[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 169 (Monday, November 16, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H12985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                A TRIBUTE TO LIEUTENANT CHARLES MAGGART

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to pay the long 
overdue respects of a grateful Nation to First Lieutenant Charles L. 
Maggart from Marion, Indiana, who fell serving his country in the U.S. 
Army Air Force during World War II.
  Charles Maggart was born in November of 1919 and attended Marion High 
School in Indiana, where he was an honor student as well as a football 
and basketball star. In fact, his outstanding athletic ability earned 
him scholarship offers in 1938 from both Indiana University and the 
University of New Mexico. Charles chose the University of New Mexico. 
However, with the clouds of war looming over Europe, Charles returned 
to Indiana to attend Marion College, today Indiana Wesleyan University, 
where he took flying lessons.
  In April of 1941, Charles applied for and was accepted into the Army 
Air Force. Upon completing basic flight training at Parks Air College 
in St. Louis and Randolph Air Field in San Antonio, Texas, Charles was 
assigned to Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, for advanced flight 
training.
  On December 12, 1941, just 5 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 
Charles Maggart, until then a sergeant major of cadets, earned his 
pilot's wings and his lieutenant's bars. He also married his wife, then 
First Lieutenant Yolanda Federico. The next day he departed for 
Morrison Field, Florida, for assignment to the 49th Pursuit Group, 
Ninth Pursuit Squadron; but he was fairly quickly reassigned from 
fighters to bombers, ending up with the 405th Bombardment Squadron, 
38th Bomb Group, Fifth Air Force 38th flying out of Australia.

                              {time}  1945

  The group shipped out from California for Australia in April of 1942. 
On December 5, 1942, Lieutenant Charles Maggart's war came to an end. 
Flying a B-25 bomber known as the ``Happy Legend,'' Lieutenant Maggart 
and his six-man crew set off to bomb Lae, a critical point along the 
northeastern coast of Papua, New Guinea. Lieutenant Maggart and his 
crew were shot down by the Japanese over the Owen Stanley Mountains. In 
January of 1943, Lieutenant Maggart's wife and family were informed by 
the War Department that he was missing in action.
  Lieutenant Maggart's mother, waiting patiently, had reservations 
about his fate. After repeated letters to the War Department, in 1947 
she was told that the aircraft and crew were never recovered and were 
probably lost at sea. It wasn't until 1949 that Lieutenant Maggart and 
his crew was officially declared killed in action. Although a team of 
Australians reportedly reached the crash site in 1943, the area was 
still overrun with Japanese units, and little could be done to document 
the remains of the aircraft and crew. Except for the determination of 
Charles' brother, Phil Maggart, and the families of the other 
crewmembers of the ``Happy Legend,'' that might be the end of the 
story.
  Phil Maggart last saw his brother Charles in October of 1941, and for 
more than six decades, Phil has tried to find his brother and to bring 
him home. Working through government bureaucrats and private contacts 
even when he was serving with the U.S. Air Force around the world, 
including a tour of duty flying search-and-rescue missions in Vietnam, 
Phil never gave up asking questions, and ultimately he found answers. 
Thanks to the persistence of Phil Maggart, Lieutenant Charles Maggart 
has finally come home. And tomorrow, Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 
Lieutenant Charles Maggart and his crew will be interred together at 
Arlington National Cemetery, a fitting place of honor for true American 
heroes.
  Madam Speaker, I respectfully ask that all of my colleagues join me 
in saluting Lieutenant Maggart and his valiant crew. God bless you, 
gentlemen, and thank you for your service to America.

                          ____________________