Homecoming for airman lost in 1942
Army Air Force Cadet Ernest "Glenn" Munn came home Wednesday after 65 years.
As his flag-draped casket was presented inside the Delta Airlines cargo plane at Pittsburgh International Airport, his three sisters stood nearby and wept.
The oldest leaned in to hug the coffin containing the remains of her big brother, whose aircraft disappeared on a flight in November 1942.
"It was very emotional," said Jeanne Pyle, 87, of St. Clairsville, Ohio. "This is hard, but I think we now have a sense of peace."
And closure.
"I cried," said Lois Shriver, 83, of Emsworth. "I could hardly stand it. If I could see him again, I would tell him I love him. This is doubly hard for me, because I just lost my husband."
There was a loving feeling inside the plane, said Sara Zeyer, 86, of Adena, Ohio.
"I would have liked to have hugged my brother," she said, holding back tears. "I am so glad we got to come here for him. It has been a long, long time."
Over the years since his plane went down, both of Munn's parents died -- his father, Joseph, in 1972 and mother, Sadie, in 2000. Eight nieces and nephews, 25 great-nieces and -nephews, and 26 great-great-nieces and -nephews were born. World War II ended, as did the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf wars. Twelve presidents served in office.
Munn was 23 when he died on the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range in Fresno, Calif. He was a member of a four-person crew aboard an AT-7 Navigator aircraft that crashed during a training mission.
A backpacker discovered his remains in 2007 atop a glacier. The Department of Defense identified the frozen remains in March through DNA testing, which matched his sisters', and a driver's license found with the body.
Another member of the crew was found two years earlier and thought to have been Munn. But when his sisters were told the man was shorter than 6 feet, they knew it couldn't be their 6-foot, 5-inch brother. So the waiting continued, until yesterday.
Flying a plane was Munn's love, his sisters said. When he was little, he was interested in planes and was mesmerized with taking apart cars and trying to fix things.
"He always dreamed of going into the Air Force," Pyle said. "He thought that would be great. He wanted to do it."
Munn also enjoyed toying with the family's crystal radio, trying to fine-tune it.
"We would get so excited when he found a station," Shriver said. "We would scream."
Shriver said she and her sisters never gave up hope, although there were times they thought he might never return. They feel lucky that their brother is back home, she said, because some never came back.
Great-nephew Thad Schrickel, 44, drove from Steubenville, Ohio, for the ceremony. The Patriot Guard Riders presented a plaque to the sisters while holding flags as a sign of respect for Munn's service.
"This is closure, and they need closure," Schrickel said. "I just wish my great-grandmother would have been able to see this. She would be happy he is home. She was waiting.
"We always asked her why she wore her hair in a big bun, so one day she let her hair down, and it fell to below her waist. She told me when (Munn) left for the war, he said, 'Mom, you have such beautiful hair. Don't ever cut it.'
"And she never did, because she was still waiting for him to come home."
