Circle of Trust

Growing up, we always heard stories of Great Grandpa.  For years, it was my Grandfathers mission to learn as much as he could about the origin, the battle, events leading up to an after, and possible locations of his remains.  It never failed, that a few times a year, once my grandfather received a new letter or other correspondence, that all the maps, pictures, and letters would be spread out on the dinning room table, where he took notes marking new possibilities and writing new letters to foreign pen-pals he has been put into contact with over the years.  This continued for decades.  It wasn’t until after his death that DNA technology was advanced enough to be used to match remains of the unidentified with that of the still living.  My Great Aunt, Arthurs daughter, was asked if she would submit a DNA sample.  She did, and it took years, but she finally got a letter and phone call saying there was a match.  Our family was elated as we knew what this meant for his children.

Once the positive match was made, the US military did a wonderful job organizing all of the logistics, and was able to share the story of his finding and the journey of his remains since the day of that battle on November 20^th, 1944.  It was always our understanding that the Battle of the Black Forest was a bloody battle with high casualties on all sides.  The area was highly contested and the enemy was heavily fortified with mortars and mine field.  As such, we always assumed that the lack of remains was likely due to a significant injury, making him unrecognizable.  This, however, was not his case.  Apparently, he did succumb to injuries he received during the battle in November and was found the next spring by a hunter, in a tree / brush line.  Identifiably as ONLY an American, simply from his uniform.  His weapon and dog tags were not to be found.  His body, like so many others found, was retrieved and sent to Belgium, sorted by nationality, and held in a marked, but unidentified grave until they could be returned back to their country.  From what I have learned, Arthur was returned to the US shortly after being discovered.  His remains temporarily laid to rest in Omaha, NE until his DNA was matched with is family in the summer of 2021.  The Army escorted his body from Omaha to Chicago, helping the family organize all of the services that go along with full military honors.  His arrival was nothing short of a hero’s welcome.  From the time his plan landed until his remains arrived to the Funeral Home in Plainfield.  My Great Aunt and 2 other family members were able to meet his plan on the tarmac at Midway Airport, the rest of us got to watch his plan taxi under dualling firehose streams has he approached the gate.  Although we were not on the tarmac, we had a great vantage point, able to watch his casket get lowered and received by a delegation of different military personal dressed in their formal attire, before it was respectively placed into the hearse.  His hearse then circled back to the building to regroup with the rest of the family before making the trip to Plainfield.  It was at this time that I noticed dozens of cars, trucks, motorcycles, all lining up to escort Arthur home.  These vehicles included current and ex-military, fire departments, polices, and many civilians, turning us into a small parade as we pulled out of Midway and headed home.  The entire way, the police escort insured that Arthur waited at no stop lights, stop signs, or dealt with any traffic.  Our escort blocked traffic from entering highway at each ramp, allowing us free passage all the back to town.  As we headed south on Highway 55, nearly every overpass was decorated with American flags, fire trucks, men and woman in uniform waving or saluting to pay their respects in their own way.  This continued until we exited the Plainfield RT30 exit.  As we came into town, 100’s of people lined the streets, all holding flags to support Grandpa return.  It was simply incredible to see so many people from so many different towns come together for a man who they never knew.  Being a part of his return is something I will never forget.