Another Fallen Hero Comes Home-- Part 1

From the July 24, 2012, Chicago Tribune "A fallen war hero comes home at last" by John Kass.

If Kass' column about Lt. Wasilewski name being adopted by a Dutch woman and then his remains being identified, that would be  a great story right there, but it gets better.

"There will be another long overdue funeral at Arlington next month, the funeral of Sgt. John E. Hogan of Missouri whose remains had also been lost for some seven decades."

Hogan has relatives in Chicago and one of them is Sandy Skurnicki, 60, of Palos Hills who read Kass' column about Wasilewski.  The Army had recently linked her to Hogan through a DNA swab and she knew through Army documents that Wasilewski was on that bomber.  She contacted Wasilewski's relatives.

Then, Melissa Mahoney, 49, of Ravenswood contacted Kass by e-mail.  She is a direct niece of John Hogan and did not know Skurnicki.  Mahoney said that Hogan's death and missing body was especially difficult for her grandmother, father and uncle.

All Mahoney's family had was a now-yellowed letter saying "the Department of the Army has been forced to conclude that the remains of your loved one are not recoverable."

The Story Gets Better.  --GreGen