Chapter 14 - CALL IN THE ARMY

In Bolzano, Paolo was sensing the closure of the search. He released a series of articles in his Alto Adige newspaper describing the search saga. They received front page coverage. The articles created new contacts that Paolo interviewed about the triple crash in 1944. More parts were found and more witnesses gave stories of the crashes on the mountain west of Aberstuckl. These corresponded to two of the crashes outlined by Mr. Grimminger that were west of the valley roadway. An engine distributor was confirmed as a likely P-38 engine part by Bob Cardin. The reports via email from Italy were coming rapidly---about 10 to 15 a day. It was time to organize data to submit to the U.S. government authorities. Bill Mays, the team member in Bulgaria who was instrumental in the Hoenshell search, decided it was time to contact the U.S. Army mortuary affairs agency that he had worked with on that case to cue them to the Wisner search team progress. He sent along some photos of P-38 parts recovered to reinforce the legitimacy of the Wisner case.

March 10, 2000

Subject: EU Command info

Hi All,

The only things to date I've emailed to EUC are Paolo's photographs w/descriptions, and a verbal and written summary of who we are searching for, where, and the irony of another niece heading up a search for her Uncle. We know it takes time for them to go through their official protocols for opening a case, ordering information, getting it to Germany, and whatnot. I told them we seem to have it narrowed to 3-4 possible locations due to eyewitness testimony and are searching for P-38 wreckage to coincide. They're ordering info from archives on Wisner and Twedt and I they are going to work on locating the "missing" CIL file. That's all I've given them to this point since that's all we really have at the moment. I don't want to bombard them with all of our emails...only pictures, descriptions, and relevant testimony...JUST THE FACTS. :o) I feel the best way is what worked before. Figure it out ourselves through process of elimination, package our findings, and put it in their hands with additional letters from Congress persons. I'll be away the next few days with a management retreat of sorts :o( I hate these things.…………………..

All the Best,

Bill ------------------------------------------

Then, to Mark of the EU Command,who was on the Hoenshell case---

March 14, 2000

From: Bill Mays

To: Mark Baldwin

Subject: Wisner - Part Photo - turbocharger

Hi Mark, All,

Well, here's another photo sample of what was found at a farm near Aberstueckl, Italy. Bob Cardin identified this part. He is a gentleman doing the "Glacier Girl" restoration in Kentucky. He was very helpful in helping us determine that we found the strut tube here in Bulgaria and in visually identifying P-38 parts. Easier for him since he has a P-38 in pieces in his garage. Here's the email and attached photos of what we believe to be a turbocharger found at the crashsite mentioned above. The crash occurred on 20 Oct. 1944 near Bolzano, Italy. Diana will be introducing herself to you all very soon if she already hasn't. I believe you already know of the other "characters" :o) of the Carl's Squadron CC'd to this email: Jim Graham, Dick Kahler, Ralph Morgan, and Steve Duncan. The locals on the ground doing the real work are Paolo Cagnan; Mair Christoph; Dr. Inga Hosp. They have donated their time and efforts to helping find Lt. Wisner and are providing the photographs and testimony(s). Eventually, they will be the ones you meet when you visit the sight. (Forward looking statement, I know!) Below is part of the email I received from Diana Dale, the niece of Lt. Wisner. ------------------------------------

"To refresh your memory (Bill), this site (Plunerbach farm) is of most interest to me because the farmer remembers the crash and remembers seeing an ID bracelet from the dead (and badly burned) pilot with two W's on it. The pilot was buried on site, the wreckage and ID bracelet were removed by the Carabiniere, and as far as the farmer knows, the pilot is still buried there.

Plunerpart1 & Plunerpart2 description below:

Inga Hosp sent me a packet of photos of the Sarntal and a piece of wreckage. Here are two views of the part she found at Aberstueckl and had drawn for us before. I hope it rings a bell. To refresh memory, here are the numbers on it: W 8438920 FD C 8621 H H (or K) 8. According to Inga,--- "There were other numbers on another place on the same piece, a kind of scale 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 with other numbers in between these numbers, each three lined off with an elliptic shape."

