Michael A Chiodo

S/Sgt Michael Chiodo, Aerial Gunner/Radio Operator in the B-24 #42-110105 of the 392nd Bomb Group (Heavy) and 578th Bomb Squad (8th AF) out of England.

MISSING AIRCREW REPORT: #04446 AIRCRAFT: #42-110105 (NO NICKNAME) "T-Bar" 10th Mission

AIRCREW: BISHOP     *     SQUADRON: 578th

CREW POSITIONS AND STATUS:

P 2/LT Bishop, Robert R. KIA
CP 2/LT Luce, Arthur W. KIA
N 2/LT Hess, Donald W. KIA
B 2/LT Digman, Thomas (NMI) Jr. KIA
R/O S/SGT Karaso, Joseph J. KIA
A/RO SGT Chiodo, Michael A. KIA
EnG SGT Blong, James T. KIA
WG SGT Harringer, John J. Jr. KIA
WG SGT Bonnassiolle, John R KIA
TG S/SGT McDonald, Ralph L. KIA

MISSION LOSS CIRCUMSTANCES: The only returning crew eyewitness report stated briefly that this plane was seen peeling off after the enemy fightter attacks with the right elevator appearing to be badly shot up, and that no chutes were seen. There were no additional reports on the loss of this aircrew and ship in the MACR.

German witnesses remember seeing the dogfight between the fighters and the bombers, and then this B-24 spiraling down toward the horse pasture below. They confirmed that everyone was killed in the crash. About an hour after the impact, a bomb exploded in the wreckage, destroying much of what remained of the plane and sending debris far and wide.

INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTS OF CREWMEN FATES: None. All crew men perished in this aircraft loss. No German reports exist on this crew as well.

BURIAL RECORDS: No German reports of crew member recoveries exist in the MACR. One member, Lt. Digman, was ultimately recovered by U.S. teams subsequently and he is interred in the U.S. overseas National Cemetery of ARDENNES in Grave B-34-52 and a Purple Heart citation was awarded. All remaining crew men are recorded on the WALL OF THE MISSING at the MARGRATEN National Cemetery with the exception of Sgt Blong. No record exists as to his remembrances-of-record. All other missing members are recorded as receiving the Air Medal and Purple Heart.

NEXT OF KIN DATA IN WWI 1: Bishop (Wife, Maryin, Box 786, El Reno, Oklahoma); Luce (Mother, May M., P0 Box 886, Fort Bragg, California); Hess (Wife, Mrs. Donald W., 1915 Grandview, Sioux City, Iowa); Digman (Wife, Bernice E., 688 Montclair Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania); McDonald (Father, Robie W., 411 Thompson Avenue, East Point, Georgia); Karaso (Mother, Anna. 3264 Miller Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania);*** CHIODO (Sister, Miss "Lucy Chiodo", 1438 East 176 Street, Cleveland, Ohio);***  Blong (Mother, Josephine, 116 Chestnut Street, Port Washington, Wisconsin); Harringer (Mother, Loretta D., 1714 North Brookfield, South Bend, Indiana); and Bonnassiolle (Mother, Mrs. Marie Kelly, Route #1, Box 12 Colma, California).  MACR has sister LUCE completely wrong, what is above is the correct name)

B-24 Web-site; http://www.b24.net/index.html

B-24 Crew Photo's, please scroll down to Michael's NAME.

http://www.b24.net/aircrew/cnames.html

"Mike" or as his family calls him "Mikey". . .was a treasured member of his family, having other siblings still living in Ohio at Enlistment.  Mike's parents had already passed on by then so when the tragedy occured, the MIA was sent to his sister Lucy.  His family will always remember him and this site has been placed in Micky's honor by his nephew Larry Wittal, a Vietnam Vet presently living in AZ.

CHIODO MICHAEL A SGT 35530766 578 OH 29 APR 44 -- Netherlands AM PH

   AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Michael A. Chiodo Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Forces Service # 35530766 578th Bomber Squadron, 392nd Bomber Group, Heavy Entered the Service from: Ohio
Died: 29-Apr-44
Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery
Margraten, Netherlands

Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart. His remains have been recovered.

