Italian man hopes to return watch of fallen American WWII soldier to relatives
One man is hoping time is on his side as he seeks to return a watch that belonged to a WWII pilot whose plane went down in the mountains of Italy nearly 70 years ago.
Retiree Glauco Mencaroni, who lives in the central Italian region of Umbria, had heard ever since he was a child about a U.S. Douglas C-47 transport plane with six crewmen aboard that had crashed over nearby Monte Tezio, and he had always dreamed of locating the wreckage. With scant information and motivated by an admiration for the American soldiers who died helping his countrymen, he searched the area where surviving witnesses and local lore had put the plane crash.
“The six Americans died while doing this. We must commemorate their lives.”
- Glauco Mencaroni
“I searched the site for two months to find the exact spot,” Mencaroni told FoxNews.com through a translator. “Because was on the side of a mountain, it is a difficult place to reach. I went twice a week for about four months to the spot."
During his trips to the site, Mencaroni used a metal detector to hunt for wreckage from the plane, which went down in 1944. Six months ago, the detector signaled an interesting find - the cover of a military-issued Longines wristwatch. It was a thrilling, yet somber, event, he said.
“It was a bittersweet feeling," Mencaroni recalled. "On one hand, I was overwhelmed with the excitement of finding something I knew about since I was a kid. But I never imagined that I would find something. On the other hand, I was sad. This was a place where people lost their lives doing something heroic.”
Mencaroni eventually found the rest of the watch, which he now he hopes to return to relatives of Col. Raymond Alvin Nowotny, the pilot to whom the watch likely belonged.
“Maybe the news of the watch will reach a family member and someone will have an interest in recovering the pieces," he said. "That is our hope.”
The watch and a flashlight were the only personal effects found at the wreckage site. Allied forces at the time had recovered the bodies of the servicemen killed in the crash, which left them and the plane severely burnt.
Mencaroni has committed much of his time and passion to discovering the wreckage and has even erected a cross at the site to mark the servicemen’s ultimate sacrifice.
“The six Americans died while doing this," he said. "We must commemorate their lives.”
Mencaroni, along with others will visit the site on Saturday to commemorate the 69th anniversary of the crash, which came after the American crew had air-dropped British troops near Lake Trasimeno, where they were sent to sabotage German war planes.
After making the drop, the plane was heading back to an air base in southern Italy when it encountered bad weather and went down
Please help find Ayla
ReplyDeleteOT
http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/north/12009056054380/missing-tot-s-family-hopes-for-closure-after-pants-found/
"It was BRIGHT PINK ( it looks faded pink, it WAS bright pink before it spent time in the ocean), I mean,( why the extra explanation/meaning?) there's not a lot (unexpected, reporting what there is not ) of BRIGHT PINK ( faded pink after being in the ocean) stuff that washes up ( or was dropped as litter? He knows/assumes it was in the ocean) in the middle of the, you know( trying to convince), the middle of the winter.(missing pronoun) Picked it up. .(missing pronoun) Started untangling it, (missing pronoun)n' kinda realized it looked like a piece of clothing."
I FEEL BAD
for everybody
INVOLVED WITH THAT THING. I MEAN
anybody that has kids has gotta
FEEL BAD. SO, you know, I hope that
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER it gets
RESOLVED. FOR EVERYBODY INVOLVED. " said Goodwin
For anyone that is interested in WWII history I highly recommend: A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II.
ReplyDeleteI think it is an amazing story.
Suzie
Please help find Ayla
ReplyDeleteOT
This is the beginning of the August 16th TV interview at the same link posted in the first comment, in case you want a model for someone starting sentences with "And" and "So." His very first words: I'm sorry."
"John Carter: I'm sorry, I - I just got distracted.
Reporter: No, that's okay. That's all right.