The last photo is a gentleman, Jakob, who made a saw blade from another part of the aircraft. It's not really identifiable, but interesting none-the-less. Please let me know that you received this email and attached photos at your earliest convenience. If there is anything else we can provide for you guys in Germany please let me know. Any luck finding the Missing CIL file on Lt. Wisner? Meanwhile, we're still digging. Take care!

Bill Mays ----------------------------------

The next day, Bill Mays was contacted by the U.S. Army 21TSC and was told that the Agency had already requested the files and documents associated with both Wisner and Twedt. They expected that the data would be received through the official government channels within about two months. Diana had already obtained the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) on Twedt and found that he had a son. She searched the directories available on the Internet and found a person with the same name in Nevada. She called and found that, indeed, he was that son of Lowell Twedt. Diana told him of our search and inquired whether or not the family wished to further pursue the crash site & potential remains of Lowell. He concurred that closure of his father's 'missing' status was desireable and agreed to provide other data if needed. The task of the search team now, was to organize data to submit to the 21TSC for a full scope recovery effort for Wisner & Twedt. Correlation of witnesses, testimonies, hardware, and precise locations was a difficult task due to the intensity, sequence and volume of email transacted since the start of the search in January. Jim prepared an annotated grid for the maps sent by Mr. Grimminger and Inga. He conducted a round of messaging between the search team members using the gridded map as a common reference for each team member to relate contacts, discoveries and opinions. With concurrence from Diana, Jim started to assemble a document of evidence to send to the 21TSC in Frankfurt, Germany. Many more email messages occurred before it was completed on April 14, 2000. The document was comprised of 139 pages of data and was accompanied by a cover letter describing its contents and organization.

April 14, 2000

To: David Roath Mark Baldwin USAMAA-E LRMC, CMR 402 APO, AE 09180

Subject: Wisner/Twedt Search

Gentlemen, Thanks for giving us the opportunity to submit this data package to you. The Wisner and Twedt families have been searching for closure in the loss of their kin William O. Wisner (USAAF 2nd Lt. - O-708778) and Lowell S. Twedt (USAAF 2nd Lt. - O-806552) for over 55 years, so it is with great anticipation that they put this challenge in your hands. The search was initiated in May 1998 by Ms. Diana Dale, niece of Lt. Wisner, in hopes of solving the painful mystery that surrounded the loss of her uncle in the crash of his P-38 near Bolzano, Italy on October 20, 1944. A driving factor was the advancing age of her mother, Mrs. Maxine Wisner Thompson, who is now 82.

Ms. Dale enlisted my aid in tracking down the site and circumstances of her uncle's crash via a notice posted on an Internet bulletin board in May 1998. I was contacted about that notice in February 1999 since I was then the president of the 71st Fighter Squadron section of the 1st Fighter Association. I had had some very stimulating and gratifying experience in helping to search for the crash site and remains of Lt. Carl Hoenshell, also of the 1st FG/71st FS (of which you both are familiar), so I have been very eager to assist Ms. Dale & her family.

The October 20, 1944 incident in which Lt. Wisner was lost, also claimed Lt. Twedt. Our search for Lt. Wisner's crash site inevitably included the search for Lt. Twedt's crash site since they were involved in a mid-air collision. Ms. Dale contacted the Twedt family ( Lt. Twedt's son, Mr. Bill Twedt) to advise them of our search. They have joined the Wisner family in requesting the support of your organization and expertise. Both families have maternally related living members to participate in DNA sampling to verify identification of remains if your efforts are rewarded.

The data package we are submitting herewith is a compilation of official government records, email correspondence of the search team, maps, photos of recovered P-38 parts and the names and locations of witnesses to the crash incident. We have possibly included an excess of data, but we believe it makes a convincing case to warrant your involvement.