Research and data provided by Barbi Ennis Connolly, WWII Historical Researcher, 57th Bomb Wing Researcher and 319th and 321st Bomb Groups Historian/B-25 /MTO  PRINCESSBARBI_B25@msn.com

                      The entire CREW interred together at Arlington.

     From the "392nd Bomb Group Memorial Association"  Dec. 2011 Issue.  Above article and pictures hared with the permission of Annette Tyson, an Editor of the Newsletter, to Barbi Ennis Connolly (WWII Historical Researcher).

OHIO News Herald;  21 Oct. 2011  

     Mike's Nephew Larry Wittal, USAF Vietnam Vet  (and his twin brother Allen, US Navy Veteran, USS Enterprise / Vietnam) are a members of our Church, St. Catherine Laboure' Catholic Church in Chino Valley, AZ  ... in addition to information from Larry's sister Joyce Wittal ( of Huntington Beach,CA, I believe)....  In 2005, Joyce's son, Robert and Joyce and my Aunt Rosey all gave DNA, and in 07or 08 we HAD a match for some of the remains!  Aunt Lucy was never named Luce!?  Our Grandmother Maria Francesca died in 1942, but our Grandfather Michele died in 1959.  He was alive and anguished to hear the news about his baby boy.

     WWII Historical Researcher;  PRINCESSBARBI_B25@msn.com

By Michael C. Butz
MButz@News-Herald.com

     A year ago, Sgt. Michael A. Chiodo — who died in World War II but whose remains weren’t found and identified until decades later — was buried with full military honors at Western Reserve Memorial Garden in Chester Township.
     On Wednesday, Chiodo will receive a second burial — this time at Arlington National Cemetery.
    “It means a lot,” said Michael’s sister, Rose Chiodo, 88, of Mayfield Heights. “Most of the heroes are buried there.”
     Michael and the nine other soldiers who died with him on April 29, 1944, will be buried as a group at Arlington National Cemetery, according to the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). Two of the soldiers will also be interred individually at Arlington on the same day as the group interment.
    Rose said she recently got out of the hospital and won’t be able to make the trip to Arlington, Va., just outside of Washington, D.C. However, her niece, Joyce Wittal, will travel from California and serve as the family’s representative at the ceremony.
     Rose feels Michael’s burial at Arlington on Wednesday will send a uniquely important message to other families whose relatives’ remains still haven’t been accounted for.
    “He’s one of the few they found the remains for,” she said. “I think (the burial) will give hope to other people.”
      On April 29, 1944, the Eighth Air Force ordered more than 600 aircraft to bomb the railroad system in Berlin. Michael, who was from Cleveland, was the assistant radio operator aboard a B-24J Liberator that took off from Wendling Air Base in County Norfolk, England.
    The aircraft crashed with nine other crew members aboard when attacked by German fighters before reaching the target.  
    The location of the crash could not be determined during the dogfights, but other crew members’ observations placed it north of Hanover.
         On July 4, 1944, Rose said, their family was informed that her brother was dead. He was 22.
     “He was just beginning to start his life,” Rose said. “It was a hard thing. My mother, thank God she had passed away the year before so she didn’t know.”
     In 2003, a German citizen began excavating the crash site near the village of Meitze and turned over human remains to U.S. officials.
     A joint POW/MIA Accounting Command team traveled to the crash site in 2005 and again in 2007, recovering additional remains and crew-related equipment, including identification tags for four of the crew members.
     Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, investigators used dental comparisons and DNA, which matched Rose, a niece and a great-nephew, in the identification of his remains.
   Rose said she was told in 2007 that the remains were those of her brother.
     The remains were flown back to Cleveland on Oct. 19, 2010, and the burial at Western Reserve Memorial Garden — attended by many who wished to pay their respects, including some who never knew the Chiodo family — was held the following day.
     “They had a beautiful ceremony,” Rose said. “I didn’t know most of them at all. ... I was very much surprised.”
     Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died, according to the DPMO. At the end of the war, the U.S. government was unable to recover and identify approximately 79,000 Americans. Today, more than 73,000 remain unaccounted for from the conflict.  **** By Michael C. Butz ****