Members of a recovery team were at Marysville City Council’s work session Monday to detail plans to recover the body of Capt. John “Blackie” Porter and the crew of men that died with him when his plane crashed in India in 1943. Local officials are asking the Marysville community to donate to help fund the recovery. Above, archeologist John Schweikart talks about the region where the plane was shot down by Japanese fighters.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
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Marysville officials are working to help bring back a hero.
Ellen Vinson, of Pensacola, Florida was in Marysville Monday.
“First of all, I wanted to thank Marysville,” Vinson said.
Vinson is the daughter of Ellen “Jane” Watson, the widow of Capt. John “Blackie” Porter. She is in the process of raising money to bring home the remains of Porter and all those on his plane. Vinson, along with members of a potential recovery team, spoke at a gathering of civic and veterans’ leaders and later at Marysville City Council’s work session.
“There aren’t many people who remember Blackie and they are getting older and pretty soon they will all be gone,” Vinson said. “When they are gone, when I am gone, it’s not going to get done. It has to be done now or there won’t be anyone to do it.”
Last month, city officials announced a fundraising campaign to help with the return.
Porter and Sgt. Harold Neibler, also of Marysville, died Dec. 10, 1943. The men, and four others, known as Blackie’s Gang, were flying a rescue mission over the eastern Himalayas when their plane was shot down, crashing in northeast India. Only the co-pilot survived and only because he had a parachute and Porter pushed him from the plane.
In 2011, adventurer Clayton Kuhles, was at a crash site in the region and learned of another crash site nearby. When he went, Kuhles discovered the wreckage of a B-25. He found a set of dog tags belonging to Sgt. Harry D. Tucker, a crewman on Porter’s plane.
After researching the flight, he was connected with Vinson who decided to help fund a recovery effort.
“It is the least we can do, to bring them back,” Vinson said.
Kuhles said he is confident the crash is Blackie’s plane and confident that he can recover the remains as well as personal items that may be at the scene. He said he sent a local guide to the site about two months ago and photos indicate it is undisturbed from when he found the site eight years ago.
But the recovery won’t be cheap. Kuhles said the entire mission, including travel, could take 45 days and would cost “a minimum of $70,000.”
“I am aiming to get it done this year, for the absolute minimum price possible,” Kuhles said.
The federal government does have a department tasked with identifying and recovering the remains of soldiers around the world. Officials from that organization, however, have said that due to the location and age of the crash, Porter and his men are not likely to be targeted by the government for recovery.
The adventurer, along with forensic anthropologist Dr. Cheryl Johnston, archaeologist John Schweikart and medic Matt Misicka are donating their time and expertise to the mission.
“It will be a challenge, but a challenge that needs to be had,” Johnston said, acknowledging that she is aware of the rugged and dangerous conditions on the ground.
Schweikart added he wants to use his skills for a greater community good and “to not give it the old college try would be a shame.”
Kuhles said that because of the rivers that need to be crossed, he needs to wait until after the rainy season. Because of other conditions, he wants to do it as quickly as he can.
The team is also hoping to bring a cadaver dog and handler. The dog, Pocket, is specially trained to recover bodies that have been buried for decades, even centuries.
Kuhles explained that because of crash, the remains are likely comingled.
“We want to make sure we get the remains of all five individuals to make sure all five of them make it home,” Kuhles said.
At a meeting last month, council announced it would help facilitate a fundraising campaign. To date, the local campaign has raised almost $10,000.
Council member Mark Reams called the effort “a great thing.” Officials confirmed no city tax dollars will be used as part of the campaign.
Kuhles and his team need to have the $70,000 raised quickly as they must begin to make travel arrangements.
Kuhles said that if he is unable to raise the money, a smaller team could be sent.
Vinson said that if the team is unable to bring Blackie and his men home, she won’t have any regrets.
“I will know we tried,” she said.
Schweikart said that with all that is going on in the country, it is important to return the men and to the values they embody. He complimented Marysville for stepping up to the task.
“It is not every community in the country that would show the level of commitment to these people that Marysville has,” Schweikart said.
Vinson added, “this is a pretty extraordinary little town.”
Those wishing to contribute to the recovery are asked to make checks payable to the “Union County Veterans Remembrance Committee,” include “Blackie’s Gang Recovery” in the memo line and mail them to the Union County Foundation, P.O. Box 608 Marysville, Ohio 43040.