Heroes Come Home

Heroes Come Home World War II Airmen Return Home

Gary Fields

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The Story Of Two Missionaries With A Passion To Bring Missing WW II Airmen Home

By Charles Micheals

Dick Knieriemen

This book is provided free of charge. However, if you would like to make a gift to the ongoing work of the author and his work with Wycliffe Bible Translators and help cover the cost of producing this book and others like it, please go to:

Supporting Charles and Barbara Micheals' Work With Wycliffe Bible Translators

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Heroes Come Home World War II Airmen Return Home The Search For Missing World War II Airmen

Two of the missing aviators who were found in the wreckage discovered in 1982.

2nd Lt. Valorie L. Pollard and Sgt. Dominick J. Licari (Photos courtesy of Pacific Wrecks and the Licari Family Collection)

Winter Park, Florida

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© 2018 Charles J. Micheals Published by the Aiyura Valley Historical Society

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: Pending

First Printing 2018 (Not for Sale)

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

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Dedication To the men of the U.S. Army Air Force who gave their lives to preserve freedom in Papua New Guinea and to Gary Fields and Dick Knieriemen who worked to recover the remains of lost missing aviation heroes.

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Heroes Come Home World War II Airmen Return Home The Search For Missing World War II Airmen No military service man who returned to their homeland after World War II wanted to leave their fellow war buddies as “Missing In Action (MIA).” Worse still was the sense of loss for the families of these missing service men. Not knowing what happened to their loved ones took its toll in the broken hearts of distraught loved ones. The fear of their loved ones possibly falling into the hands of the enemy and suffering torture were at time too difficult to bear.

This was especially true for those families whose loved ones served in New Guinea. Stories of the atrocities at the hands of the Japanese were more than just fables. Gruesome discoveries had been made in 1942 of 125 Australian soldiers who were shot or bayoneted to death by the Japanese during the massacre of those prisoners of war, which occurred at Tol Plantation northeast of Gasmata on the New Guinea island of New Britain after the fall of Rabaul1.

Over the 70 plus years since World War II ended, the search continues for missing service men around the world and in New Guinea. The U.S. Government’s Department of Defense has a special unit, the Defense Prisoner of War, Missing Personnel Office to help located these lost loved ones. However, not all missing personnel are found by U.S. military personnel. Thankfully, standing in the gap are many private citizens who have a desire to help bring an end to these uncertainties and have joined in the search.

Such is the case in the initial discovery of the two aviators of a plane shot down in New Guinea in the war.

In that tragedy, 2nd Lt. Valorie Pollard of Monterey, California went missing along with Sgt. Dominick J.

1

The Argus, “125 Soldiers Massacred By Japanese, A Survivors Story”, April 10, 1942, 3. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/8241340

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Licari of Frankfort, New York. They disappeared along with two other aircraft after their A-20 Havoc aircraft disappeared in New Guinea following an attack on enemy targets on March 13, 1944. However, these two men in particular and eventually the other airmen did not stay missing thanks to two special men with hearts of gold for missing airmen’s families. These men were Gary Fields and the late Dick Knieriemen who passed away in 2018 and their efforts brought closure to Gold Star families of WW II.

These men and their spouses joined Wycliffe Bible Translators to serve with their families in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with the renowned linguistic organization, SIL International (then known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics). Dick and his wife Diana joined Wycliffe in 1974 and Gary and his wife Joy joined Wycliffe in 1980 and it was during their time of service with SIL that Gary helped find with the assistance of the local Papua New Guinea villagers, the missing aircraft which Dick then reported the findings to the right authorities.

Gary was trained as a carpenter and Dick was trained as an aviation mechanic and they both served with SIL using those skills at the SIL linguistic organization main center of operations in PNG known as Ukarumpa.

The story of the recovery of the aircraft and more importantly the missing airmen in this book starts with Dick Knieriemen and his heart for aviation and finding MIAs, but ended with Gary Fields, having a similar long-term interest by making the actual aircraft discovery and then with Dick’s help making this known to the world. Both families came to PNG with an attitude of and service to all and that included serving those far outside the scope of those whom SIL served. It reached all the way back to the families who sent their loved ones into service in PNG in WW II.

Dick’s passion to pursue leads he received about a missing World War II aircraft were many. However, this short story is specifically about Gary’s and Dick’s involvement in actually not just one missing aircraft, but three missing WW II aircraft and their crews. Details of the airplane’s general location of their disappearances were known, but the exact location of the crash site was not known until the action by Gary and the PNG villagers. This book details the actions taken to discover the crash sites and then the recovery of the airmen’s remains that happened after that discovery.

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My thanks go to these who helped make this book possible:

❖ Gary and Joy Fields ❖ Diana Knieriemen, wife of Dick Knieriemen. ❖ Dana Peifer, youngest daughter of Dick and Diana Knieriemen.

A special word of thanks goes to my wife Barb for her help during the time it took to collect material and to write this short book. She encouraged me to keep working on this project and gave advice on many practical things. She also helped with editing and proofreading. Without her help, this work would not have been completed.

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Chapter 1

On To New Guinea It takes men of valor to fight in any war, but the war in New Guinea in the early part of the 1940s took special courage and grit as the terrain was mostly uncharted and the countryside still an untamed place where cannibalism was still widely practiced and tribal warfare dominated the landscape. Any aviator who was shot down or crashed or infantryman lost in the jungles had little chance of survival.

The war in the early 1940s in New Guinea was brutal. Yet, the reason to fight against the Imperial forces of Japan, which had invaded the island located just above Australia, was just and the effort to free an island from tyranny was worth any cost to bear. It had become critical to win the battle in New Guinea as the Japanese war machine had created havoc all over the Pacific Ocean and was threatening the country of Australia. If New Guinea fell, the cause of freedom would be lost in the Pacific, Australia as well as New Zealand.

