The year is 1945, and a strafing mission conducted by the 359th Fighter Group, 368th Fighter Squadron has just ended, destroying 15 enemy ships in Niedersachsen State, Germany. One soldier is suffering, his coolant scope torn from his P51-D Mustang. The squadron goes to land, but it's too late. The young pilot attempts to make an emergency landing in an open field, but instead, crashes on the ground in enemy territory.
His fellow soldiers never knew whether 2nd Lt. John William Herb climbed out of his crashed plane — or if he died inside of it. For almost 70 years, the question hung unanswered for his family and fellow soldiers.
Until 2014. Manfred Römer, a German child who had been fascinated by the crash since he saw the plane fall from the sky, spearheaded the search with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command Investigation Team.
Last June, the crash site was finally found, along with a shallow grave. Investigators sifted through the shallow dirt, locating a body, and a ring: Riverside Military Academy, Class of 1940. J.W.H.
The remains of Lt. Herb had been located, after almost 70 years. And now, the soldier will finally be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday, June 18, 2015.
An American hero
Lt. Herb, a native of Ohio, attended Riverside Military Academy from 1937 to 1940, according to Riverside Trustee Counte Cooley.
"He came here (to Riverside) in about 1937. He was from up north, and was an only child," said Cooley. "He grew up and in to the war... and in '43 he started flying a P51 — that's the Mercedes-Benz of the fighter planes in World War II."
Afterwards, Lt. Herb went on to study at MIT and was a Phi Gamma Delta there. He joined the Army Air Corps (a precursor to the Air Force) and fought in World War II in the 359th Fighter Group, 368th Fighter Squadron.
Cooley said Lt. Herb actually survived the crash landing, but was killed by German soldiers.
"When he went down, they do know that he survived the crash. And now, they've found out that he was execution-style shot in the head," said Cooley.
"Most of his boots, most of his clothing, his identification, all kinds of things were removed from his body, they didn't find any of that in the grave," said Cooley.
The excavation was emotional, not just to those on site, but to Riverside alumni. Alumni Association President Bud Oakey had received a copy of a letter sent to Riverside officials when Lt. Herb's remains were located and removed.
"'The scene and mood was serious and somber as the excavation continued. While conducting dry screening of the surrounding dirt, the team found what at first glance seemed to be a piece of metal parachute material. The material, however, turned out to be a Riverside Military Academy class ring with the initials J.W.H. on the inner portion," Oakey read, pausing to catch his breath.
"'At the completion of the operation, both American and German tears were shed.'"
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Manfred Römer, now in his 70s, was there when Lt. Herb's remains were found. He had always wanted to know what happened to the pilot of the plane he saw crash near his home when he was a boy, Cooley said.
Römer helped gain the attention of a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) Investigation Team. The team comprised of Army and Navy Senior Non-Commissioned Officers, a civilian historian, an analyst and an anthropologist ; they met with locals to try to find the location.
It turns out search crews initially had been looking in the wrong place. Cooley said they found the crash site in a different location than remembered by local lore, and once it was located, the site was excavated on June 18, 2014.
An article in the April 2015 edition of the 359th Fighter Group Association Newsletter detailed the excavation in what is now the village of Rosien. After finding to correct location, and interviewing locals and witnesses who were children at the time of the crash, they found the site on what is now known locally as Fliegerweg - the Airman’s path.
In the article, it mentioned the local lore that an American pilot had crashed in the woods and was killed by German soldiers. Whether the pilot had been killed as a war crime or as a "mercy killing" was debated, and as a result, the items collected at the site were taken to the nearby Lüneburg forensic department. Later, the evidence was returned to the U.S. Army. Whether or not Lt. Herb was murdered has not yet been determined.
A new final resting place
Exactly one year later, on June 18th, Lt. Herb's remains will be laid to rest where they belong - in Arlington Nation Cemetery.
Oakey said he, along with about 30 or so RMA alumni, will be at the interment service.
"We follow a long list of people before us and there is a long list of, in many of our cases, of young cadets in front of us, and it's a building of leaders.
"I think Lt. Herb represented that leadership. He graduated from Riverside and went to MIT and distinguished himself and continued to serve his country in the Army Air Corps where he was lost at a very young age. And he did so very willingly and wantingly because that's what he was taught and that discipline and commitment to self, to character, to individual integrity, that derives from Riverside."
Col. James H. Benson, President of Riverside Military Academy, said many Riverside alumni are planning to attend the service.
"This is an extraordinary outcome for a family who waited so long to know what happened, way back in 1945," said Col. Benson. "I'm so proud of the way the Riverside alumni have stepped up and are participating in the funeral in Arlington and of the alumnus that is holding the reception afterwards at his home in Washington D.C."
For Col. Benson, Lt. Herb's discovery and burial at Arlington is powerful.
"This is particularly a moving event for me as my father is also a World War II KIA whose remains have not been returned," Benson said. "So when I received the call from Sgt. FC Nichols about the discovery, I had to take a step back and take a deep breath because it's like deja vu, except my father has not been returned yet."
Searching for one last answer
While Lt. Herb was an only child, he had many cousins. That family has grown, but each of them want to know: Who is Mary Lou?
"There's a picture of Lt. Herb perched on top of the wing of his P51 fighter," Cooley said. "And on the front of the plane is the name - all the pilots were allowed to name their planes - and, 'Mary Lou' is on this plane."
Cooley said the family has no idea who Mary Lou is - she's not a family member, at least, or a girlfriend back home. The family has no letters, either.
"To this day they do not know who Mary Lou is. So they're trying to find out who Mary Lou was."
Are you Mary Lou? The Herb Family is looking for you.
