NO HOME FOR HEROES

TODAY’S EPISODE COULD HAVE EASILY BEEN TITLED “WHEN IS A SLAM DUNK NOT A SLAM DUNK”? OR : “NOTHING IS EASY WHEN IT COMES TO RETURNING OUR MIA’S TO THEIR FAMILIES? Listen to a litany of clues that should have resulted in the identification and return home of a Marine lost in World War II many decades ago. See if you agree with the conclusion that there is no reason why Jack can't come home...finally.

CAN A SNIPPET FROM A 78 YEAR OLD NEWSPAPER ARTICLE HELP SOLVE THE CASE OF A MISSING MARINE THAT HAS BAFFLED INVESTIGATORS FOR DECADES? IS IT THE BREAK IN THE CASE THAT ALL INVESTIGATORS DREAM ABOUT? Today’s case on No Home for Heroes is holds a clue that has baffled us for years. The clue should have been a great lead in a tough case but has turned out to be a big giant dead end for almost 80 years for every investigator who has ever worked the case of Unknown X-37. HAVE WE FINALLY SOLVED THE SECRET? STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT...

Perhaps a case only Jack Webb from the old TV series "DRAGNET" could solve. An airplane designed to transport nuclear weapons crashes in Alaska in 1952 with 52 souls on board, according to the official flight manifest. The crash site is lost for 60 sixty years and when finally found, the airplane has moved 14 miles and an ID card is found for someone who is NOT supposed to be on the airplane! This is just one of several strange twists to this latest of "History's Military Mysteries" on NO HOME FOR HEROES.

TODAY’S EPISODE OF “NO HOME FOR HEROES” IS AN INCREDIBLE TALE OF PERSEVERANCE AND PERSISTENCE IN THE FACE OF A SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE TASK. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN SOMEONE TELLS YOU THAT SOMETHING IS IMPOSSIBLE? THAT IT “CAN’T” BE DONE? OR BETTER YET, WHEN YOUR EMPLOYER INSISTS THAT YOU SHOULD NOT PUT MUCH EFFORT INTO YOUR JOB BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT LIKELY TO SUCCEED IN THE ASSIGNED TASK? ULTIMATELY SEVERAL GROUPS OF PEOPLE WORKED TOGETHER TO "SOLVE THE UNSOLVABLE CASE"...AND ANOTHER AMERICAN HERO WAS BROUGHT HOME!

FOR OVER SEVENTY YEARS THE REMAINS OF A MISSING AMERICAN SAILOR LAY IN A GRAVE MARKED ONLY WITH A HEADSTONE THAT READ “UNKNOWN." BUT FOR OVER SEVENTY YEARS, EVERYONE OVERLOOKED A SMALL, ONE INCH BRONZE MEDALLION THAT IS LIKELY THE CLUE TO IDENTIFYING THIS HERO AND RETURNING HIM HOME TO HIS FAMILY. STAY TUNED FOR AN INCREDIBLE TALE ABOUT SOLVING ONE OF PEARL HARBOR'S MOST ENDURING MYSTERIES.

IN TODAY'S EPISODE, WE WILL STUFF YOU INTO A TINY CRAMPED AND CLAUSTROPHOBIC COMPARTMENT ABOARD A NAVY TORPEDO BOMBER. YOU WILL BE ASSIGNED AS THE RADIO OPERATOR AND REAR GUNNER OF A TBM AVENGER IN THE SKIES ABOVE A HISTORIC WORLD WAR TWO BATTLE IN THE PACIFIC. THIS EPISODE WILL GIVE YOU SOME INSIGHT OVER WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO DEPEND ON TWO OTHER CREWMEN FOR YOUR VERY SURVIVAL IN THE MIDST OF FIRE AND CHAOS. HERE’S YOUR CHANCE TO REMEMBER AND HONOR A HOMETOWN HERO YOU HAVE PROBABLY FORGOTTEN WAS LOST .. “SOMEWHERE OVER SAIPAN"

We start today's episode with some questions for you to ponder...DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST LOVE? WERE YOU 14, OR 15, OR MAYBE A LITTLE OLDER? DESPITE WHAT HAPPENED LATER IN LIFE, WILL YOU ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST LOVE? TODAY’S EPISODE IS ABOUT ONE SUCH LOVE BY TWO TEEAGERS WHO GREW UP ON TWO DIFFERENT CONTINENTS, INTERRUPTED BY A WORLD WAR AND A LOVE NEVER TO BE FULFILLED. Today's episode details the case of 19 year old Private First Class Harry Cronkhite of State Line, Illinois and even when he was declared missing and later dead, his first love refused to give up the search until the day she died 65 years later.

