It’s a message no family member wants to receive: Your soldier is missing.
It was common, however, during war. Some of the soldiers were found as prisoners of war. Some were never found. In fact, acccording to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, more than 81,600 soldiers from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War and other conflicts are still missing.
National POW/MIA Day was Sept. 20 and observed with programs at the Nebraska National Guard Museum in Seward.
One of those still missing is Sgt. Clifford Johnson, the only Nebraska National Guard soldier still missing. He disappeared in December 1944 during a river assault on the city of Habkirchen, Germany.
Four former prisoners of war hailed from Seward – Dale Carr, Hal Cummins, Bob Dowding, Norm Weiler and Wendell Rivers. The first four were prisoners during World War II. Rivers was improsoned during the Vietnam War.
Family members spoke about each of the men during two programs Sept. 20. They said the men were unwilling to talk about their experiences at first. It took years before they started to open up about what had happened to them.
Dale Carr
Carr’s daughter Kay Myers said her dad loved to fly. When World War II started, he was told he was too young to enlist in the U.S. Army. So, he and a friend hitchhiked to Canada, where they joined the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Carr flew Thunderbolts, Spitfires and P-51s. He was flying a P-51 when he was shot down over Germany. In order to eject, the pilot had to flip the plane upside down and use gravity to exit the plane. As his chute opened, Carr saw his plan crash not far away. Carr was trying to get to France before ejecting, but didn’t make it.
He was met on the ground by a German soldier who pointed a gun at him and said, “For you, the war is over,” Denny Carr, Carr’s daughter-in-law said.
Ironically, Dale was taken to the air base he had just been strafing, Myers said. He was eventually housed in Stalag 1, where he spent the remainder of the war.
