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“Accounted For”: The 82-year Journey to bring a lost WWII pilot home

A plaque commemorating U.S. Army 1st Lt. Franklin McKinney, 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, rests outside the McKinney Conference Room (MCR) on Portland Air National Guard Base, Portland, Ore. on Aug. 2, 2026. McKinney disappeared nearly eighty-two years ago, during a reconnaissance flight over Thailand during World War II. The 1/48 scale model of McKinney's aircraft includes fragments of his F-5E Lightning recovered by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) in Thailand. (U.S. Air National Guard Photo by Tech. Sgt. Alexander Frank)
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An Austrian V-J Day: The 371st Fighter Group and the Victory over Japan

A flight of 79th Fighter Group P-47D Thunderbolts prepares for takeoff, probably at Horsching. The nearest ship looks to be the group commander Colonel John F. Martin’s X01, sporting a feminine figure on the engine cowling, faintly visible. Scenes like this were regular for the 371st Fighter Group’s P-47s and pilots as they continued to train at Horsching after the war. (Courtesy 79th Fighter Group, Robert M. Sweeney Collection via daughter Sheryl Sweeney-Schreiber)
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An Austrian V-J Day: The 371st Fighter Group and the Victory over Japan

Unidentified personnel, possible surrendered German soldiers or displaced personnel, sweep an aircraft parking ramp, probably at Horsching. A 79th Fighter Group hack transport used for various utility tasks, a North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber, sits in the background with the 79th groups’s distinctive marking of a blue tail with three yellow bolts of lightning. The 371st Fighter Group also had a B-25 hack transport for a while, in olive drab over neutral gray, nicknamed “Strictly Socialite.” It may likely have been the group B-25C-1, serial number 41-13195W (War Weary), lost in a mishap on June 19, 1945 while making a single-engine emergency landing at Advanced Landing Ground A-97 Sandweiler in Luxembourg. (Courtesy 79th Fighter Group, Stewart Spencer Collection via Paul Spencer)
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An Austrian V-J Day: The 371st Fighter Group and the Victory over Japan

Lineup of 79th Fighter Group P-47 Thunderbolts, possibly at Horsching. Note however the fully painted engine cowling, with alternating painted cowl flaps on nearest P-47 at left, as well as the white stripe on the tail of the farthest P-47 at right, markings also seen on 371st Fighter Group P-47s. It’s possible that when the 371st left Horsching in mid-September, 1945 that the group left some of its aircraft behind, or exchanged some of them with the 79th Fighter Group. (Courtesy 79th Fighter Group, LaVerne H. Rathke Collection via granddaughter Sharrie Steinke)
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An Austrian V-J Day: The 371st Fighter Group and the Victory over Japan

A P-47 Thunderbolt refuels from a 34th Bombardment Squadron, 17th Bomb Group fuel truck (unit ID on vehicle bumper) at Horsching in 1945. A 79th Fighter Group P-47 with the moniker “Petite Monique” rests in the background. Many 371st Fighter Group P-47’s also carried personalized markings in the forms of names and/or artwork. (Courtesy 79th Fighter Group, Stewart Spencer Collection via Paul Spencer)
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An Austrian V-J Day: The 371st Fighter Group and the Victory over Japan

Unit signboard at Horsching Army Air Base either before or after the 371st Fighter Group was stationed at the field, from mid-August to mid-September, 1945. It shows a concentration of American airpower in Austria which gradually declined until the base was turned over to the U.S. Army and renamed Camp McCauley in 1948. (Courtesy 79th Fighter Group, Paul B. Church, Jr. Collection via his family)
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An Austrian V-J Day: The 371st Fighter Group and the Victory over Japan

“San Antonio Rose” was a veteran P-47D Thunderbolt of the 404th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group. Two pilots in the squadron, 1t Lt. Willard E. Richter and 1st Lt. G. A. Roberts, Jr., had San Antonio home addresses, so this ship may possibly have been associated with one of them. (Courtesy 79th Fighter Group, Stewart Spencer Collection via Paul Spencer)
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An Austrian V-J Day: The 371st Fighter Group and the Victory over Japan