THE HERO IN TODAY’S EPISODE WAS AWARDED THE NAVY CROSS MEDAL FOR HIS ACTIONS IN THE SKIES OVER EUROPE BUT HE NEVER KNEW OF THE AWARD. HE SURVIVED INCREDIBLE ODDS IN EUROPE TO RETURN TO DUTY MONTH’S LATER IN THE PACIFIC AIR CAMPAIGN AGAINST JAPAN BUT STRANGELY DISAPPEARED ON A ROUTINE FLIGHT SURROUNDED BY THREE SQUADRON MATES IN A CLEAR AND CALM SEA SKY.

THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING OUR PODCASTS FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS KNOW THAT WE OFTEN FEATURE STORIES ABOUT THE MISSING MARINES AND AIRMEN FROM THE BATTLE OF TARAWA. WE THOUGHT TODAY MIGHT BE A GOOD TIME TO UPDATE YOU ALL ON THE STATUS OF THOSE MIA INVESTIGATIONS IN ADDITION TO PRESENTING AN EPISODE ABOUT ONE OF THOSE MARINES WHO ARE STILL UNACCOUNTED FOR…SGT JOHN TERRY BRACKEEN FROM TIPTON, OKLAHOMA.

TODAY’S EPISODE IS THE TRUE TALE OF A REAL PRIVATE RYAN, NOT A MOVIE ACTOR…PRIVATE KENNETH JOHN RYAN FROM ARIZONA WHO WAS A MEMBER OF M COMPANY, THIRD BATTALION, SECOND MARINES. SADLY, NOTHING WE CAN DO WILL “SAVE” THE REAL PRIVATE RYAN FROM HIS FATE ON A LONG FORGOTTEN PACIFIC BEACHHEAD, BUT OUR MISSION AT THE CHIEF RICK STONE AND FAMILY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION IS TO PROVIDE THE INFORMATION WE HAVE LEARNED TO PRIVATE RYAN’S FAMILY AND, IF POSSIBLE, HELP FIND HIS REMAINS FOR RECOVERY, IDENTIFICATION, AND RETURN HOME TO HIS FAMILY AFTER BEING MISSING FOR OVER 78 YEARS.

IN THE FINAL COUNT, THERE WOULD BE ONLY 316 SURVIVORS OF THE SINKING OF THE USS INDIANAPOLIS WHO ENDURED LONG HOURS IN THE CRUEL OCEAN WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER AND SWARMS OF HUNGRY SHARKS. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER 879 LOST SAILORS AND HOW THEY DIED BECAME ONE OF HISTORY’S GREATEST SERIES OF MILITARY MYSTERIES. TODAY’S EPISODE IS THE TALE OF JUST ONE OF THOSE MYSTERIES AND IT HAS MORE CLUES, FALSE LEADS, AND DEAD END ALLEYS TO KEEP THE MOST ARDENT SHERLOCK HOLMES FANS SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS

THE DICTIONARY DEFINES A SNAFU AS “a situation marked by errors or confusion.” SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN NOT ONE, NOT TWO, NOT THREE, BUT MULTIPLE SNAFU’S CONSPIRE TOGETHER TO PREVENT A LOST MARINE FROM BEING IDENTIFIED FOR ALMOST 80 YEARS? MANY OF YOU MAY NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH THE MILITARY ACRONYM “SNAFU”. SNAFU is an acronym that is widely used to stand for the sarcastic expression: Situation Normal: All FOULED Up. SINCE THIS IS A FAMILY APPROVED PODCAST I HAVE UTILIZED “FOULED” FOR A MORE WIDELY USED WORD IN THE MILITARY THAT STARTS WITH the letter “F”. The acronym is believed to have originated in the United States Marine Corps during World War Two AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHERE TODAY’S EPISODE TAKES US. STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT HOW PERSISTENCE FINALLY CONQUERING THE SNAFU MONSTER.

