In Perspective: Bringing a Missing Brother Home

[Editor's Note: For 17 years, LTC Buck wore the MIA bracelet of LTC Mason.  He presented it to Mrs. Mason when he brought home and laid to rest his brother.  We are honored to be allowed to share his story.]

by LTC Brian Buck,
©2010 Uncle Buck, all rights reserved.  

As a member of the military, I realize that there are times where I may be called upon to lay down my life for the defense of my country, to defend the constitution against all enemies. Some people can't understand this call to duty, they're lost in a world where these are foreign concepts best left for books or TV. This however, has always been a realization for me from the day I signed on, to the days I spent in Sarajevo as part of SFOR, through the year I spent in downtown Baghdad with MNF-I. But all that time I had a reminder with me that it's a price others have been willing to pay for my freedom and it's a duty I owe to everyone else.

That reminder was in the form of a POW/MIA bracelet commemorating Colonel William Henderson Mason. A small strip of aluminum engraved with his name and date of loss in the Vietnam war, May 22nd 1968. On that night then Lt Col Mason and the other 8 members of his crew lifted off in a C-130 under the callsign of BLIND BAT 01. They were bound for a point of the Ho Chi Minh trail that extended into southern Laos to drop illumination flares so that other aircraft in the area could see the enemy illuminated and drop ordinance on them. It was a dangerous mission...that night they did not return. Their C-130 was lost to AAA fire over the jungle near the border of Laos and Vietnam. Search missions found no trace of their aircraft the next day. The crew of BLIND BAT 01 were listed as Missing in Action.

 

All of this hapened a year and a few days before I was even born. I never really knew of, much less understood, the level of sacrifice these men and others made for me. It wasn't until my time in the Air Force ROTC program at Southeast Missouri State that I really started to appreciate the gravity of what could happen in my chosen line of work. In the Fall of 1990 my girlfriend at the time, who later I had the great fortune of marrying, and I purchased POW/MIA bracelets as a fundraiser for the Arnold Air Society. I randomly pulled SSG Russel Bott from the bucket, but she being more meticulous searched the bin and found one with the last name of Mason, with her father being in the Masonic Lodge it didn't take too long for her to make her choice.

 

For nearly three years I wore SSG Botts bracelet, taking it off for exercise and showering and then putting it back on which unfortunately started to wear a crack into the aluminum. Eventually I had to take it off for fear of destroying it completely. My wife, knowing how deeply I felt about the POW/MIA issue gave me hers in early 1993, with just one condition: I was never to take it off for any purpose until Colonel Mason was recovered. A promise is a promise. Colonel Mason went with me to other fields of strife, he was there with me as I drove through the mine laden areas of Bosnia near Sarajevo. He was there as a reminder in October of 2001 as I deployed to Qatar after 9/11. He was a constant companion in all the mortar and rocket attacks I survived during a year of service in Baghdad. Everytime I had a doubt, I had but to look at my right wrist and find comfort in knowing that he had been there...done that and I could too.

 

As my year in Iraq came to an end, I found that I was to be PCSd to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command for duty as the Director of Communications and Information. A dream job for a guy who feels that our nations missing and fallen heroes deserve our very best efforts to bring them home. I gave a cursory look at the archives when I arrived at JPAC to see if I could find any mention of Col Mason, but outside of the fact that our teams had found the crash site in 2000, just 350 meters across the border from Laos into Vietnam there wasn't much else to be gleaned. A chance encounter in January 2009 with one of the anthropologists from JPACs lab changed that. At a conference, in Miami of all places, he saw my bracelet and told me that the lab was in the final stages of identification of Colonel Mason, that a small amount of remains had been corrolated to him from the crash site. It was then and there that he introduced me to representatives from Air Force casualty affairs who would later connect me with Colonel Mason's widow, Irene.

 

On August 29th, 2009 I had the honor of meeting Mrs Mason for the first time, my wife and I greeting her at the airport. Air Force mortuary affairs representatives had told her how I had been wearing her husband's bracelet for nearly 17 years and my wife for years before that. We treated each other like family who had been separated for the longest of times. On Sunday the 30th we spent the day my wife, Mrs Mason and I touring the island of Oahu. At the WWII submarine memorial in Pearl Harbor, she pointed out a name on one of the plaques, Col Mason's brother had lost his life as a Lieutenant aboard a submarine in WWII...it was one of his reasons for serving.