The island of New Guinea at the time of the war had little infrastructure and what was there had been put in place by the Australian government. However, during the war, what was there was systematically destroyed by the Japanese. Christian missionary outposts, which had been built to educate the people and bring them the Christian religion, were also particularly sought after as targets by the Japanese. What the jungle didn’t swallow up, the Japanese did as they used as a place to wreak havoc and death.

Providentially, it was two missionaries who would be the ones to bring these two missing military aviators’ home.

Among many thousands of men of valor from the United States who fought in World War II, six airmen men in particular are the focus of our story.

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The Aircraft – A20 Havoc The aircraft noted in this book are the A-20 Havoc. The photo below is not of the men in this book, but the photo is of the A-20 airplanes with the 312th Bombardment Group in May 1944 at the Gusap airfield.

A-20 Havoc “F” and personnel of the 312th Bombardment Group, May 28, 1944.2

2

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/aircrafts-2-3/a-20/312-bomb-group-a-20-havoc-f/

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A-20 Havoc takes off from Gusap – April 1944 (Photo courtesy of the International Historical Research Associates)

In Aircraft – A20G – 42-54082 Twenty-six-year-old U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Valorie L. Pollard from of Monterey, California and thirtytwo-year-old Sgt. Dominick J. Licari from Frankfort, New York were two of the many missing aviators in New Guinea.

After being drafted in 1942, they were assigned to the US Army Air Corps, 312th Bombardment Group, 389th Bombardment Squadron in New Guinea. Valorie served as the pilot while Dominick was the Gunner on the two-man A-20 Havoc aircraft. Both were young men in the prime of their life had been called by their nation and responded to right what was wrong in the world.

Valorie Llewelyn Pollard was born on September 27, 1918 in Yuba City, Sutter County, California, USA. At the time of his death his home was in Monterey, California. He was married to Treva Yvonne Van Landingham and they had one child, a daughter Sandra Valorie Pollard who born a few months after her father’s death.

Valorie was awarded the Purple Heart and the Air Medal for his military service. He was officially declared dead on January 27, 1946.

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2nd Lt. Valorie L. Pollard and Sgt. Dominick J. Licari (Photos courtesy of Pacific Wrecks and the Licari Family Collection)

Dominick J. Licari was born in Frankfort, New York on October 18, 1912, the son of the Samuel and Rosalie Barbino Licari. Dominick was the third oldest of nine children born to Italian immigrants. He was a handsome boy who loved baseball and playing his trumpet who brought his brother Mort to games so he could serve as catcher while his strong-armed big brother warmed up. He attended school in Frankfort and graduated from Frankfort High School. He was a communicant of St. Mary's Church, Frankfort.

Sgt. Licari was inducted into the US Army on April 22, 1942. He received his basic training at Camp Upton, Camp Wheeler, Fort Meade, Fort Jackson and Columbia Air Base. Following his training, he was presented his wings and promoted to Gunner. In November of 1943, he was sent overseas where he was a Gunner aboard a Mitchell Bomber and later on the ill-fated A-20 Havoc Bomber (A-20G-10-DO Havoc Serial Number 42-54082 Tail W) that crashed in the area of Saidor while bombing the military airfield at Alexishafen. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Air Medal for his military service. He was officially declared dead on February 6, 1946.

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News of Dominick's death devastated his family. Mort Licari said, “We prayed and held out hope he would be found, maybe injured," he said. "As the years went on, all we could hope for was he hadn't suffered."

After the military officially declared Dominick dead in early 1946 the family kept a grave marker with his name on it at the family plot in Frankfort, Illinois where they hoped that one day he would be buried alongside his parents and other siblings.

In Aircraft – A20G – 42-54085

1943- 2nd Lieutenant Henry J.”Bill” Miars 1944 - (L-R) Unknown, Miars, Spears (Photos from Pacific Wrecks via Anna Underwood34)

Henry J. ”Bill” Miars was born on September 2, 1916 in New Hope, Texas and was the third child of Henry and Katie Miars. He after graduating high school he enlisted in the military on November 18, 1940, a full year before Pearl Harbor in initially served with the Air Cadets as a clerk. He eventually became an Air Cadet and then was assigned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army Air Corps, assigned to the 5th Air Force, 3rd Bombardment Group, 89th Bombardment Squadron.

3 4

https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/a-20/42-54085/henry-miars.html https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/a-20/42-54085/miars-spears.html

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Miars received his pilot training in 1943 at the Yuma Army Airfield (Yuma Country, Arizona) in Squadron 14 under the direction of 1st Lieutenant Quentin W. Quigley, thought by some as “the toughest, most hardboiled C.O. that ever "braced" a cadet.5” This training proved invaluable in Miars service in the military.

In August 1943 he was deployed to New Guinea. On March 10, 1944 Miars was assigned to the 312th Bombardment Group, 389th Bombardment Squadron. He served as the Pilot of two-man A-20 Havoc aircraft. Staff Harley A. Spear Jr. was the Gunner on the airplane.

1943 at the Yuma Army Airfield (Yuma Country, Arizona) - Squadron 14

Staff Sergeant and Gunner, Harley Alphonso Speare, Jr. was born on August 29, 1921 (His grave marker notes the August 29 date, but elsewhere his birth date is noted as August 21) in Maryland to Harley and Viola Speare. He resided in Wicomico County, Maryland prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on September 4, 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (His enlistment papers with the USA government state the September 4 date, but elsewhere it is noted that he enlisted on his 21st birthday, August 21, 1942). He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed in the manufacture of textiles and also as single, without dependents.

5

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Yuma_Army_Airfield_1943_Classbook.pdf

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He was assigned to the 312th Bombardment Group, 389th Bombardment Squadron where he served as the Gunner on the two-man A-20 Havoc aircraft. (Note, his gravestone notes he was in the 649th Bombardment Squadron.)

