National News
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| An American hero is laid to rest... photos by Pat Camuso |
MILFORD, Pa - It’s been said that the word “hero” has been much too overused of late yet I’m sure no one would argue that on Saturday morning, September 20, 2008, a true American hero was buried on a tranquil hillside on the outskirts of Milford, Pennsylvania; right next to another patriot hero – his Dad.
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| Edwin "Jack" Pearce returns home... |
Once the river-fog burnt off, the morning passed along looking much like any other crisp late-summer Saturday would in this bustling little town; but for a 4-engine turboprop military plane that passed low and slow over the east side of the village at 11:00 a.m., it was just another weekend day in Milford.
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| AC 130 Gunship flyover |
A few folks noticed the plane but no one knew that its arrival was planned with military precision and purposefully coincided with a slice of Milford history that was being soulfully written on the edge of town. The plane was a United States Air Force AC 130H Spectre Gunship and at that moment in time, symbolic of a Milford man’s great love for his country and of the sacrifices of a great American family.
You see, the meaning of the word “valor” and the phrase “love of country” are not lost on the Pearce family of Milford.
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| Memorial flag presented to Rosemary Pearce |
In 2005 this brave family buried Edwin A. Pearce at the Milford Cemetery. Edwin’s plane was shot down during World War II. He subsequently survived two years as a Prisoner of War at the infamous German prison camp known as Stalag 17.
Edwin eventually returned home safe and became a Pennsylvania State Trooper but he retired early to devote himself to what was already a full time Pearce family quest; to find their lost son and bring him home.
Now resting peacefully on that Milford hillside next to his Father, Ed, where the winding Sawkill Creek straightens up for its final run to the Delaware River, are the remains of United States Air Force aerial gunner, Chief Master Sergeant Edwin J. Pearce; family and friends knew him simply as “Jack.”
Yes, a brave Milford son, forever young, returned home Saturday morning, 36-years after his plane, an AC 130A gunship named "Prometheus," was shot down over Laos by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile (SAM).
Jack graduated from Delaware Valley High School back in the 60s and, just like his father before him, joined the Air Force.
During the early morning hours of March 29, 1972, Jack and thirteen fellow crew members, flying out of Ubon Airbase, Thailand, were conducting a night-time armed reconnaissance mission with an F4D fighter escort over Laos. Their mission: interdict North Vietnamese supplies moving south to the Ho Chi Minh Trail and into the acknowledged war zone.
According to Air Force records, the F4’s two-man aircrew saw a missle lift off the ground and before the gunship could take evasive action, the SAM hit Prometheus; call sign “Specter 13.” The plane reportedly went down on a jungle covered Laotian mountain 32 miles west of the South Vietnamese boarder; 45 miles west of Khe Sanh, Viet Nam.
Soon after that fateful mission, Jack’s parents, along with family and many friends, began a tireless effort to find out what happened to their son and to bring him home. Their long quest ended Saturday with a somber military tribute while a lone AC 130 circled on the horizon in honor of the decorated Airman.
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| A lone gunship circles Milford in honor of fallen Airman.... |
Jack Pearce, who would now be 61-years old, was originally listed as Missing in Action; this classification was changed to Killed in Action in 1979 simply due to the passage of time because little information about what happened to Jack and his crew yet existed.
At long last, American officials were granted access to the Laotian crash site; first in 1985 and once again in 2006 when some human remains and other artifacts were recovered.
Thanks to recent advancements in mitochondrial DNA testing, the remains of Chief Master Sergeant Edwin Jack Pearce have now been positively identified. The positive identification was made at the U.S. Air Force’s Central Identification Laboratory in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Chief Master Sergeant Jack Pearce was escorted to Milford from Hickam Field, Hawaii by United States Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Bill Abbot. Jack was buried receiving full military honors with an AC 130H flyover and an USAF burial detail, rifle and color guard out of McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. The Air Force Special Operations Command AC 130H Spectre Gunship flew out of Hurlburt Field, Florida.
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| Escorting the remains, Chief Master Sergeant Bill Abbot |
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