TODAY WHEN WE SAY “FLIGHT 19” IN THE SAME SENTENCE WITH “THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE”, JUST ABOUT EVERYONE HAS SOME KNOWLEDGE OF THE STORY…IT USUALLY GOES LIKE THIS…”A BUNCH OF AIRPLANES VANISHED AFTER BEING ABDUCTED BY SPACE ALIENS…OR EATEN BY SEA MONSTERS…OR FLEW INTO A TIME WARP…OR, WELL, JUST RAN OUT OF GAS AND CRASHED INTO THE SEA.” WHAT MOST SEEM TO OVERLOOK IS THAT THERE WERE 14 AMERICAN SERVICEMEN ON THOSE “BUNCH OF PLANES” WHO ARE THE REAL STORY. IN TODAY'S EPISODE, WE PICKED ONE OF THOSE HEROES WHOSE FINAL FLIGHT INTO OBLIVION WAS NOT AT ALL A FATE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN PREDICTED.

PFC RICHARD COURTLEIGH WAS THE HANDSOME SON OF A RENOWNED ACTOR AND A BEAUTIFUL ACTRESS WHO WAS DESTINED IN HIS OWN RIGHT FOR STARDOM IN HOLLYWOOD. WORLD WAR TWO INTERVENED AND PFC COURTLEIGH WAS LOST TO HISTORY ON AN OBSCURE SOUTH PACIFIC ISLAND IN 1943. HIS BODY HAS NEVER BEEN RECOVERED AND IDENTIFIED. WILL AN ENORMOUS PAIR OF SHOES BE THE ONE CLUE THAT BRINGS PFC COURTLEIGH HOME AFTER ALL THESE YEARS?

SEAMAN 1ST CLASS GEORGE STANLEY ABBOTT WAS A CREW MEMBER OF THE ILL FATED NAVY CRUISER USS INDIANAPOLIS WHEN IT WAS SUNK BY A JAPANESE SUBMARINE IN THE PHILIPPINE SEA DURING THE CLOSING MONTHS OF WORLD WAR 2. HE WAS PRESUMED LOST AT SEA AND IS OFFICIALLY LISTED AS “UNACCOUNTED FOR” UNTIL THIS VERY DAY. BUT HE WAS NOT LOST AT SEA…HE WAS FOUND…AND A QUEST FOR CLOSURE FOR HIS FAMILY HAS TURNED INTO A CHRONICLE OF HIS HEROIC ACTIONS IN HIS FINAL MINUTES ON BOARD THE INDY.

MARINE CORPS PFC RAYMOND MILTON STEPHENS WAS KILLED IN ACTION DURING WORLD WAR 2. HIS BODY WAS RECOVERED, IDENTIFIED, AND BURIED AFTER THE WAR IN THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL CEMETERY OF THE PACIFIC IN HONOLULU, HAWAII. BUT WHAT ONLY A VERY FEW PEOPLE KNOW UNTIL TODAY’S PODCAST IS THAT PFC STEPHENS WAS NOT ALONE IN HIS COFFIN. HE HAD ANOTHER MARINE BURIED WITH HIM WHOSE IDENTIFY REMAINS A “BAFFLING MYSTERY.” WE DEDICATE THIS EPISODE TO OUR LOYAL LISTENERS IN SALEM, OREGON. STAY TUNED FOR AN EPISODE ABOUT ONE OF YOUR HOMETOWN HEROES THAT SHARED HIS HONOR EVEN AFTER HIS DEATH…ONE KNOWN AND ONE UNKNOWN…MAY GOD KEEP THEM BOTH IN HALLOWED GLORY.

IN 1992, AS THE POLICE CHIEF IN WICHITA, KANSAS, I SPENT A DAY WITH FORMER PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON AND HEARD THIS QUOTE “IF YOU CAN’T TRUST THE GOVERNMENT, WHO CAN YOU TRUST?” YES, THAT SAME RICHARD NIXON WHO HISTORY RECORDS AS THE ARCHITECT OF THE WATERGATE COVER-UP CONSPIRACY. IN THE AFTERMATH OF WORLD WAR 2, AND LONG BEFORE WE CAME TO ROUTINELY QUESTION EVERYTHING THAT COMES OUT OF WASHINGTON, DC; MOST PEOPLE SIMPLY ACCEPTED WHATEVER THE GOVERNMENT CONCLUDED ABOUT JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING…INCLUDING IDENTIFYING OUR WAR DEAD. BUT TODAY, WE’RE GOING TO CALL INTO QUESTION THE VALIDITY OF THAT TRUST. CAPTAIN EDWARD GLENN WALKER, JR. WAS KILLED IN WORLD WAR 2 AND BURIED IN HIS HOMETOWN CEMETERY IN TENNESSEE...BUT NOW WE KNOW THAT THE PERSON BURIED IN CAPTAIN WALKER'S FAMILY PLOT WAS NOT CAPTAIN WALKER! STAY TUNED FOR THIS INCREDIBLE TALE FROM HISTORY'S MILITARY MYSTERIES!

