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Show HILLTOP TIMES September 3 WWII Airman lost in Pacific brought home to Montana after 70 years BY JOHN TURNER 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs M ALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. — Seven decades after his aircraft was shot down during a mission in World War II, an Army Air Forces aviator finally came home to Augusta, Mont. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. William D. Bernier was buried with full military honors Sept. 19 at the veteran's section of the Augusta Cemetery, only a few miles from the ranch where he grew up. By coincidence, the date was also National Prisoner of War/ Missing in Action Recognition Day, observed annually on the third Friday of September. Military funeral honors were rendered by a joint detail of six Soldiers from the Montana Army National Guard's honor guard and eight active-duty Airmen from Malmstrom's base honor guard. Together, they symbolized the Air Force's origins as a component of the Army. A hearse carrying Bernier's remains arrived from Great Falls, Montana, at approximately 2 p.m., escorted by motorcycles from Montana's Patriot Guard Riders. A color guard from the American Legion Post #51 in Augusta, joined by other veterans from around the state, lined the entrance and welcomed the hearse into the cemetery. The honor guard carried Bernier's American flagdraped casket from the hearse to his final resting place. Chaplain (Col.) Kenneth DuVall, the Montana National Guard's state chaplain, officiated the ceremony and led the gathering of approximately 100 people in comforting words and prayer. Malmstrom AFB's honor guard fired three salutary volleys with crisp precision toward the calm blue sky and the Soldiers carefully folded Bernier's flag into a tri-corner. Maj. Gen. Matthew Quinn, the Montana National Guard's adjutant general, presented the flag to Sandi Jones, Bernier's niece. "The motto of the Joint Prisoner of War/Missing In Action Accounting Command, which handled the recovery, investigation and repatriation of 1st Lt. Bernier's remains, is, 'Until they are home," Quinn said. "This particular case, which involves more than a decade of careful and diligent work to return this Airman, is just one example of the strength of that motto." The interment ceremony provided closure to Bernier's relatives after decades of waiting for his return and wondering about his fate. "To me, he was a hero," Jones said. "I really wish I could have met him." Jones only knows Bernier through stories and anecdotes, and a single photograph of him wearing his Army uniform. Her uncle was tall and well-liked, she said, and was known by his nickname `Laddie.' "He was a real character," Jones said. "He liked to joke." and pounded Japanese defenses throughout the Southwest Pacific. By March, 1944, the 90th BG had relocated to Nazdab Air Field, a forward base on New Guinea approximately 100 miles southeast of enemy strongholds on that island. Bernier was reported missing in action April 10, 1944, during a raid on a vital Japanese-controlled port at Hansa Bay. His B-24D, serial number 42-41188, was leading a Bernier was born in 1915 in Augusta and attended Montana State University. He purchased some land near his parents' ranch, and planned to homestead it after the war, Jones said. Bernier never married. On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, drawing America into the global war. Three days later Bernier, then 26, enlisted into the Army in Seattle, Washington, as a private. "Obviously he was serious about this, that he was going to take care of our country," Jones said. "He believed it was the right thing to do. I know his mother didn't think it was. His father was very proud of him." Bernier received basic training at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and was later commissioned into the Army Air Forces. He graduated from the 10-week bombardment school at Ellington Field near Houston, Texas, and was assigned to a B-24 Liberator operational training squadron at Wendover Field, Utah. In October, 1943, Bernier was ordered to Herington Field, Kansas, for final processing before duty overseas. He was assigned to the 90th Bomb Group, 321st Bomb Squadron, in the Fifth Air Force. The `Jolly Rogers' were already veterans in a desperate campaign to neutralize Japanese forces encroaching on Australia's northern coast. The group's heavy bombers, distinguished by a skull and crossed bombs painted on each B-24's rudder, decimated sea convoys 60-bomber formation when it was mortally struck by anti-aircraft bursts. The burning aircraft arced west, disintegrated, and plummeted into a dense bamboo forest a few miles inland. At least four of the 12 crewmen on board were able to parachute from the aircraft, according to observers, but were later reported to have died in captivity. Search attempts for the downed crew began immediately and continued after the war. The Army Graves Registration Service recovered the remains of three See AIRMAN I Page 5 • Hill AFB Job Openings Site Internal civilian announcements are posted on the USAJOBS web site Announcements for bargaining unit positions are posted any week day. The website is www.usajobs.gov. On the home page type "HILL" in the box titled "What". In the box titled "Where" type "UT" and hit the Search Jobs button. To view all vacancies that are currently open, under "Refine Your Results", top left hand section, select the "Jobs for Federal Employees" bubble. 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