In Aircraft – A20G – 42-54117 Carl H. Hansen served as a 2nd Lieutenant and Pilot on A-20G "Francie II" #42-54117, 389th Bomber Squadron, 312th Bomber Group, Light, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. He was born to parents Carl and Virginia Hansen in 1921 in Pennsylvania, but resided in Stockton, California prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on April 14, 1942 in Los Angeles, California. He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed as a Civil Engineer and also as married to his wife Doris and a child Sheila Virginia Hansen (b. October 19, 1942)6. Carl was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.7

1943 - Sergeant Ernest Bustamante (Photo from Pacific Wrecks via USAAF Via Michael Bustamante8)

Ernest Bustamante served as a Sergeant and Gunner on A-20G "Francie II" #42-54117, 389th Bomber Squadron, 312th Bomber Group, Light, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. He resided in Los Angeles

6

https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2d/91/610.html

7

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56755745/carl-h-hansen

8

https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/a-20/42-54117/1944/bustamante.html

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County, California prior to the war. He enlisted in the Army on January 30, 1943 in Los Angeles, California.

He was noted, at the time of his enlistment, as being employed in the woodworking occupation and also as single, without dependents. He was on his first combat mission when he died in the airplane crash.

Ernest was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart. 9

9

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56754693/ernest-v.-bustamante

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Chapter 2

Serving In New Guinea While major battles in New Guinea had been previously fought and won by the Allies in 1942 and 1943, the battle still raged on in certain places on the island and it required a continued determined effort to bring a complete end to Japanese aggression and domination. To bring the war in New Guinea to an end Valorie and Dominick (42-54082), Miars and Speare (42-55085) and Hansen and Bustamante (42-54117) along with six other crews were called to go on a bombing mission in their A-20 bomber on March 13, 1944. However, the crew crews noted, never came back alive.

World War II airman Sgt. Dominick Licari, right, with other airmen. (Photo courtesy of the Licari Family Collection)

The airmen who didn’t come back were part of the 389th Squadron. They flew their first combat mission on March 13, 1944. March was a difficult month for the 389th Squadron with the loss of four airplane 17 | P a g e

crews. On that day, nine planes from the 389th took off from the Gusap Airfield. The Gusap Airfield was located in the Ramu Valley of New Guinea at the base of the Finisterre Range, a rugged mountain range on the north coast of New Guinea. The low-level bombing target was the Alexishafen Airfield, which is on the north side of the island.

Major Seimon W. Wells led the mission and over the target his plane was hit by antiaircraft fire, but he and his gunner Staff Sergeant Jack W. Bachelder were able to ditch in the ocean. Before going down, Wells was able to radio Colonel Robert H. Strauss in another airplane and asked him to circle until they were rescued. Strauss did so and then radioed to 1st Lieutenant Kenneth Hedges to lead the rest of the six airplanes home. After the two men in the water were picked up by a PBY Catalina, Strauss flew back to Gusap.

Kar Kar Island

•

Alexishafen Saidor Missing planes went down here

Finisterre Range Map10 10

www.samhs.org.au/VirtualMuseum/Medicine/drugs_nonsurg/TheGreatCinchonaRobberies/Kainanturegionmap.jpg

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Hedges was leading the six remaining A-20s back to Gusap, but they flew into bad weather with clouds obscuring the visibility. The planes started to climb over the Finisterre Mountain Range, but discovered that it was impossible to cross the mountains and so with Hedges running low on fuel he figured the safest thing to do was to cross the Finisterre Mountains by flying along a ridge line at 10,000 feet and then glide into Gusap. After flying for a short while, when there was a break in the clouds, Hedges looked and saw only three planes instead of six.

2nd Lieutenant Calvin Slade was one of the three pilots Hedges saw, but he too was having trouble keeping his position in the bad weather and so decided to leave the formation and turn back.

Relying on his instruments, Slade flew back to the ocean where the cloud bank ended. From there, he followed the coastline and eventually found his way to the Ramu River and Gusap. The other two aircraft and Hedges made it back to Gusap, but three missing A-20s never made it back.

Lt. Kenneth Hedges (Photo courtesy of IHRA11)

A search party set off the next day to rescue any survivors. Eight planes took part in the search. Three searched from Faita to Bogadjim, three searched along the coastline from Bogadjim to Kar Kar Island and two searched from Bogadjim to Finschhafen and Lae. They returned to their base by mid-afternoon without finding anything.

A second search party of seven planes took off later that afternoon searching Gusap, Dumpu, Madang, Saidor and down the coast to Finschhafen and the town of Lae. Again, no wreckage or people were found.

A check of all nearby airfields where the planes could have landed was conducted, but nothing turned up.

The following week the 312th Bomb Group continued their search for three missing planes, but to no avail. It wasn’t until 1982 with Gary’s discovery that the mystery of the three missing planes was uncovered and much of that discovery is due to the memory of one old Papua New Guinean who was still alive. His careful mapping of these crashes and passing this information down to their sons is the real hero of this story. Sadly, this man and those PNG men who took that trip are unknown and no photos were taken of that PNG discovery party.

11 https://airwarworldwar2.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/the-jinx-of-the-389th/

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A-20G Aircraft (Public Domain)

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Chapter 3

Finding Missing WW II Planes The finding of downed planes is of interest to many. However, the finding of downed military planes is of special interest to a more limited group of people. Gary Fields and Dick Knieriemen were among such a group serving with Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) in Papua New Guinea. Their passion for helping locate those who were Missing in Action (MIA) took them to many places in PNG. Dick’s interest took him to the most sites of the two men. While serving full time in aviation work with SIL, Dick took weekends and other time off to explore potential crash sites. Gary’s interest was there as well, but he had fewer opportunities to explore various sites due to work constraints and because his time serving in PNG has shorter than Dick’s.

