Airmen

From Page 3

Sheppick was from Roscoe, Pa., a small town on the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh. He had previously worked as a bank teller, according to Census records, and for Carnegie Illinois

Steel, in nearby Homestead.

His wife, Mary, was pregnant with their son and living with Sheppick’s parents.

The nickname, Heaven Can Wait, probably came from a 1943 movie of the same name, starring the actor Don Ameche.

He had sponsored a different B-24, dubbed “Heaven Can Wait

Don Ameche.” That plane was lost on May 4, 1944, elsewhere in the Pacific, according the Pacific Wrecks website.

Before any archaeology could start, the project had to make sure no bombs were with the wreckage. Last fall, divers went down to search.

Mumford, who was on the expedition, said the safety of the team is a priority. “As they’re excavating, there’s the possibility of unexploded ordnance being detonated,” she said.

No bombs were found, she said.

“I get goose bumps thinking about this,” said Jim Emmer, 75, of Victoria, Minn., a nephew of Army Staff Sgt. John W. Emmer Jr., who was a photographer and gunner on the plane.

John Emmer was 26 and had worked in the family lumber business in Minneapolis. Everyone called him “Johnny.” He had a girlfriend named Mary.

His mother worried about him being in the Army Air Corps. Three weeks before his death he wrote her, “God has looked out for me for two years now, and I guess he knows best.”

Jim Emmer said, “I just wish this was done when my father was alive. He was a very close brother to my uncle. So many people that have passed, this was a major event in their life growing up.”

He said John’s father was despondent after learning of his son’s death and was never the same.

“My grandfather just

See AIRMEN Page 5 completely changed,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “He used to be a happy go-lucky, very personable man. He turned into pretty much a recluse.”

The United States entered World War II after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. By March 1944, the United States and its allies had begun to push back the Japanese advances in the Pacific.

The island of New Guinea, just north of Australia, was then part of the front lines, which sprawled thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean. Part of the island was in Japanese hands, and part was in allied hands.

On March 11, American B-24s based at Nadzab, in the southeastern section of the island, were sent to attack a big Japanese base at Boram, about 300 miles northwest.

On the return trip, Tennyson’s plane and two others flew to attack a secondary target - enemy antiaircraft guns at Awar Point on Hansa Bay, according to research by Scott Althaus and other members of the Kelly family.

As the planes approached Awar Point, Heaven Can Wait was hit.

“Flames started to pour from the front bomb bay,” eyewitness Staff Sgt. Arnold S. Smith, a waist gunner on a nearby B-24 reported. “In 2 or 3 seconds flames enveloped the plane from the first bomb bay to the tail.”

“Three men then jumped or fell out of the rear of the plane,” he reported. “The first man wore no chute and spread eagled straight down into the water. . . . I saw a white streamer as if from a chute coming from the second man but I did not see whether it opened.”

“The third man was wearing a chute but I did not see it open,” Smith recalled. “The tail assembly broke off and fell into the ocean. The plane banked left and drove in a slip into the water a quarter mile off the point.”

Other bombers circled near the crash site looking for survivors. “I could see no evidence that bodies remained at the surface,” Smith reported.

The 11 were classified as killed in action. After the war and an investigation by the American Graves Registration Service, their bodies were declared unrecoverable. Jean Tennyson got back her husband’s belongings and a government check for $84.19.

The modern quest for Heaven Can Wait began a decade ago when members of Kelly’s family, led by Althaus, a first cousin once removed and a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, began digging

Providing VA Loans Locally!

Fulfilling the dream of Homeownership for our Veterans since 1994

We can EASILY close a VA loan transaction in 19 - 22 days here locally, So if you want to get it done Quickly at a Great Rate and Low Fees, with the same person from the beginning till the end, Let’s Talk.

VA Single Close Construction Loans Available

We can provide you with a VA Construction loan to build your Dream Home here in California. Get Pre-Approved then go shopping.

We regularly beat other lenders quotes and we are right here Locally near the ‘In and Out Burger’.