[Vision2020] WWII-era Crash Victim Identified

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (February 13, 2008) Spokesman Review -

"Also killed in that crash was John M. Mortenson, 25, of Moscow, Idaho."

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WWII-era crash victim identified 
Bill Morlin 
Staff writer
February 13, 2008

A body linked to a 66-year-old World War II mystery has been identified as 
that of an airman from Ohio, his family confirmed Tuesday.

Ernest "Glenn" Munn was 23 when he died in a military plane crash on the 
Mendel Glacier near the 13,830-foot summit of Mount Darwin in California's 
rugged Sierra Nevada mountains. 

Also killed in that crash was John M. Mortenson, 25, of Moscow, Idaho.

When the mummified remains were found last August by Seattle author Peter 
Stekel, it was not known if the body was that of Munn or Mortensen. Both 
wore aviation cadet uniforms.

Mortensen's remains and those of 2nd Lt. William A. Gamber, the pilot, 
still have not been located. The body of air cadet Leo Mustonen was found 
on the glacier in October 2005.

The three young U.S. Army Air Force aviation cadets and the pilot were 
aboard an AT-7 Navigator that crashed during a snowstorm on Nov. 18, 1942, 
near the California-Nevada border.

The body Stekel found last summer had been entombed in the glacier but 
became partially exposed because of a significant snowmelt during last 
year's drought in California. A search of the area turned up metal debris, 
believed to be parts of the aircraft.

The remains were taken to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command's forensic 
laboratory – called JPAC – at Hickam Air Force Base in Oahu, Hawaii. JPAC 
officials have not released a formal statement about the identity of the 
remains.

However, Munn's sister, 87-year-old Jeanne Pyle, of St. Clairsville, Ohio, 
confirmed Tuesday that she and two other surviving sisters, Sara Zeyer, 
85, of Adena, Ohio, and Lois Shriver, 83, of Pittsburg, were notified 
Friday by military officials.

"I was so shook up I couldn't speak for a time," Pyle said. "Now, we are 
all so thrilled we can bring closure to this."

Pyle said she and her sisters plan to bury their brother in Ohio in a 
military funeral as soon as his remains are released by the military, 
probably in the next few weeks.

Military identification experts took blood samples from her and Zeyer in 
2005 after another body was found in the same area of Evolution Basin. 
That body was identified as Mustonen, 22, of Brainerd, Minn. 

Stekel, who's writing a book on the mystery, said he intends to hike back 
into the California high country this summer. 

"I plan to return to the crash site again next summer and fall to continue 
my research," he said. "I don't want to hold out false hope for the Gamber 
and Mortenson families, but I also don't want to give up on searching 
until I'm confident there is nothing else to find."

"I can't express how happy I am for the Munn family," the author said from 
his Seattle home.

Stekel said he appreciates the work of the forensic anthropologists and 
other JPAC scientists who work to identify bodies of missing soldiers.

"Across all cultures, people care deeply about what happens to their 
bodies after death," he said. "It is our duty to ensure that these men are 
treated with the respect that we ourselves would expect. JPAC succeeds 
admirably at this task."

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the 
tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." 
 
-- Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr. 


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