On a number of occasions when Dick went exploring crash sites, he found downed aircraft. In many cases, remains of the crew had already been recovered. However, it wasn’t until Dick reached the sites and details of the aircraft numbers could be secured that it was known if the aircraft had already been logged as being found. In the years after WWII, the jungle had swallowed up almost all of the crash sites and it took trips to the crash sites to discover the truth of what remained. The hope was always that some discoveries would bring the MIA’s home. That happened on more than one occasion and Dick’s daughter Dana briefly details Dick’s interest: “While my family was in Papua New Guinea as a support team for Wycliffe Bible Translators, my dad took the initiative to locate and report various WWII aircraft wrecks. He visited many of the remote jungle sites himself, and six of the sites were significant in that they had never been located prior and were still listed as Missing In Action (MIA). In the late 80′s I remember my dad getting some memorable phone calls from family members of those he found, expressing gratitude for the closure they gained from his efforts.”

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1988 - Dick Knieriemen at a B24 Bomber crash site where he found the remains of the missing airman and his dog tags near the Kassam Pass, PNG (Photo courtesy of Diana Knieriemen)

1988 - Dick Knieriemen at the same B24 Bomber crash site where he located the propeller blade (Photo courtesy of Diana Knieriemen)

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1988 - Dick Knieriemen at the same B24 Bomber crash site where he located an unexploded 500 lb. bomb! (Photo courtesy of Diana Knieriemen)

1988 - Dick Knieriemen at a B47 wreckage where he found the left main landing gear near Ponampa, PNG (Photo courtesy of Diana Knieriemen)

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The Missing Aircraft Discovery In July 1982, Gary Fields was on a SIL construction project in a village in the Finisterre Mountain Range.

When Gary made his plans to go out to build a house for Craig and Pat Spaulding, Bible translators with Wycliffe Bible Translators working on the Nankina translation project, he had no real idea of any lost aircraft were in the area, but he was curious.

The area where the Spaulding’s lived was remote and only a small number of people, around 2000 speakers of the Nankina language lived in the area. Likely, even fewer people lived in the area in WW II. Yet, it was from stories passed down from the older PNG men as noted that the location of many

missing

aircraft

were

known.

However, many stories never reached the appropriate military circles where the discoveries could be recorded and remains secured.

Such was the case with the three missing WW II aircraft. While the locations were known by the local villagers, it remained a secret until Gary asked the villagers if they were aware of any downed WW II aircraft.

An old man replied that he seen the planes go down.

The clearing for the Spaulding’s house is in the lower center (Photo courtesy of Gary Fields)

It is no wonder that this news had not reached the world outside this language community. To get in to this village, one had to fly in a small airplane to the nearby coastal town of Saidor and from there either walk for several days or take a helicopter to land in the middle of the Finisterre Mountains in Nankina.

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The Finisterre Mountain Range is an imposing range mountain range in northeastern PNG near the base of the Huon Peninsula. The tributaries coming from this mountain range lead into the Markham and Ramu rivers. Its tall peaks, reaching above 13,000 feet, snagged many aircraft in WWII. The range is also probably best known for the Finisterre Range Campaign (1943–1944) of WWII and in particular the Battle of Shaggy Ridge which saw fierce fighting between the Australian and Japanese military forces.12 To say you were in the most remote place in the world is no overstatement!

1982 - Gary Fields at the small Saidor airport standing next to a propeller of another WW II aircraft that had already been recovered. (Colorized photo courtesy of Gary Fields)

At the time Gary went to the village to build the house with two local SIL carpenters from Ukarumpa, Craig and Pat Spaulding were in the village. However, after a short period of time after Gary arrived, the SIL PNG administrators contacted Craig and Pat by short wave radio and asked them to travel to Ukarumpa so Craig could take up teaching geography at the Missionary Kids (MK) high school at Ukarumpa because of a lack of other teachers. By this time, the house being built had the roof on it and so Craig and Pat flew

12

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markham,_Ramu_and_Finisterre_campaigns

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to Ukarumpa and Wes Reed came out to help Gary. Wes and LeeAnn Reed had recently come to PNG as Bible translators and they were looking for a language community to work in. Wes thought taking a trip in that area would be good for him to learn more about that area. [Note: Wes and LeeAnn Reed eventually went on to do Bible translation work in the Yopno language community, which is a language community next to the Nankina language13]

Madang Province, Language Map (Photo courtesy of SIL PNG Language Resources14)

When Gary asked the villagers if they knew of any aircraft from WW II crashed in their area, they responded by saying that three aircraft had crashed in the same day. The villagers said that although they heard three crashes, they only were able to locate two of the three aircraft. One village man had visited one crash site shortly after it crashed and another man visited another site at that time, but no one had visited both sites. There was a legend in that area that kept most villagers away. That legend was that the place where the planes crashed was haunted by evil spirits so not many more visits were made to the

13 14

https://www.wycliffe.org/blog/posts/a-bible-in-a-backpack https://pnglanguages.sil.org/resources/provinces/province/Madang/map

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sites. The villagers did say they had taken the crewmen out of one of the planes and placed then under the wing of the aircraft.

Gary asked the villagers if they would take him to one of the crash sites. They told him the site was nearby, but the walk from the village to the crash site took most of one full day. The small group of men who went (Gary, Wes and a couple of village men) stopped about two hours before sunset. They collected firewood and filled their canteens and bivouacked for the night under the stars. The night was long and cold for Gary and Wes, but for the villagers covered only with a thin bark tapa cloth (tree bark that is pounded flat and made into a rough blanket) they slept fine.

The next morning, they awoke early, had a bit to eat and set off for the remaining hike to the crash site. They arrived mid-morning at the top of a sharp ridge line with the debris of the aircraft quite scattered.