JC: Um, I WOUND UP LEAVING. (Alibi building immediately, “wound up” is before leaving/missing info) Then (skips time) SHE WAS TEXTING ME ABOUT THE THINGS that I had to do and things like that, AND I SAID UH, UH, "OKAY, WELL, I'LL TAKE CARE OF IT," and all this stuff. And she's like, "OH I KINDA WANTED TO BE THERE! But it's okay," and blah-blah-blah. (skips time) Then SHE SENT ME A PICTURE, UM, OF HERSELF. It was like a picture of a picture, because she's very artistic and loves to show me her work, and stuff like that. SO, UH, KATELYN SENT ME A PICTURE OF HER (extra explaining language and unexpected “of her” “herself is expected), AND THAT WAS THE LAST MESSAGE I got. (skips time) And then that night, uh, when I got home - it was kinda late, uh, (skips time confusing his story now jumps back in time) I was with some friends after I WENT TO HER HOUSE - AND, uh, ( and, uh, could possibly mean a leap back in time where he’s home for the evening?) I was, uh, watching TV and stuff like that, and, uh... (maybe he was awake all night, no mention of sleep) I decided to send her a good morning text message. And, uh... uh, normally (normally=abnormal) when she wakes up, she's like, "Oh, thank you for the message, I love you, I miss you, blah blah blah." And it was like, uh, and, and it –(a lot of stuttering) and she didn't do that. But I ASSUMED that maybe SHE HAD TO WAKE UP, go to work REALLY QUICK, SHE WAS GETTING late or something, SHE DIDN'T RESPOND. I KEPT texting her, I KEPT texting her, NO RESPONSE, NO RESPONSE. I call her, NO RESPONSE. (skips time)So then I went to my manager at work and I said, "Is it okay if I go to her house and see if she's okay?"( quoting himself telling us what he said NOT what happened. Distancing.) I WENT TO HER HOUSE, HER CAR WAS STILL THERE. That made me worry, because she should be at work. So (so is an indicator of deception to follow) I ran inside - I, I didn't – I (stuttering, and action is out of order; ran inside, tells us what he did NOT check, then tells about the key, and overuse of the pronoun “I”)) MISTAKENLY DIDN'T CHECK TO SEE IF THE DOOR WAS LOCKED. I JUST TURNED, PUT MY KEY IN AND WENT IN, AND WENT UP TO HER ROOM, AND SHE wasn't there, her dog WAS IN THERE WHICH - HE'S NEVER THERE. He's, he usually goes into the bathroom where he's got a bed, and some food and water and stuff. Uh, BUT HE WASN'T IN THERE, OR HE WAS - HE WAS IN HER ROOM, um, and uh, uh honestly he - he went to the bathroom in the room (sudden use of the word honestly, was everything before it was spoken dishonest?) and YOU COULD TELL (distancing “I could tell” is expected) it had been there for a while, so I KNEW she hadn't been in her room for a while... AND, AND THAT FREAKED ME OUT. So I IMMEDIATELY called friends, family, police - EVERYTHING I COULD DO TO GET MY FIANCEE BACK. Katelyn is - the love of my life. I've been with her for six years, we've been engaged for a year, today would be exactly a year, um, today's also her birthday, and uh, I really miss her, I, I miss Katelyn a lot and I love Katelyn a lot and I really, really want to see her again. And if anybody can do anything, please do something.
R: Any idea what could've happened?
ReplyDeleteJC: [sighs] I, I don't even know anyone that would do that. She's literally the sweetest girl. Um... I, I (stuttering) mean - she's, she's (stuttering) so nice and, and (stuttering) caring and - I don't even have any - like, her friends are my friends, and MY FRIENDS ARE HER FRIENDS, um, EXCEPT FOR THE FRIENDS THAT ARE IN HER (that’s a Freudian slip!), AT HER SCHOOL, but that's school friends. And it, it just don't SEEM SUSPICIOUS TO ME. I have,
I have (stuttering) no one in mind. I,
I have (stuttering) nothing in mind. She would never just leave, SHE'S TOO PRAGMATIC, (disparaging the victim) she would never just - take off and go somewhere. And I - I just, I can't explain it. I don't know." Thanks.
November 10, 2012 2:18 AM
Please help find Ayla
ReplyDeleteWhen recalling a memory a deliberate deciever will think of the true memory, and it will enter thier language - in an overarching storyline.IMO
Why do you a say"Please help find Ayla"????
ReplyDeletePlease help find Ayla
ReplyDeleteDear Me,
Why use the word "bright" to descriibe fabric faded from the ocean?
@ "ME" were all stupid and think were clever.
ReplyDeletePlease don't find aliens
ReplyDeleteDORK
ReplyDeletePlease don't fry egylayas
ReplyDeleteBiotech tradеrѕ also feel іt bοdes well fоr Jаpanese expοrters ωho rely hеavіly on іmportіng from other countгieѕ whο tгy to sell a
ReplyDeleteсuгrenсy hіgh and buy loω.
Thіs information confirms that Arena Net is indeed worκing on a multіplayer deal, and the faсt
the homeowners offer уou the privilege of knowing which free datіng theу're picking?
My site http://hasslefreedatingtv.com/