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The Hump Operation

Sheldon Chambers already had plenty of war stories when the 23-year-old Altoona-area native went missing.

Sheldon was stationed in Hawaii as an Army Air Force mechanic when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

“That’s when he made up his mind, he was going to be a pilot,” brother Russell Chambers says.

Sheldon attended flight school in California and soon was a co-pilot on a B-24J Liberator. His sister clearly remembers the sound of their mother’s screams when a telegram arrived in February 1944. Sheldon was missing.

Sheldon was the third of nine children raised outside Altoona in Homers Gap. At 5-foot-4 inches tall, “Shell” would stand on hills during group pictures, his siblings remember. He played intramural sports and really liked fixing things. He took auto-shop classes all through high school.

The United States was surrounded by war when Sheldon graduated from Altoona High School in 1939. He enlisted in the Army weeks after commencement.

Russell, 74, now of Camp Hill, says his older brother always wanted to fly.

“He always had that bug in the back of his mind,” he says.

Most of Russell’s memories of his older brother stem from Sheldon’s only visit home after the Pearl Harbor attack.

Sheldon returned to the service and earned his wings. He was among eight crew members to board a B-24J Liberator nicknamed “Hot as Hell” on Jan. 25, 1944.

The plane took off at 7:40 a.m. with several aircraft on a supply mission from Kunming, China, to Chabua, India. Three hours into the flight, bad weather forced the aircraft formation to break. “Hot as Hell” was last seen on a northwesterly course at 15,000 feet.

The next week in Altoona, a boy riding a bicycle arrived at the Chambers’ house in Homers Gap. He handed Sarah Chambers a two-sentence telegram.

“I heard my mother screaming,” says Sheldon’s sister Verna [Swope] Martin.

Sheldon Chambers and his fellow crew members were missing.

Sarah later shared the news in a letter to Sheldon’s girlfriend, who immediately responded.

“I can’t tell you how I feel about the news in which you sent. As you know already, we can only hope and pray that he is safe some place,” she wrote.

Then she wrote of the news the young couple were holding for his return.

“Shell, he asked me to marry him again. And I accepted,” she wrote, then repeated her plea for hope.

Sarah’s surviving children and grandchildren say she remained optimistic. Weeks passed with little information. Her hope that Shell would knock on the door remained even after the War Department sent a one-page letter a year after his disappearance. The letter ends with notification that Sheldon Chambers was presumed dead. The official date of death: Jan. 26, 1946.

“I regret the necessity for this message but trust that the ending of a long period of uncertainty may give at least some small measure of consolation,” a major general wrote.

World War II ended, but the uncertainty only multiplied as years and other wars passed.

Steve Chambers, the son of Sheldon’s older brother LeRoy, remembers his grandmother’s endless hope.

“Whenever we were in a group of people she used to look in the face of the men until the day she died,” says Steve, now of Flagstaff, Ariz.

Verna remembers her mother’s travels to Philadelphia, where her father worked.

“She would get into the train stations when traveling and she would look and look. She never gave up,” Verna says. “She would say she looked and looked all through the airports and couldn’t find him. I think that must be one of the worst things, a mother losing a child.”

Sarah Chambers died in 1976.

Sheldon’s father, Oscar Chambers, died in 1975.

The generation that followed in the Chambers’ family accepted the open-ended story of “Uncle Shell.”

LeRoy spoke often of his brother and shared stories with his son Steve.

“It is my understanding that my father took his going missing very hard,” Steve says. “Shell was always a presence in my life.”

Steve and his father built a model airplane in honor of Shell that hung in Steve’s bedroom. “I used to sort of envision Shell and his crew still up there in the clouds,” Steve says.

LeRoy died in 2001.

The crew’s families also accepted the inconclusive story. There was little purpose in pushing the government, because nobody knew the crew’s fate. That’s just the way it was.

***

Search: ‘Irwin Zaetz’

***

Everything changed last year when a North Carolina man searched online for “Irwin Zaetz,” the plane’s navigator.

“I was just searching my uncle’s name online and found the Web site,” says nephew Gary Zaetz of Cary, N.C. He was looking at     www.MIArecoveries.org

An Arizona man claimed that he discovered the plane in the jungles of northeastern India. There were pictures of the aircraft. Even the serial number matched.

“I was basically in shock,” Gary says. “Our main goal was to notify members of our immediate family as soon as possible.”