Gary at the crash site holding one the aircraft machine guns (Colorized photo courtesy of Gary Fields)

The biggest piece in sight was about the size of a car door. They looked at all the parts of the wreckage they could find and could not find any aircraft numbers. Gary did find one of the machine guns from the aircraft, but they didn’t find much of any value they could take with them. Only the heel of a boot sharply sliced in two was noted. As much of the crash debris was scattered on a steep 45-degree slope, they did not continue to explore the site for fear of falling down the slope.

After reviewing all they could find, the team decided to head back to the village. They did not want to spend another night in the bush, so they hurried back to the Spaulding’s house arriving before nightfall.

Along the path, one of the villagers remarked that the other aircraft was closer and likely had more valuable information, but time did not permit for visiting the second plane crash.

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Once back at Ukarumpa and the Spauldings were back in the village, radio communications between the village and Ukarumpa revealed that the village men had made another trip to the crash site visited by Gary and were able to secure the number on the aircraft. The number they found on the tail of the aircraft was “254085”.

That information was passed on to Dick Knieriemen who passed the information on to Bruce Hoy, the PNG War Museum curator who had worked with Dick before. Bruce contacted the US Embassy and after checking with the military Bruce was able to tell Gary and Dick that this was one of the missing planes (A20G-42-5408515).

Gary Fields in the thick underbrush at the crash site (Colorized photo courtesy of Gary Fields)

In early 1983, a team from the U.S. Defense Department came to Papua New Guinea, but could not find the crash site Gary visited. They contact Dick for the coordinates and a month later, a team from the U.S. 15https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/a-20/42-54085.html

(The account on this web page about what a “Jerry Fields” reported is distorted. Attempts have been made to correct that account, but to date, no changes have been made. The account told in this book is a more accurate account of what happened.)

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Army Center Identification Laboratory in Hawaii (CILHI) visited the site and identified it as A-20G aircraft noted, but no remains were found.

On a second visit on August 31, 1983, the remains of the Pilot 2 nd Lieutenant Henry Jefferson “Bill” Miars was found, but not Gunner Staff Sergeant Harley A. Speare, Jr. Lieutenant Miars’ inscribed silver bracelet and silver pilots wings were recovered, along with his wrist watch which had stopped likely at the time of impact at 12:45 pm. It was noted that the airplane crashed at 8,210 feet elevation. A third visit by the CILHI was conducted on July 11, 1989 with Bruce Hoy, but nothing new was noted. A final visit was made in August 1990. Staff Sergeant Harley Speare is still listed as Mission In Action.

Henry Miars at Yuma Army Airfield (Photo from Find A Grave16)

Personal Effects of 2nd Lieutenant Henry J. “Bill” Miars (Photo from Pacific Wrecks via Anna Underwood17)

In August 1984 the remains and personal effects of Miars were returned to his parents and he was buried in Fairview Cemetery in Hubbard, Texas.18

Many years passed and finally on May 2, 1999, another CILHI team resurveyed the crash site and again found no human remains and recommended that the site be placed in a pending category. During May 2008, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) personnel surveyed the crash site and recommended it for a recovery mission. This crash site was designated PP-00382.

16

https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2011/160/11241811_130773710740.jpg https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/a-20/42-54085/artifacts.html 18 https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/a-20/42-54085/grave-miars-fairview-cemetery.html 17

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During March 10 to April 7, 2012, a JPAC team (mission 12-1PP) led by Kristen Baker excavated the crash site for aircraft A20G – 42-54082, which was one of the other crash site the villagers had previously located after it went down.

One Missing Pilot Identified “Officials at the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office in Washington confirmed that Sgt. Licari's remains had been identified through DNA testing. Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan said none of other bone fragments found at the crash site have been identified as Pollard's. They are included in a separate set of "group remains" believed to be those of Pollard and Licari that will be buried at a later date, likely at Arlington National Cemetery.19”

During late 2012, the Department of Defense requested a DNA sample from Licari's brother, August Licari.

On July 17, 2013, U.S. military officials notified the Licari family that his remains and those of Pollard were found and identified. On July 19, 2013 Pollard's relatives were contacted.

There they recovered human remains. Personal effects found at the site included both of Licari's dog tags (his name was misspelled "Licabi" on the tag). Also, sunglasses, coins, zippers, a thermos, trench knife scabbard, buttons and clasps. The recovered remains and evidence were transported to the CILHI laboratory arriving on April 20, 2012.

Outer wing panel and US star and markings (Photos courtesy of Pacific Wrecks via Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command - JPAC)

Eventually in 1990, the third site for aircraft A20G 42-54117 was located and remains of both airmen (Pilot 2nd Lieutenant Carl H. Hansen and Gunner Sergeant Ernest Bustamante) were collected. That plane was 19

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/25/remains-of-wwii-airman-id/2587729/

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found along the same ridge as the other two. As the web site “Pacific Wrecks” reports, “It appears as if the pilot may have seen the rising terrain in front of him and immediately pulled back on the stick, but the proximity of the rising terrain was too close and he more or less mushed into the trees and the forward part of the aircraft impacted with a small cliff, destroying the forward part but leaving the rear from the wing back intact. The elevation would have been roughly 7,800 feet.20”

A20G 42-54117 wreckage (Photo courtesy of Pacific Wrecks via Richard Leahy)

20

https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/a-20/42-54117.html

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Chapter 4

The Burials Eventually,

when the remains of both Valorie Pollard and Dominick Licari were identified, Dick

Knieriemen’s daughter Dana shared the families’ experience of finding out who the remains were that her dad had passed along information about:

“In recent months the director of pacificwrecks.org found and contacted my dad about an upcoming burial of recently-excavated remains from one of the sites my dad reported. The families of the two men being buried requested my dad attend, and he was more than pleased to go.

