SukritiAfter The War
As the war was far from being over, the navy couldn’t put resources to bring Harold’s remains back. The Crawfords understood the seriousness of the situation and waited. Little did they know this wait will not be over for a very long period of time.
Needed A Proper Goodbye
The Crawford family waited for the war to get over to give Harold a rightful goodbye. For Harold’s parents and his brother, it was a struggle they were not yet aware of. They were counting days but disappointment will surround them soon.
Not Far
The location of Harold DeMoss’ plane was within 40 miles of the Navy headquarters in Honolulu. That specific location was isolated and more than 7 miles away from the nearest road. The whole area was covered with thick grass and vegetation, steep woods that were filled with wild pigs. After the war ended, two search teams were made to locate the wrecked plane and the pilot.
Missing Dead
Unfortunately, more than 400,000 Americans died during WW2. Due to the large scale operations and missions that kept on going, more than 79,000 deaths records went missing. The record of the location where Harold’s remains were buried couldn’t be found. Knowing that thousands of soldiers’ remains will never be returned to their families was just one of the outcomes of the horrifying war.
Unidentified Remains
The teams were searching for the missing bodies and remains. After many search operations in different locations only 34,000 soldier’s remains were discovered. The rest are known as “deep sea losses,” which indicates the remains of those soldiers that the military forces couldn’t find. More than 100s of search operations went in vain while thousands of soldiers’ bodies remained missing.
Years Passing
Harold Demoss’ family waited and waited to know that the military has found their dead son’s remains. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned in months, months turned into years and years turned into decades but there was no update.