The more Gary looked, the more legitimate the discovery seemed. The Web site, created by Clayton Kuhles of Prescott, Ariz., even contained Clayton’s report to the Department of Defense. Clayton operates a real-estate business and seeks missing aircraft as a hobby. Clayton says he was investigating a story about aircraft wreckage in the mountains north of an Indian village. He made contacts among the locals, and they assisted him in finding the wreckage.

“In this case, I had no idea what aircraft I might find at the site,” Clayton says. The serial number was visible on the plane, and he later made the connection.

Clayton says the area was covered in snow, but local residents said remains were seen in the area.

Gary contacted Steve’s wife with the news.

“It was confirmation there were remains there and it brought on a mixture of sadness,” Steve says.

Word of Clayton’s discovery quickly spread through the Chambers family.

“If it wasn’t for him, my family still wouldn’t know,” says Joyce Dougal of Mesa, Ariz., the daughter of Sheldon’s sister Audrey Stubblefield. “I think the government gave up looking for him way, way, way back.”

Audrey died in 2006.

***

Bringing Sheldon home

***

The prospect of closure seemed near when the military sent an identification kit to Sheldon’s brother Charles Chambers. Charles, who lives in the Altoona area, said he is thankful that after all these years, the government gives the case any attention.

“What they’re doing is remarkable, and they’re doing a good job,” says Charles, 70.

Eager to learn the process to ensure a swift recovery, the families shared their story with elected and Department of Defense officials.

There were conversations and e-mails exchanged. On the best days, someone requested additional information. Those who seemed in a position to assist didn’t, and those who showed the most interest referred them elsewhere.

Joyce sent letters to Altoona’s federal and state representatives. The only response came in November from state Rep. Richard Geist, R-Altoona. Of course, Geist couldn’t assist with a federal matter. Geist expressed sympathy and promised to forward the matter to U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-9th District.

“I thought it was great of him to take the time to answer my letter and tell me he forwarded it to Shuster, but I’ve never heard back from Shuster’s office,” Joyce says.

A spokesman in Shuster’s office said the letter was forwarded to Rep. Jeff Flake, R-6th District, because that is Joyce’s representative. Flake’s office first followed up on the letter in January after the Mirror inquired about the case.

Joyce and other family members were optimistic that their story would attract the attention of their senator, John McCain, R-Ariz. McCain has a well-known history as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam, is a presidential candidate and is the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, which oversees various military aspects of the U.S. government.

The response from McCain was swift and short.

“Your situation is in the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense. Therefore, I have forwarded your letter to their liaison,” states the four-sentence letter signed by McCain.

The hope of closure transformed as the families experienced the same reception Clayton described after a visit to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii several years before he discovered “Hot as Hell.” There he discussed his research with Department of Defense officials.

“They were polite and professional, but I didn’t sense any genuine interest on their part in looking with me,” Clayton says.

The relationship between the families and the Department of Defense has evolved into one that sometimes borders on adversarial. The crews’ relatives complain more about disrespect than not getting the desired answers. They hide their feelings when talking about those ultimately responsible for any recovery mission.

Family members say one of their lowest points came last year in Phoenix at an annual meeting for all families of missing servicemen. They each speak of the 90-year-old woman who was told recovery was two to 10 years away.

“My Aunt Verna got teary eyed and said, ‘I don’t have 10 years,’” Joyce says. “I think that is why the family members are pushing a lot.”

The “Hot as Hell” families were told the earliest recovery will be in late 2009 because of other projects. The U.S. government has said the area where Clayton discovered the plane is unstable and too dangerous for a recovery mission. They also say the U.S. needs India’s permission.

“I would make the case that there is more instability in a major city in America,” says Clayton, who has made multiple trips to the region and discovered eight wreckage sites. He says he has interacted with government officials while in India who are generally supportive of his effort.

***

Recovering the missing

***

The mammoth task of recovering the 88,000 presumed dead members of the military falls to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC). Eighteen recovery teams conduct about 25 recovery missions annually. JPAC operates on budgets that have hovered from $46.5 million to $53 million since 2005.

Despite World War II having the most missing soldiers, advocacy groups often complain about the lack of attention given to those who never returned from that war.

“It’s just been my impression that because the World War II veterans are dying off at a rapid rate, that they feel the families have forgotten and just don’t care,” Clayton says.

There is some basis for that impression in a 2006 Department of Defense document titled “Strategy to Recover and Account for Missing Personnel.” U.S. government officials don’t publicize their priorities, but the remains of World War II soldiers is the lowest concern when recovery is considered. The 2006 report states that most recent wars take priority, with 15 percent of the overall effort targeting World War II veterans.

