Two climbers on a Sierra Nevada glacier discovered an ice-encased body believed to be that of an airman whose plane crashed in 1942.
From CNN:
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Two climbers on a Sierra Nevada glacier discovered an ice-encased body believed to be that of an airman whose plane crashed in 1942.
The man was wearing a World War II-era U.S. Army Corps parachute when his frozen head, shoulder and arm were spotted on 13,710-foot Mount Mendel in Kings Canyon National Park, park spokeswoman Alex Picavet said Wednesday.
Park rangers and specialists camped on the mountainside in freezing weather for an excavation expected to take several days. The body was 80% encased in ice, Picavet said.
“We’re not going to go fast,” she said. “We want to preserve him as much as possible. He’s pretty intact.”
The excavation crew included an expert from a military unit that identifies and recovers personnel who have been missing for decades.
Park officials believe the serviceman may have been part of the crew of an AT-7 navigational training plane that crashed on Nov. 18, 1942. The wreckage and four bodies were found in 1947 by a climber.
4 replies on “WWII Soldier Found Frozen in Ice”
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FROZEN SOLDIER ???
CNN ditched the story I guess, so I looked this up:
SACRAMENTO, CA, United States (UPI) — Family members are hoping a body found in Kings Canon National Park is that of a World War II airman who crashed in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Army Cadet Ernest Munn was 23-years-old when his plane went down in 1942. His body was never found.
‘I`m just holding on that it will be him,’ Munn`s sister, Sarah Zeyer of Saint Clairsville, Ohio, told the Sacramento Bee. ‘I`m just overjoyed.’
Hikers found the body embedded in ice on Mount Mendel, garbed in a wool sweater and a cotton canvas flight suit.
The body arrived Monday at the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, home of the world`s largest forensic anthropology laboratory.
Forensic anthropologists also will examine a pen, small notebook, comb and coins from inside the airman`s Army uniform and a badly corroded name badge.
Others on the flight were John Mortenson, 25, from Moscow, Idaho; Leo Mustonen, 22, from Brainerd, Minn., and pilot William Gamber, 23, of Fayette, Ohio.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
Did they find out who he was?
I hope that this gives his family some closure