In the blue binder you will find:

Photos of Lt.'s Wisner & Twedt with identification of the relatives to be contacted concerning all aspects of the search for their crash sites, remains, personal effects and records.

Official mission records from the 1st FG and 71st FS including missing aircrew reports (MACR's) and related German records of the capture of Lt. Virgil Olson who parachuted from the crash incident and became a POW .

A summary of the search chronology, identification of the key search people recruited in the Ritten, Sarntal and Bolzano areas, and maps that definitize the suspect crash sites along with photos of P-38 equipment recovered and the identification of witnesses interviewed about the crashes.

A sampling of email correspondence that initiated and drove the search effort, showing the development of the critical information threads that have led us to the conclusion that the crash sites have been sufficiently defined to enlist official examination by your organization.

A section outlining the background of earlier CIL involvement (circa 1952) that recorded the recovery of the ID bracelet of Lt. Wisner and internment of certain remains at Griesheim/Main mausoleum and subsequent routing of the bracelet and CIL file 5034 to USAQMG Memorial Division. That file is currently reported 'missing' by CILHI. The Wisner family requests your aid in shedding any light possible on the contents of the file, the circumstances of its routing and disposition, and any potential routes of inquiry.

A separate enclosure is a complete copy of the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) obtained by Ms. Dale under the Freedom of Information Act from the DRB, TAGO in Arlington, VA.

We hope we have put together sufficient and compelling evidence of the location of the crash sites of Lt.'s Wisner & Twedt to enable a rapid & successful exhumation of remains which can be identified as those of one, or other or both of the victims. Witnesses of the two crash sites in question have testified that the pilots' remains were interred in shallow graves nearby and have not since been relocated. We hope you will comunicate any further needs for information and advise the families of your intent and progress. Thanking you for the families and for our search team, Best regards and good luck.

Jim Graham ------------------------------------------------

The team knew that it would be weeks before the 21st TSC would complete its preliminary investigation of the case , so thought was given to what actions the team could take to further enhance the data and evidence. It was decided that Christoph, Inga and Paolo should continue to interview people in the Sarn Valley to uncover any more witnesses and to try to correlate the stories, locations & artifacts more precisely, but to avoid any physical searches that might disturb original settings or irritate residents. Diana began to reflect upon the missing ID bracelet and CIL file described in the IDPF that she had received in 1999. Johnie Webb of CILHI had told her in December 1999 that the file #5034 was missing and without it they could not determine what may have become of Bill wisner's ID bracelet. That frustrating revelation was the event that kicked off this whole search! Now that the team had laid new evidence in the hands of the government, maybe it was time to see what might have happened to the file.

Diana contacted CILHI (Central Identification Laboratories in Hawaii) to see if there was anything that could be done to locate the missing file. She was told that the file was held at the archival records repository in Suitland, Maryland. Jim was about to visit the U.S. National Archives to continue his research into mission records for the 1st Fighter Group and his 71st Fighter Squadron, so it might be beneficial for him to query therecord keepers at Suitland. When he checked in with the agency at Suitland for an appointment, he was told that they could not discuss the file unless permission was given by the originating agency that had submitted the file for storage-----CILHI. Jim phoned Diana and she immediately contacted Johnie Webb in Hawaii. When Diana asked for CILHI to authorize Jim's discussion at Suitland, to her amazement, Webb told her that THE file 5034 was in his office! She asked if the bracelet was with it. He said it was sealed, but he opened it and sure enough---Bill's bracelet was there! Diana asked for them to immediately mail it to her. Eventually the bracelet and the file arrived and Diana had the broken wrist chain repaired. One more step of closure took place when Diana was able to present it to her mother---Bill Wisner's sister.