***

An agreement for recovery

***

After 2007 brought little progress, hope again spread to the crews’ families Jan. 16. A joint U.S.-Indian defense policy group met in Washington, D.C.

Gary received word from an official at the Embassy of India in Washington, D.C., of an agreement to permit recovery missions in northeastern India. Gary says he confirmed the information with a contact at the Department of Defense. News of an agreement was reported Feb. 1 in India Today, a widely circulated publication based in New Delhi. The publication cited anonymous Indian government sources and said the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs overruled security concerns.

JPAC spokesman Troy Kitch on Feb. 1 told the Mirror about an “agreement reached between the U.S. and India.”

Kitch wrote, “The government of India has already begun working with us on this effort and we look forward to positive results which may bring peace to many families.”

He said U.S. specialists hope to meet in March with Indian officials to “discuss specific plans for further investigations and possible recovery operations.”

Gary remained positive after traveling to Georgia this month for the regularly scheduled Department of Defense meeting with families of missing soldiers. Gary says JPAC officials left him with the impression that the recovery operation in India would start in March 2009, with a slim chance of recovery this year.

Excitement about the agreement turned to concern as weeks passed with no official announcement from the U.S. government.

Gary followed up by e-mail on his discussion in Georgia with JPAC officials. The response was that there is no agreement. Rear Admiral and JPAC Commander Donna Crisp on Feb. 14 wrote that she plans to travel to India in March to seek permission for operations for cases that involve 35 missing American service members, including the “Hot as Hell” crew.

The Mirror asked Kitch to clarify the status of the agreement.

“The meeting last month between India and the U.S. set up the framework for the two countries to begin work towards eventual investigations and recoveries by JPAC,” Kitch wrote. “We anticipate that our first March meetings will lead to further U.S.-India cooperation and will set the groundwork for how and when we go to India with teams. There is no agreement to date.”

Obviously frustrated by the mixed messages from all the parties involved, the crews’ families are encouraged by indications given by the Indian government. The Mirror obtained a copy of a letter from India’s ambassador to the United States to Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, home to a pair of the crew members.

Ronen Sen wrote that India fought “shoulder to shoulder” with its allies during World War II and appreciates the importance of recovery operations.

“I assure you that my government is committed to giving full support, including logistical help, to representatives of the U.S. Department of Defense who wish to travel to India for discussions on the location of crash sites of U.S. military aircraft.”

Clayton has discussed with the families the possibility of a private recovery, but relatives of the crew voice concern about costs and possibly upsetting those who determine entry into Arlington National Cemetery.

Kitch says JPAC supports help from private citizens in locating wreckage, but asks they not disturb or advertise the site.

Verna said last week that she isn’t certain of the exact status of the situation. She knows of the possible agreement with India, but the others informed her about the conflicting reports. Verna says she wants to know her brother is removed from the jungle where he and seven comrades lost their lives.

She says the return of his remains make it seem her brother Shell is coming home to her.

“I’m 90, and I’d like to have him back here before I’m gone,” she says.

Verna will be 91 in December.

Jay M. Young can be reached at 814-946-7535.

Member Comments

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GaryZaetz
05-18-08 1:41 PM »Report Abuse	On April 11, the Governor of Arizona, the Honorable Janet Napolitano, honored Clayton Kuhles with a Certificate of Appreciation, which reads: "Be it known to all that Clayton Kuhles is awarded this certificate in recognition of his dedicated service to the families of World War II MIA Aircrews. The time and effort you have given to find these crash sites is greatly appreciated not only by the families that you have brought closure to but to all Arizonans. On behalf of the citizens of the State of Arizona, I thank you and commend you for your admirable service. Best wishes and success in all future endeavors. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Arizona Janet Napolitano (signature) GOVERNOR DONE at the Capitol in Phoenix on this eleventh day of April in the year Two Thousand and Eight"
GaryZaetz
03-29-08 10:06 PM »Report Abuse	Many thanks to Jay Young and the Altoona Mirror for this outstanding article. American Clayton Kuhles and Indian Oken Tayeng are solely responsible for locating all the crashsites JPAC is planning to survey this year in Arunachal Pradesh. These two intrepid and selfless men deserve to be honored by their respective governments for their accomplishments, bringing closure to the relatives of American airmen lost more than sixty years ago. Gary Zaetz, Nephew of 1st Lt. Irwin Zaetz, navigator of the B-24 "Hot as Hell", discovered by Clayton Kuhles and Oken Tayeng on December 7, 2006

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