perkins, Okla,; and 
     Staff Sgt. Harry N. Furman, unknown replacement, Dayton 
     Plains, Mich.
       Furman, not part of the plane's original crew, replaced the 
     crew's radio operator. Staff Sgt. Abe Shepherd of Ohio, on 
     the fateful flight
       ``It is likely that the ground crew chief may well have 
     replaced one of the gunners, who would have gone by sea,'' 
     said Kevin Welch, a B-24 veteran.
       ``Occasionally, some positions were manned by non-crew 
     members,'' said John Jakab, another B-24 veteran.
       For example, he said, ``my co-pilot crossed over by ship. 
     My co-pilot for the overseas flight was our unit operations 
     officer.''
       Shepherd's fate is not known--and, after all these years, 
     there aren't that many people still around who remember the 
     lost crew of 42-95064.
       But some will never forget them.
       ``I have mixed feelings'' about the upcoming ceremony, said 
     Leitch.
       The Leitch brothers, born 17 months apart, ``used to double 
     date'' in their young days in southern California, he said.
       ``I'm happy that it's coming to a close, but I really miss 
     him. It still bothers me.''

     

                          ____________________