Inga directed some attention to another spinoff of the search for the P-38 crash sites. The crash that her husband had witnessed as a boy turned out not to be a P-38---- but then what was it? With some help from Jim & Keith Bullock, the heavy bomber historian in Austria, she received the Missing Air Crew Report for a B-17 from the 97th BG. The bomber actually crashed on the Ritten plateau on February 16, 1945 and 8 of the 10 crew members survived. Inga began a search for the survivors to see if they were still alive. She noted that one of the survivors listed his home address as Seattle, WA, so she asked Jim via email if per chance the survivor, Vance Mac Donald might still be in the Seattle area. A check of local directories via the library uncovered someone by that name in Marrysville, WA, about 30 miles north. When Jim contacted him, it was indeed that survivor of the crash in Ritten in 1945. Subsequent communication between Inga and Vance resulted in an emotional and pleasantly hosted visit by Vance & his wife to the home of the Hosp's in the fall of 2000. Vance enjoyed reminiscing with Bruno Hosp about that fateful day when Bruno as a small boy saw Vance & his B-17 fall out of the sky. Another good friendship created!

Inga & Paolo continued to contact more people in the Sarn valley and some of them produced more hardware items that had been found in the area, but location specificity was lacking. Stories were told of witnessing the parachutist (Olson?) hiking down from the mountain into Aberstuckl. Others told of burying the body of a P-38 pilot near the wreckage of his plane and erecting a wooden cross. It was also reported the body was later exhumed by the Carabiniere and taken to the authorities in Sarentino.

The three crash sites identified by the team as X,Y & Z on the Sarntal grid map remained as likely those of Olson, Twedt and Wisner. The team was in general agreement that the site Z, high on the mountain west of Aberstuckl was where Olson's plane crashed. The story of his hike down from that mountain supported that theory. It was also assumed that sites Y and X were those of Twedt's & Wisner's crashes. It was at both of these sites that the bodies of the two pilots were reported to have been buried in shallow graves. Which one was Twedt & which one was Wisner?

In the CIL file #5034 which Diana received so belatedly from the CILHI, there was a report by a Lt. Peterson who had visited the Sarntal area in 1952 to conduct an investigation of the crashes in the area to wrap-up the U. S. Army's records on the MIA's. He reported that the Sarentino Carabiniere had a small box containing some fragmentary remains and the ID bracelet of Lt. Wisner. He took possession of the box. It is evident that the box was the source of the bracelet that ended up in CIL file 5034. The investigator visited the crash site from which the contents of the box were derived. It was said to be on a mountainside near Sarentino. The crash site was reported to have been in a rocky streambed of a stream that was known to be a 'torrente'---one that rushed like a torrent when heavy rainfall or melting snow occurred. The investigator found that very little evidence of the airplane remained, having been washed away by the torrent or taken by scrap hunters. He concluded that the remains obtained from the Carabiniere were the final obtainable and that the Wisner case be closed. This report did not conclusively correlate the reported site to either site X or Y on the team's Sarntal grid map. Inga & Christoph had walked to the area of Site X when they found the P-38 turbo supercharger housing. It was found near a typical 'torrente' streambed. The team suspected that Lt. Wisner crashed at Site X.

As June 2000 approached, the team had not received any communication from the Army mortuary affairs people in Frankfurt. Jim emailed them to ask if they needed any further input to validate an official search for the crash sites and requested a status indication. Mark Baldwin, of the agency reported that they were awaiting data from the U. S., but indicated the possibility that he might visit the Sarntal region in a few weeks for a preliminary probe. No commitments were made. Waiting was getting frustrating.

As the summer progressed, Diana, Inga & Jim coordinated plans to meet each other in person for the first time. Inga & family were planning a vacation trip to Canada and the West coast of the U. S. in August. Their plans included a visit to a friend in the Seattle area as they were to travel down the west coast via automobile. Jim planned to meet them and to at least have lunch or dinner with them. Of course Diana could not resist the opportunity to meet them as well, so she and her husband, Jack planned to fly up to Seattle from Denver and to make it a grand meeting of the search team members.

In July, Vance Mac Donald, the survivor of the B-17 crash in Ritten visited the Hosps and spent several days in the area where he parachuted in February 1945. Since that time Vance has located three other survivors of that crash and they have arranged to meet for a first reunion since WWII.