I had to stay home with the kids, but Matt my husband was able to join them for the day at Arlington National Cemetery. A highlight for my dad was receiving a token of appreciation from the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel. I’m so proud of my dad!”

News Flash!

Two U.S. Army Air Force troops who died during World War II are set to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

September 2013: "The Pentagon's POW-Missing Personnel Office announced Thursday that the remains of Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Valorie Pollard21 of Monterey, Calif., and some remains of Sgt. Dominick Licari22 of Frankfort will be buried with full military honors in a single casket Thursday at Arlington, outside Washington."

21 22

https://www.ksbw.com/article/monterey-wwii-serviceman-to-be-buried-in-arlington-national-cemetery-2/1292801 https://iocovozzifuneralhomes.com/tribute/details/221/SGT-J-Licari/memorial-video.html

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Sandra Pollard, the daughter of Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Valorie L. Pollard, who was missing from World War II, watches as the casket containing the remains of her father and the remains of Army Air Force Sgt. Dominick J. Licari arrive for the burial service at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013. The recently identified remains of Licari, a World War II airman from upstate New York, and Licari, a pilot from California, were buried in a single casket. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Now there are now two more known soldiers whose graves are in Arlington National Cemetery because of Gary, Dick, their PNG friends and the United States military.

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The casket is lowered into position for the burial service of Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Valorie L. Pollard and Army Air Force Sgt. Dominick J. Licari, who were missing from World War II, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013. The recently identified remains of Licari, a World War II airman from upstate New York, and Licari, a pilot from California, were buried in a single casket. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Gravestone at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. (Photo courtesy of Find A Grave23)

23

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116998708#view-photo=106234307

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Sandra Pollard (daughter of Valorie Pollard) meets Dick and Diana Knieriemen at Arlington Cemetery (Photo courtesy of the Monterey Herald)

2013 - Dick and Diana Knieriemen - Arlington National Cemetery, Washington D.C. (Photo courtesy of Diana Knieriemen)

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2013 - Dick Knieriemen receiving a token of appreciation from the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Prisoner of War/ Missing Personnel, Army Maj. Gen. W. Montague “Q” Winfield. (Photo courtesy of Diana Knieriemen)

The following is an excerpt from a newspaper article written up about the event in The Lancaster News (SC News).24

The Knieriemens didn’t meet the families of Licari and Pollard that day. Outside the chapel, Richard said a smiling man approached the couple and asked, “Sir, are you Richard Kneiriemen?” Richard said he was taken aback for good reason.

He knew how to pronounce my name, and I said, “Why, yes I am.” Richard said. The man then introduced himself and shook Richard’s hand. It was retired Army Maj. Gen. W. Montague “Q” Winfield. Winfield is the deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Affairs. Winfield is

24 The Lancaster News (SC News), October 27, 2013, https://www.thelancasternews.com/content/gift-beyond-man%E2%80%99s-

explanation-god%E2%80%99s-gift

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responsible for leading the Department of Defense’s worldwide commitment to the fullest possible accounting of Americans missing in action from all conflicts.

He said, “You don’t know me, but I know you, know all about you and what you have done.” said Richard.

Winfield then presented Richard with a DOD “Coin of Excellence” for his role in helping get the two servicemen back home.

“I was just stunned.” Dick said. These days, that coin is kept in a small office inside the Knieriemen home.

“I guess one of these days, the grandkids will be trying to decide who gets it,” Diana said laughing.

Richard, who suffered for Parkinson’s disease, held the shiny blue and gold coin in his good hand and stared at it, smiling.

That hand, and one that doesn’t quite work as well as it once did, has tightened and loosened more than its share of airplane parts. After all, getting stranded flyers back home, is his gift.

“You know, I can’t really explain any of this,” he said. But, Dick doesn’t try. “Only God”, he said, “can do that.”

(Dick Knieriemen with the token of appreciation from the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense)

Dick Knieriemen died on July 30, 2018.25

Note: Remains representing Pollard and Licari, were buried as a group in a single casket, on Sept. 19, 2013 at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. The individually identified remains of Licari were buried prior to that on August 6, 2013 in Frankfort, NY at the Mount Olivet Cemetery with full military honors.

25

https://www.echovita.com/us/obituaries/sc/lancaster/richard-knieriemen-7786524

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For the burial of Dominick Licari in his home town, veterans’ groups, businesses and residents along a 10mile stretch of the Mohawk Valley paid tribute to Licari as his remains made the journey home. Honor guards from Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion chapters were posted along Route 5 as the vehicle procession carrying his casket left the New York State Thruway at Little Falls and traveled to Frankfort, west of Albany.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the lowering of flags on state government buildings to half-staff on August 3, 2013 to honor Sgt. Licari.

A memorial plaque has now been erected at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Funeral for Sgt. Dominick J. Licari (Photo Courtesy of Pacific Wrecks)

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Gravestone (Photo Courtesy of Melissa Wohler)

In Aircraft – A20G – 42-54085 The body of Pilot 2nd Lieutenant Henry Jefferson “Bill” Miars was brought back to the USA in August 1984.

After arriving in Dallas, Texas it was ferried to Hubbard, Texas 80 miles south of Dallas where he received a military funeral. He is buried at the Fairview Cemetery there.

August 6, 1984 - The Times Newspaper, Shreveport, Louisiana

(Photo courtesy of Find A Grave26) 26

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11241811/henry-j-miars#view-photo=21747046

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The body of Gunner Staff Sergeant Harley A. Speare, Jr. has yet to be found. His name is inscribed on the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial on the Tablets of the Missing.

Tablets of the Missing27

Although the body has not yet been recovered, there is a gravestone marker erected in Taylor’s Cemetery in Sharptown, Maryland.

