From the May 27, 2012, Chicago Tribune "empty WWII grave holds a story that now has ending" by John Kass.
"There are many graves at St. Casimir Cemetery on the Far South Side of Chicago, and one belongs to Emil Wasilewski.
"Emil's coffin is there, but Emil isn't in the ground.
"The empty casket was buried after his family learned that Lt. Emil T. Wasilewski, a decorated bombardier, was killed in action in Germany in 1944. Emil's body wasn't recovered, but his father, a Polish immigrant, wanted a place to grieve."
The Chicago Tribune had run a story on May 7, 1944, saying that Emil had recently graduated from Deming Army Air Field in New Mexico and that he had received silver bombardier wings after an 18-week course in high altitude precision bombing.
According to the Army, Emil Wasilewski was part of the crew of a B-17G Flying Fortress on a bombing run over Germany to take out oil refineries on September 13, 1944, when his aircraft was shot down by enemy fire and crashed. Only one man survived.
The other eight died in the crash and were buried near the town of Neustadt. For years, this area in what became East Germany was off limits to American forces by the Soviets.
And, Then, The Burial Site Was Found. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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