 

Monday the 31st of August was the longest day of my life, It started early in the morning in with me in my full service dress uniform greeting Mrs Mason at the doors of JPAC. She was there to finally take custody of his earthly remains 41 years after his loss and to see him to his final rest at Arlington National Cemetery. I had worked it with the command and with the Air Force to be a special escort for this trip. I explained to her that I was there to support her in any way I could and I would not leave her husband's side until I knew he was secure. And with that Mrs Mason and I as well as two gentlemen from Air Force mortuary affairs were on our way to lunch and then to the Airport for our flight to Atlanta on our way to DC.

 

We spoke with the captain and the flight crew and asked them to allow for extra time boarding the aircraft to ensure we had time to render the appropriate customs and courtesies as Colonel Mason was brought aboard the plane for his journey home. The crew rearranged our seats to put us close to the door so we could be the last ones on and the first ones off. Mrs Mason and I were taken down to the tarmac and we offered her husband the salute he was due for his sacrifice and service as he was placed on the plane. Despite the larger seats in 1st class I didn't get much rest as I had just returned from a 10-day mission to Southeast Asia with stops in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Singapore so I was completely jet lagged not knowing when I was.

 

Upon arrival into Atlanta the captain asked everyone to remain seated to allow Mrs Mason and I time to deplane. After the salute, I departed with Colonel Mason to an area where Delta Airlines holds remains being shipped for funerals. The cold and foggy mist were a startling change from Honolulu the day before. But there was no way I was going to leave him until I knew he was ready to be loaded on our next flight. He deserved to be escorted. In Atlanta, Delta has a special cart emblazoned with the American flag painted on a canopy of plexiglass to cover coffins of service members to keep them from the elements. An agent from Delta transfered his remains and we went on to the departure gate for our flight to DC.

Before departing Atlanta for DC, I escorted Mrs Mason down to the ramp and the Delta Airlines ground crew had a brief respectful ceremony before they loaded her husband into the hold of the plane. They have a color guard present the service flags and the leader reads a brief prayer that their group developed for the fallen that they see come through. It was incredibly emotional and I lack the words to describe the combination of sadness and yet heartwarming feelings the ceremony evoked.

Colonel Mason's final flight, from Atlanta to Dulles, was incredibly short. Especially in comparison to the flight we'd just gotten off of earlier from Honolulu. Again our captain made an announcement briefly detailing Colonel Masons history and asked everyone's patience as we offloaded the plane first. Once he finished the entire plane broke into applause for Mrs Mason and her husband.

As we got to the ground I split off from the group and went with Colonel Mason to the cargo docks where the Air Force Honor Guard was waiting to transfer him to the hearse for the trip to Murphy's Funeral Home in Arlington, VA. These were some of the sharpest troops I've ever seen in my 17 years in the Air Force. Each of them selected for their bearing and appearance. They took exacting care to transfer Colonel Mason.

 

The rest of that day was a blur of checking in to the hotel, meeting Colonel Mason's extended family, and finally reaching my limits and crashing hard. But for as hard a day as the 31st/1st was. The 3rd was harder.

 

The morning of 3 September was brisk and cool in DC. I woke up at 04:30, my body unsure what to do being 13 hours off from where it was the week prior. The jet lag

allowed me the extra time to go over my uniform one last time before going down and joining the Mason family for breakfast.

We met in the hotel lobby at a few minutes before 0800 to all ride the bus to Arlington Cemetery. It had warmed to a gorgeous day outside. We made it to the Old Post Chapel at Ft Myer (the Army Post directly adjacent to Arlington) in what seemed like no time. I ushered Mrs Mason into the chapel so she could meet with the staff there and meet General Hepburn (there's a tradition that returned remains from previous wars merit a General Officer to present the American flag to the family). I got the opportunity to share the story of my involvement with him and he remarked at the serendipity of it all. We then got seated in the chapel for the services.

