An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | March 11, 2008

Kansas aircrew brings WWII comrades back from watery grave

By Staff Sgt. Michael Houk National Guard Bureau

A drama unfolded in the skies above the western Pacific island nation of Palau on Sept. 1, 1944, as intense fighting between American and Japanese forces was getting underway. During a raid, comrades of the U.S. Army Air Forces looked on helplessly as the crew of a B-24 Liberator bomber, the Babes in Arms, was brought down by antiaircraft fire. Three of the crew reportedly bailed out, one without a parachute, before the bomber drove headlong into the ocean never to be found or so it was thought back then.

PALAU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - A volunteer Kansas Air National Guard crew in a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 190th Air Refueling Wing returned the human remains recovered from that ill-fated bomber back to this country in early March.

Thanks to an organization called BentProp, who found the crash site in 2004, the location is no longer a mystery. BentProp is a privately funded organization that searches for planes and their crews who crashed after being shot down by the Japanese in 1944-45. They reported it to the Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command, or JPAC, who for the last three years investigated and recovered the remains from the site. The Kansas Coyotes had the honor of transporting the fallen back to U.S. soil, to Hawaii for identification.

"That seemed like a pretty good thing to do to give some closure to some families back home in the states," Master Sgt. Mark Mertel said, adding that it was an honorable thing to do and "a fine way to end my career with the Kansas Air Guard. I jumped on it. It's a great opportunity."

The Kansas crew flew from its home at Forbes Field just outside of Topeka, to Hawaii, to Guam, and from Guam another hour and a half to the Republic of Palau.

"It was really moving to see that island and kind of imagine what might have happened that day," said Maj. Jeff Warrender from the pilot's seat, "It really made me think about how brave those guys must have been and what they might've gone through before they died. To see how beautiful the island was, it was just kind of eerie."

Warrender first did a flyover inspection of the destination, a short airstrip with no tower that is usually used by smaller aircraft, in order for the crew to ensure conditions on the runway would permit a safe landing. Standing water, among other conditions, might keep the lumbering tanker from landing. Satisfied, Warrender circled back around, smoothly touched down, and brought the big plane to a quick halt on the island nation.

Local officials, without whom any of the Palau recovery efforts would have been possible, met the KC-135 crew on the runway. Jennifer Anson, executive assistant to the vice president of Palau, said the event was emotional for her, because, "a lot of my relatives were here during the war, and a lot of them went missing and we never found them.

"I'm happy for whoever's family has that peace of mind now, knowing that their family members are being returned back home," Anson added.

U.S. Navy divers sat in the back of a large truck with their cargo, two sealed black cases containing the remains of the B-24's lost crew. These divers, dispatched by JPAC to this site, spent a month and a half under 70 feet of water meticulously recovering the remains and, in some cases, personal effects of the bomber's crew.

When BentProp personnel find a site they tell JPAC, and an investigation is begun involving archaeologists, doctors, forensic scientists, divers, and whoever else is required to recover and identify a servicemember so that a family might be notified and the remains appropriately honored.

At the tanker, Capt. Jarrod Ramsey, a pilot, and Master Sgt. Matt Miltz, a refueling boom operator, carefully helped the divers who handed the cases up from the truck into the side cargo door of the KC-135. Other members of the crew got the aircraft ready to fly again, checking and rechecking its structure and systems.

At the end of the runway, the engines whined louder and louder about not going anywhere as the pilot let their power build. Finally, the pilot released the brakes and the tanker rocketed down a rapidly shortening runway and into the Pacific sky with the remaining crew of the Babes in Armsfinally on their way to completing a trip that took much longer than anyone would have imagined.

After a quick stop back in Guam, the KC-135 flew east to Hawaii where the remains of the B-24 crew would be examined forensically by JPAC experts to verify their identities. Once identified, the servicemembers will be flown the rest of the way home to their families, but that honor will be for another aircrew. The Kansas Coyotes had accomplished their mission.

"We've had some fairly long days, and not a lot of ground time," Miltz explained. "But it's all been worth it, helping to bring these people back."

 

 

Related Articles
Indiana National Guard leadership poses with front from right, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Brett Milton, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Craig Adams, Sgt. 1st Class Adam Kabella and Sgt. Dalton McCollum, are recognized for their heroism during a ceremony at Stout Field in Indianapolis, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. The soldiers received their awards for helping to save lives during Kentucky floods in February.
Four Indiana National Guard Soldiers Awarded Indiana Distinguished Service Cross
By Master Sgt. Jeff Lowry, | Sept. 12, 2025
INDIANAPOLIS — Four Hoosier National Guard Soldiers received the Indiana Distinguished Service Cross awards during a Sept. 12 ceremony at Indiana National Guard headquarters at Stout Field.Chief Warrant Officer 4 Brett...

U.S. Airmen with the 193rd Special Operations Wing conducted routine Launch the Fleet training from Harrisburg International Airport in Middletown, Pennsylvania, September 11, 2025, timed to commemorate Patriot Day. This formation flight of six MC-130J Commando II aircraft followed a route visible to many in Central Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania Air Guard Commemorates Patriot Day With Formation Training Flight
By Sgt. 1st Class Zane Craig, | Sept. 12, 2025
MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 193rd Special Operations Wing conducted routine Launch the Fleet training Sept. 11, timed to commemorate Patriot Day.This formation flight of six MC-130J Commando II...

U.S. Army Capt. Mitchell Hagen teaches Ecuadorian servicemembers of the 9th Special Forces Brigade how to approximate the height of trees as part of a class on landing zone designation in Latacunga, Ecuador, Aug. 21, 2025. This final day of the State Partnership Program's air assault exchange consisted of practical, hands-on training in the field. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Caleb Sooter)
Kentucky Guard, Ecuador Conduct Air Assault Training Exchange
By Sgt. Caleb Sooter, | Sept. 12, 2025
LATACUNGA, Ecuador - Members of the Kentucky National Guard took part in a four-day air assault training exchange with the Ecuadorian 9th Special Forces Brigade as part of the Department of War National Guard Bureau’s State...