Remains of World War II Pilot From Bridgeport Coming Home
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BRIDGEPORT -- Eighty years after Bridgeport native Charles George Reynolds gave his life in service to his country, his remains are coming back home.
Reynolds was a 1st lieutenant and a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, and he was declared missing in action in November 1943.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency recently identified his remains, and eight decades after he disappeared Reynolds is coming home to be buried with his parents. His funeral will be held on Sept. 23 at Weeks Cemetery in Bridgeport. Wilson Funeral Home will perform the graveside services.
"We thank God that he will be at rest with his parents. We thank him for his service, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family," Bridgeport Mayor Norma Teasdale said.
Bridgeport police will escort the funeral procession.
According to a press release from the DPAA, the organization identified the remains on July 18 by analyzing dental and biological records along with material and circumstantial evidence. Scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System also used DNA from Reynolds' family members to do DNA analysis.
Reynolds was 24 years old when he was labeled missing in action. At the time, he was serving in the Southwest Pacific Theater with the 498th Bombardment Squadron, 345th Bombardment Group. On Nov. 27, 1943, he was a crew member on board a B-25D Mitchell when it failed to return from a bombing mission at Wewak, New Guinea.
The pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in the Karau Lagoon in the Murik Lakes after the aircraft had taken significant damage from enemy anti-aircraft fire. The entire crew was listed as MIA.
Reynolds' remains were found after the war and were buried as an Unknown Soldier in the American Military Cemetery in Manila, Philippines.
Reynolds' name is now recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines, along with the names of many others who are still missing from WWII. The organization will place a rosette next to his name to signify that he has been located.
According to Reynolds' obituary, "He graduated from Bridgeport High School in 1937 and then went on to Washington and Jefferson College where he excelled in basketball. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity and graduated in 1942. Immediately after graduation, he entered pilot training with the Army Air Corps. Upon completion of training, he was stationed at Port Moresby, New Guinea."
For more information, contact the Army Casualty Office at 800-892-2490 or Wilson Funeral Home at 740-635-0651. Reynolds' obituary can be found at wilsonfuneralhomes.com.
Reynolds is survived by his nieces and nephews Kent Craver, Charlynn Burley and Chuck Marty as well as many great- and great-great-nieces and nephews. Visitation will take place from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, at Wilson Funeral Home, 920 National Road, Bridgeport, with the service to follow.
Five other service members associated with Reynolds' last mission remain unaccounted for.