Chaplain Captain Swaine recounted the life and times of Colonel Mason, spoke of his dedication to duty and of his ultimate sacrifice and that of his crew. He read the eulogy which was penned by Colonel Mason's daughter who couldn't be there for the services. She told of how she looked up to her father and shared all of the things that he had taught her in their brief decade and a half together. The services concluded with A Mighty Fortress is our God.

From that point Colonel Mason was taken forth to the front of the chapel and brought out to a horse drawn caisson for his final journey. It was a sight to behold. The funeral escort was full honors, a 21 person ceremonial brass band, a four man color guard bearing the American Flag and the Air Force Colors, a troop escort of 16 riflemen, eight pall bearers, a troop to bear the POW/MIA flag and the Army four person team managing the horses for the processional. This was in addition to the Chaplain, the General and his aide, myself and the Lieutenant leading the ceremonial procession. Over 50 personnel in all paying honor to someone who gave everything because his country needed him...before most of them were ever born.

With the band leading the way and the drums keeping the pace we set off on a one mile march to section 60 of Arlington. Along the route the band played Ode to Joy and God Bless America among other songs, mournful, yet uplifting and patriotic.

Once the processional reached section 60 we waited for Colonel Mason to be moved from the caisson to the grave by the pallbearers rendering honors as he was marched past. I joined the family in walking to the grave site. There were two within 10 feet of each other, obviously another funeral would be taking place at a later hour today. As we were walking the band played Going Home, for truly Colonel Mason was now home to rest. For me the next 30 minutes passed blindingly fast the culmination of 17 years of waiting on my part and 41 on the part of Colonel Masons family was finally nearing an end.

 

The pall bearers placed the casket on the ground with one hand and with the other they kept the flag elevated so that it didn't reach the ground.

Up to our left a pair of eagles screamed across the sky towards us, F-15 fighters pierced the silent September morning with their massive engines as they passed directly overhead at lightning speed as if on their way to an unseen engagement. One could almost feel their passing in their soul as they shook the very ground.

The Chaplain then offered the comfort of the 23rd Psalm, this is not the end, but only the beginning of the life everlasting. Seamlessly as he finished the firing party stationed a hundred yards away took aim at the sky and fired off three volleys in perfect unison. Even knowing the blasts were coming it was hard not to be startled by the thundering report. Directly following the last shot, the bugler sounded out the 24 notes of taps.

The pall bearers who had been holding the flag all this time as still as statues stirred to life as they began folding the flag into a traditional triangle shape. They folded it with razor precision and passed it down the line to General Hepburn. He in turn presented it to Mrs Mason on behalf of the President, the Department of the Air Force and a grateful nation. The Chaplain then shook Mrs Mason's hand and offered condolences to those down the family line.

While they were speaking with the family I silently stepped forward and took off the bracelet I'd been wearing for the better part of 17 years, which my wife wore those three years before she gave it to me. I straightened it out to a flat piece of aluminum, it's purpose fulfilled. I dropped to one knee in front of Mrs Mason and offered her the bracelet on behalf of Yvonne and I and all of those who silently wait the return of the missing from Vietnam and other conflicts. I reminded her that Colonel Mason had not been forgotten and that he would always be remembered. Together, we inserted the flattened bracelet into the folded flag for safe keeping.

Mrs Mason was then presented with a hard wood triangular case to place the flag into, the folding top contained his ribbons, rank, and wings. And with that the ceremony was officially over.

As we were departing, in the distance, the report of a firing party from another firing party pierced the silent peace of Arlington...another hero was off to rest.

 

17 September 2010 marks National POW/MIA rememberance day, it's only appropriate to take a small amount of time out of our busy day to recognize the nearly 88,000 servicemen and women still listed as Missing in Action and to pray that someday their families might have the closure of having their loved ones returned to them.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

About the author: Lieutenant Colonel Brian Buck is a 17+ year veteran of the United States Air Force currently serving with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command.

LTC Brian Buck retains all copyright authority.
Published with Permission: War On Terror News ©2007-2010 War On Terror News ARM, all rights reserved.