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CHEYENNE, Wyo. (12/02/2012) - William L. Wood, like many men in
his generation, left his home to serve his country during World War
II. Wood, a gunner in the 39th Bomb Group, Crew 26, would not have
chance to go back home to his pregnant wife or hold their baby in
his arms. On April 28, 1945, Wood and his crew were flying a mission
over the Pacific when a Japanese fighter rammed the right wing of
his crew's B-29, tearing off 20 feet of the wing.
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Pictured is William L. Wood's 39th Bomb Group, Crew 26. This photo
is courtesy of Terry Ratigan, nephew of F/O David P. Donahoo. The
photo belonged to Teresa Donahoo, David's mother. Courtesy Photo
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The plane, with its 12 crew members, made its way toward
land but never reached it. A Purple Heart medal awarded
posthumously was the only item Wood's family had left.
More than 50 years later, Randy Brown, a school teacher
from East Memorial Elementary School, Greeley, Colo., was
helping tear down old buildings in Denver, when he made an
unusual discovery in the walls of an old home. Brown had
uncovered a box containing a Purple Heart with the
inscription, “William L. Wood.”
 Not
knowing what to do with his find, but knowing it was
important, Brown hung on to it for years before his teaching
job put him in the path of someone who would know what to do
with such a treasured item. Bruce Scheel, a retired
technical sergeant, who became a teacher after 20 years of
military service, was working at East Memorial in 2008, when
Brown approached him with his story and the medal.
“It was just gorgeous,” said Scheel after seeing Wood's
medal for the first time. “It had the ribbon, the medal, and
a card from the Secretary of the Army, all in perfect
shape.”
Scheel and his wife, Wyoming Air National
Guard Senior Master Sgt. Michelle Scheel, immediately
started looking everywhere for any living family members of
Wood's. They searched the internet hoping to find any
information that would help guide them in returning the
medal to its rightful owners.
“I'm from a military
family,” said Mr. Scheel, “so I know the importance of
something like a Purple Heart to a family.”
Although
the Scheels found a couple of websites with listed
information about Wood and his final mission, their search
wasn't getting the results they'd hoped for. Wood's date of
birth was unlisted and they could not locate his enlistment
records.
In time, the Scheels moved away from the
Colorado area to Indianapolis, bringing the medal with them
and placing it in a display case in the living room of their
new home, to continue to protect and keep it safe until the
owners could be found.
Around August 2011, the
Scheels had their neighbor, Ernest Dykes, over for dinner
when he noticed the Purple Heart in the case.
“Dykes
was very interested,” Mr. Scheel said, “he had never seen
anything like it before.” Scheel told him the background of
the medal and its journey up until now.
“You would
not believe how my brother can find people,” said Dykes to
Mr. Scheel. “Why don't you give me the information that you
have and we'll see what he can find.” So, Mr. Scheel gave
him what he had, appreciative of the help.
In the
middle of September, Scheel received an email from a man
named Lee Wood who said his dad was William L. Wood and that
he was born six months after his dad disappeared.
“The email gave me chills,” said Mr. Scheel. “It said the
last time Lee Wood saw his dad's medal was when he was
around eight or nine years old, which would have been around
53 years ago.”
“Wood told me his only guess would be
his mother put the medal in the wall to protect it to make
sure it wouldn't get lost and either died without telling
anybody where it was or forgot about where it was,” said Mr.
Scheel.
Scheel and Wood were much closer than Scheel
could have imagined, he discovered that Lee Wood now lived
in Chicago, Ill., which was only a few hundred miles from
the Scheel's new home.
Scheel and his wife traveled to
Chicago, Ill., Oct. 22, 2011, to return the medal to Wood's
only living family member.
“It is part of his
heritage getting returned to him,” said Mr. Scheel. “It was
exciting to give it back and a relief to have found Lee,”
Mr. Bruce Scheel. “It's back to a family that deserves to
have it.”
“It was an emotional day to see Mr. Wood
recover something he hadn't seen for over 50 years,” said
Mr. Scheel, “but, also a bittersweet day for us because, we
had started to feel we would never finds the rightful
owner.”
Even though the journey is over and the medal
is back to its rightful owners, Mr. Scheel said he will
continue to use this experience as inspiration for
instilling values in his students.
“I want these kids
to grow up being respectful and taking care of this country
so my grandkids and great grandkids have a great society to
live in.”
By USAF Tech. Sgt. Natalie Stanley
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2012
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