(Photo courtesy of Find A Grave28)

27 28

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56774088/harley-alphonso-speare/photo https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52913960/harley-alphonso-speare

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“The following was written in Memory of SSgt Harley A. Spear, Jr., United States Army Air Corps, by John E. Goslee, December 6, 1994, and is proudly displayed at American Legion Post 218, Sharptown, MD.

Harley A. Spear was born August 21, 1921, the youngest son of Harley and Viola Spear of Sharptown, MD. He attended school at the old Sharptown Elementary and High School, located on the same street that he lived on all of his civilian life. As a small boy he liked to run around and make believe he was flying an airplane. He had an inventive mind and enjoyed building things with his Gilbert Erector sets and became a mechanic at Joe Morgan’s Garage before finishing school.

He enjoyed playing softball and soccer. In 1938, he helped to lead his graduating class to the County championship for soccer. As a young boy he followed in his father’s and brother’s footsteps as a musician. He played trumpet in the Sharptown Fireman’s Band and his favorite song was “Home on the Range”. Harley was in the unit until it was disbanded because of World War ll.

Harley graduated from high school in 1938. He worked for a while at the E.I. DuPont Co. in Seaford, DE. During that time he purchased his first car, a 1939 maroon two door Ford. You could see him polishing it at every opportunity. His father drove it for many years.

When World War ll started, Harley went to work for the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Co. in Baltimore, Maryland. On August 21, 1942, on his 21st birthday, he joined the United States Army Air Corps.

Following boot camp, Harley became a gunner and later a gunnery instructor, receiving his first stripes in the process. He volunteered for combat duty and was assigned to the 389th Bomber Squadron of the 312th Bomb Group attached to the Fifth Air Force. That unit was equipped with the Douglass A-20 Attack Bomber that was at that time the fastest of its type in the U.S. arsenal.

The unit would be operating from bases on the island of New Guinea in the South Pacific.

On one of the unit’s earliest missions, the bombing of a Japanese airfield on the island’s northeast coast, violent storms forced the mission to be aborted and the 12 planes of Harley’s squadron turned back. While flying back to base through the worsening weather three of the squadron’s planes were lost and Harley’s was one of them. After much searching in the following weeks, the Army gave up, but on August 31, 1983, Harley’s A-20, Ser. No. G-10-42-54085 was found in the mountain jungle of New Guinea. The remains of the pilot, 2nd Lt. Henry I. Miars of Hubbard, Texas, were found on board, but no trace of Harley was ever found. It was suspected that he may have 42 | P a g e

jumped out since his chute was missing. An old native remembered burying the body of an American soldier, but it had been so long he could not remember where the grave was. Also, in this remote region the jungle growth can cover something in a matter of days. There is a possibility that Harley could have been captured, but this is doubtful because the jungle there was so dense, and there were no reports of enemy activity in or near the area.

Harley’s father accepted the fact that his son wasn’t coming back, but Harley’s mother never did and always believed he would walk through the door someday. She died just before Harley’s plane was found in 1983. His mother and father are buried in Taylor’s Cemetery beside an empty grave marked with a monument dedicated to the memory of Staff Sergeant Harley A. Spear, U.S.A.A.C. May God Bless them all.”29

29

http://www.wicomicociviccenter.org/_Assets/pdf/WWII.pdf

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In Aircraft – A20G – 42-54117 Carl is buried at Burwood Cemetery in Escalon, California. He also has a "Cenotaph" at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Philippines.30 Having actually gone "Missing" on March 13, 1944, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until January 27, 1946. A "Rosette" was placed in front of his name at Manila to signify that his remains were recovered.

30

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56755745/carl-h-hansen

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From the Manila American Cemetery – Memorial Certificate31 31

https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/hansen%3Dcarl-6

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Ernest Bustamante is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He also has a "Cenotaph" at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Philippines.32 Having actually gone "Missing" on March 13, 1944, he was not officially declared by the military as being dead until January 27, 1946. A "Rosette" was placed in front of his name at Manila to signify that his remains were recovered.

Ernest Bustamante is buried at Arlington National Cemetery33

Information about his return to the USA for burial is found here: https://www.latimes.com/archives/laxpm-1991-10-10-ti-3-story.html

32 33

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56754693/ernest-v.-bustamante https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/121280766/ernest-v-bustamante

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Chapter 5

Reflections Dana shared that sometime after the burial ceremonies took place at Arlington Cemetery, she took her parents to see the “Changing of the Guard” at the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier”, as Dick and Diana always wanted to see that. When they got back to their place that night, the family gave Dick a folded US flag in a glass box that had flown over the US Capital on July 4, 2013. It was a birthday present for their dad. He loved it and it now sits on the Knieriemen’s mantel as a reminder of their memorable trip to Washington D.C..

The last two pictures are of Dana and Matt’s little boy Nathan, who is now seven years old. He and others learned that freedom is not free and that all heroes need to come home!

2013 – Freedom is not free. – Nathan at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington D.C. (Photo courtesy of Diana Knieriemen)

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Post Script

Dick Knieriemen’s Aviation Story Richard’s (Dick) first interest in aviation began in 1950 when he was 10 years old. His dad took him to the Newark, New Jersey airport (they lived in Rahway, New Jersey) for Dick to see one of the first demonstrations that the ‘Thunderbirds’ performed. When Dick was in the 6th grade he began building model airplanes.

In Junior High, Dick liked hanging around a small local airport. He was offered flying lessons, when someone saw his interest, in exchange for washing airplanes and cutting grass. That lasted only six months when the airport was sold to a developer.

In 1960, the company Dick worked for in New Jersey, asked him to move to California to work in their office there. Dick made the move. Since Dick was single at the time and had some extra money he pursued his interest in flying again and took up lessons. He got his license in 41 hours and continued to fly.

Dick was critically injured in a plane crash in 1962. If God had not intervened, Dick would not have ever served in New Guinea.

