Missing World War II trunk delivered to Vero Beach veteran fighter pilot
By Joe Crankshaw
Saturday, September 15, 2012
VERO BEACH — An important part of Bruce Latter's past was delivered to his front door Thursday afternoon by a UPS truck.
His long-missing Army foot locker was returned to the 89-year-old formerWorld War II fighter pilot, thanks to a multiyear effort by retired Army chaplain's assistant Larry Ogle in Sevierville, Tenn.
"I am just delighted and thankful to Larry Ogle," said Latter as his daughter, Jeanie Crawfis, unpacked the trunk like locker.
She pulled out flying helmets, goggles, a throat mike, flying suits, flying jacket, an Eisenhower dress jacket, two Japanese flags and a Japanese flying helmet, ammunition clips for an M-1 carbine, photographs, reels of gun camera film, an assortment of souvenirs and letters between Latter and friends.
Latter packed away the memorabilia when he was discharged as a first lieutenant in 1945. It was carried along in his family's effects as he moved from one job to another, including several foreign countries such as Russia, China, India and Korea, until he and his wife, the late Katherine Stover, retired to Gatlinburg, Tenn. There it went into the attic of their mountain home.
When driving in the mountains in the winter time became difficult, his daughter said, they moved to Vero Beach to be near her.
Her two brothers, James and Robert, packed for the move but somehow overlooked the Army green trunk in the attic. It stayed there for 10 years.
Workmen preparing the home for sale three years ago found the trunk in the attic and took it to Robert Alwine's Pottery Shop in Sevierville. It was shown to Ogle, who is on the staff of First Baptist Church of Sevierville.
"They were going to sell it at the flea market," Ogle said, "and showed it to me because I am a veteran. When I saw it, I told them it should not be sold. That someone's life was represented in it and their family would probably like to have it."
Ogle's comments didn't get a response, or so he thought, but when he went to his truck, the foot locker was in the truck bed. Alwine had bought it from the workmen.
"He told me to take it, find the owner and he wouldn't let me pay him."
Ogle only had a name and address in Lansing, Mich., on the trunk lid to go on. After two years, he found a neighbor who said he thought the Latters had moved to Vero Beach.
Six months ago, enlisting the aid of the Sevierville Police Department, they found three Latters in Vero Beach.
"The first one I called was him," said Ogle. He hoped to bring the trunk to Latter personally, but that plan failed, so last Monday he shipped it via UPS.
Latter was born in Lansing and joined the Army Air Force after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
"They asked me if I wanted to be a pilot. I had never flown but it sounded like something I should do," said Latter looking at his memorabilia Thursday evening.
He was assigned to the Army Aviation Cadet Program and eventually completed flight training at Miami Beach and Selma, Ala. He had a good record and was retained as a fighter pilot instructor.
It was a little disappointing, he said. "I wanted to do my share in the war but wasn't anxious to be killed."
In the closing days of the war, he was sent to fly reconnaissance missions over Japan.
After his discharge, he joined the Air Force Reserve and went to Michigan State University and received a bachelor and master's degree in mechanical engineering. He got a job with GE from which he retired in the 1980s and joined the International Executive Service Corps. He worked in quality control and visited factories around the world.
Looking at the items from his foot locker, Latter said he was going to have to decide what to keep and what to give away.
"You are not going to give anything away," said his daughter. "The family will want to keep all of this."
Posted:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/sep/15/ ... ran-pilot/
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