IN JULY 1945, THE CRUISER USS INDIANAPOLIS DELIVERED THE ATOMIC BOMB COMPONENTS TO TINIAN ISLAND THAT WOULD SOON BE THE INSTRUMENT TO END WORLD WAR II. WITH A JOB WELL DONE (OR A “BRAVO ZULU” IN NAVY SPEAK) THE INDY SPED TOWARD HER NEXT ASSIGNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES BEFORE THE BOMBS WERE DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI. SHE NEVER MADE IT. TWO TORPEDOES FROM A JAPANESE SUBMARINE SENT THE INDY TO THE BOTTOM IN FIFTEEN MINUTES AND 900 AMERICAN SAILORS SPILLED INTO A DARK OCEAN FULL OF SHARKS AND NO DISTRESS SIGNAL ACKNOWLEDGED. SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OUR PODCASTS OF “NO HOME FOR HEROES” BEFORE AND SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW OF OUR FOUNDATION FOR OUR EFFORTS TO INVESTIGATE THE CASES OF OVER 500 MISSING AMERICAN SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN SINCE 2006. BUT HOW DO YOU INVESTIGATE CASES OF SAILORS WHO WERE LOST AT SEA? HOLD ON AND WE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT A VERY LITTLE KNOWN ASPECT OF THE INDY STORY THAT WILL ANSWER THAT QUESTION FOR YOU.

WHEN TWO BROTHERS ENLISTED IN THE NAVY IN 1938, THEY WERE THE EPITOME OF THE CLOSE KNIT FAMILY. THEY WERE SO CLOSE, THAT THE NAVY GAVE THEM SEQUENTIAL SERVICE NUMBERS...QUITE A RARITY FOR THE TIMES. AND THEN THE NAVY WENT ONE STEP FARTHER WHEN IT ASSIGNED BOTH BROTHERS TO THE SAME SHIP…THE ILL FATED USS WEST VIRGINIA SOON TO BE HOMEPORTED IN PEARL HARBOR HAWAII. ONE BROTHER WOULD SURVIVE THE JAPANESE ATTACK ON DECEMBER 7, 1941 AND THE SINKING OF THE USS WEST VIRGINIA…AND ONE BROTHER WOULD BE FIRST LISTED BY THE NAVY AS LOST, AND THEN ALIVE AND WELL, AND THEN MISSING, AND FINALLY KILLED IN ACTION ... BUT NEVER FOUND. BUT DON’T WORRY, THIS STORY IS GOING TO HAVE A HAPPY ENDING THANKS TO SOME PLAIN OLD FASHIONED DETECTIVE WORK!

TODAY’S STORY FEATURES THE SON OF A POLICE OFFICER BORN IN A SMALL COMMUNITY IN OKLAHOMA WHICH WAS SO SMALL THAT IT NO LONGER EXISTS. OUR HERO JOINED THE MARINES BEFORE WORLD WAR TWO TO SEE THE WORLD AND BOY, DID HE, AT LEAST UNTIL HE DISAPPEARED IN A SOUTH PACIFIC BATTLE ALONG WITH OVER 500 OF HIS FELLOW MARINES. IF YOU KNOW WHERE CLOUD CHIEF, OKLAHOMA IS, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND…HMMM…I DON’T SEE ANYBODY WAVING THEIR ARMS. THAT’S REALLY NOT SURPRISING BECAUSE, CLOUD CHIEF, OKLAHOMA IS NO LONGER A RECOGNIZED TOWN…IT EVEN LOST ITS POST OFFICE IN 1964. BUT TODAY, WE RECOGNIZE PROBABLY IT’S MOST HEROIC AND FORGOTTEN SON…SGT CLYDE CLAYTON MITCHELL BORN IN CLOUD CHIEF ON SEPTEMBER 1, 1916. Clyde's father, Walter D. Mitchell, was employed as a Oklahoma State Highway Patrolman before he died in 1937 when Clyde was 21 years old. BUT, AS YOU WILL SEE LATER ON IN THE EPISODE, THE FATHER MAY STILL HOLD THE CLUE TO SOLVING CLYDE'S DISAPPEARANCE.