In 1965, Dick began the Missionary Aviation Program at Moody Bible Institute (MBI) in Chicago, Illinois.

Due to Dick running out of money and not able to pay his tuition, he returned to California. Dick and Diana met at their church there and got married April 20, 1968. In 1969, they both returned to MBI. In the spring of that year they traveled to Elizabethton, Tennessee for Dick to finish up the aviation program. Diana was receptionist at the campus.

They joined Wycliffe Bible Translators on December 4, 1974 in Dallas Texas. They were members of Wycliffe for 37 years. They retired in July 2011 due to Dick’s progression with Parkinson’s 49 | P a g e

They served at the JAARS Center (in maintenance, not flight) from 1976 to 1981 with a break for Jungle Camp (Wycliffe missionary training camp) in Mexico in 1977.

In 1981, they left the US for Papua New Guinea for Dick to be supervisor of the aviation engine shop. They served in PNG for eight years (two terms) until the summer of 1989.

In 1981, John and Laura King joined the work in Papua New Guinea (PNG). John was the government relations representative for SIL in Port Moresby, the capital city of PNG. John also had an interest in flying and so he and Dick hit it off from the start.

John met Bruce Hoy in Port Moresby that year. Bruce was director of the PNG Aviation and Maritime War Museum. He was the one to whom Dick reported locations of WWII wrecks. Bruce

would then in turn give the numbers to the US Embassy in Port Moresby. Dick finally met Bruce and really hit it off with him as well.

Bruce encouraged Dick to keep in touch with the new Bible translation teams as they allocated to their new villages, which Dick did. Dick would talk to new teams right at the hangar as they departed and tell them to keep their eyes and ears open to any news about WWII wreck sites near their village.

In 1982, when Craig Spaulding was being allocated into a village, Dick asked Craig to keep an ear out for WWII wrecks. When Craig came back from the village, he said he had heard that there were a couple of wrecks in the area. They were of no real interest to Craig, but great news for Dick.

Gary Fields (who was working with SIL in PNG) and two SIL men were assigned to build the Spauldings village house. Gary had his own interest in finding missing WW II aircraft and so when he went out there he wanted to see if he could get any information on any wrecks out there. The rest they say is history!

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Bibliography http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20130803/NEWS/308030008/N-Y-WWII-airman-s-remainsfinally-come-home http://www.10news.com/news/military/arlington-burial-for-wwii-airmen-from-ny-calif-remainsrecovered-from-papua-new-guinea09132013 http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/07/25/remains-of-wwii-airman-idd-in-s-pacific.html http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/12/us/wwii-airmen-remains-found/index.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-10-ti-3-story.html The Argus, “125 Soldiers Massacred By Japanese, A Survivors Story”, April 10, 1942, 3. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/8241340 Carola, Chris “N.Y. WWII airman's remains finally come home”, August 3, 2013 http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20130803/NEWS/308030008/N-Y-WWII-airman-s-remainsfinally-come-home Carola, Chris “N.Y. WWII airman's remains finally come home”, Online Photos, (Michael P. Farrell / AP), August 3, 2013 http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20130803/NEWS/308030008/N-Y-WWII-airman-s-remainsfinally-come-home The Sheboygan Press, March 20, 1957, 15. http://newspaperarchive.com/the-sheboygan-press/1957-03-20/page-15

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About The Author

Charles Micheals is a native of Michigan and lived the first thirty years of his life there, eventually working in the grocery industry. In 1985, Charles, his wife Barbara and their four small children joined Wycliffe Bible Translators and moved to the country of Papua New Guinea (PNG) where they worked with the internationally known non-profit linguistic organization, SIL International (formerly the Summer Institute of Linguistics). Charles served in a variety of administrative roles in PNG, including several years as the Chairman of the SIL PNG Job Evaluation and Wage Review Committee and on the SIL PNG Executive Committee.

During their 15 years of service in PNG, Bible translation work was completed in 67 languages and over 100 additional Bible translation projects were started. Today, almost 180 language communities, representing 1.8 million people in PNG have access to the Scriptures in their own languages.

In 2000, Charles and Barbara moved back to the USA and Charles served for several years as the Regional Director for Recruitment for Wycliffe, living in the Chicago, Illinois area. In 2004 they moved to Orlando, Florida where Charles served for six and one half years as the Vice President for Recruitment Ministries for Wycliffe. He currently heads up Wycliffe’s Management and Professional Recruitment Department and speaks at various mission conferences and colleges each year. Barbara helps coordinates Wycliffe’s Volunteer and Internship Placement (VIP) program and co-leads a women’s Bible study at her church.

Charles holds a BS degree in Food Distribution from Western Michigan University and a MA degree in Organization Management from Dallas Baptist University. He served on the Board of Directors for The Finishers Project (Now Mission Next), a non-profit mission dedicated to helping people in the second half of life find places to serve in missions. He has also been involved in helping create and develop Mission 52 | P a g e

Teach, a ministry dedicated to helping place teachers in MK (Missionary Kid) mission schools around the world and Military Believer, a growing ministry dedicated to helping military personnel who are leaving the military, find opportunities for service in global missions.

Charles has also authored a number of articles about the work of SIL in PNG and other historical articles about life in the Aiyura Valley in PNG. (http://issuu.com/cbmicheals/docs)

Both Charles and Barbara are members of Saint Andrew’s church in Sanford, FL and are involved in a variety of church activities there. Charles serves as an elder at the church. However, they are still members of Second Christian Reformed Church, in Kalamazoo, Michigan which is the church that commissioned them for their work with Wycliffe. All four of their children are actively supporting missions and church ministry work. Two of their four children with their spouses and children are serving with Wycliffe around the world.

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Back Cover – Gary Fields with son Scott and 50 caliber bullets from crash site of 42-54082 (Photo courtesy of Gary Fields)

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