P-47 Thunderbolts in an aircraft hangar likely at Horsching with “Rauchen Verboten” (Smoking Forbidden) written on the wall above. Note the Curtis Electric “paddle-blade” propellers and the aircraft at right with panels removed for engine maintenance on its Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp powerplant. The paddle blade propellers boosted the P-47’s climb rate and overall performance. The hangars at Horsching were the best aircraft maintenance facilities that 371st Fighter Group engineering personnel (aircraft maintainers) enjoyed in Europe, and probably for the 79th Fighter Group as well. (Courtesy 79th Fighter Group, William E. Bishop Collection, via his family)
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An Austrian V-J Day: The 371st Fighter Group and the Victory over Japan

Col Bingham T. “Bing” Kleine, from Gonzales, Texas, commanded the 371st Fighter Group from July, 1943 to September 2, 1945, and thus was the only wartime commander of the group. He was born on November 10, 1911 and graduated from the University of Missouri in 1934, and joined the Army Air Corps afterwards. Postwar, he commanded the 57th Fighter Group from January, 1949 to November of 1950, and commanded Tyndall AFB, Florida from June, 1951 to May, 1954. He later commanded the 4510th Combat Crew Training Wing at Luke AFB, Arizona from June, 1961 to November 1963. He flew west on February 18, 1984 at age 72. He is buried in the Forest Park Cemetery in Shreveport, Louisiana. (The Story of the 371st Fighter Group in the ETO)
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An Austrian V-J Day: The 371st Fighter Group and the Victory over Japan

An aerial image of the Linz Airport, Austria, circa 2025 with the former Fliegerhorst Horsching, now Fliegerhorst Vogler, on the left (south) side of the picture. Note the six large aircraft hangars (two groups of three), a visual identification similar to the 371st Fighter Group saw in 1945. (By Carsten Steger, via Wikipedia)
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142nd Civil Engineers sharpen deployment skills, cross-train in the Azores

U.S. Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Sergio Ochoa, an engineering assistant with the 142nd Civil Engineer Squadron, opens a case containing a dynamic cone penetrometer kit during a Deployment for Training (DFT) at Lajes Air Base, Portugal, June 23, 2026. The training environment allowed the unit to cultivate technical proficiency and strengthen mission-essential communication across different engineering shops. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Eduardo Figueroa Varela)
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142nd Civil Engineers sharpen deployment skills, cross-train in the Azores

U.S. Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Maria Del Carmen Dominguez, right, an engineering assistant with the 142nd Civil Engineer Squadron, observes fellow civil engineers assembling a dynamic cone penetrometer during a Deployment for Training (DFT) at Lajes Air Base, Portugal, June 23, 2026. The deployment provided the Oregon Air National Guard members with crucial hands-on training on specialized field equipment and software to enhance airfield planning capabilities and operational readiness. The training also reunited Dominguez with her former technical school instructor, allowing for direct active field mentorship and enhanced unit cohesion. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Eduardo Figueroa Varela)
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142nd Civil Engineers sharpen deployment skills, cross-train in the Azores

U.S. Air National Guard civil engineers with the 142nd Civil Engineer Squadron measure structural readings during a Deployment for Training at Lajes Air Base, Portugal, June 23, 2026. The deployment provided the Oregon Air National Guard members with essential hands-on experience utilizing specialized engineering equipment and airfield planning software to enhance combat readiness. This training environment allowed the unit to develop technical proficiency and strengthen communication across different engineering shops. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Eduardo Figueroa Varela)
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The Purple Heart Mission of First Lieutenant Alvin M. Pollingue

Closeup of the memorial plaque on the stele in honor of Lt. Pollingue. One can see the emblem of the 142nd Wing, designated as the 371st Fighter Group in World War II, and its motto, “Semper Vigilans.” (American War Memorials Overseas, Inc. Website)
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The Purple Heart Mission of First Lieutenant Alvin M. Pollingue

Memorial stele on the southwest approach of the Highway D30 bridge across the Loir River into Vaas. It was established in 2006. (American War Memorials Overseas, Inc. Website)
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The Purple Heart Mission of First Lieutenant Alvin M. Pollingue

Memorial plaque to the fallen and missing from the University of Louisiana campus at Lafayette, Louisiana, carries the name of Alvin M. Pollingue. (Find a Grave.com website memorial page for 1st Lt. Alvin Michael Pollingue, image added by Greg de Valcourt.)
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The Purple Heart Mission of First Lieutenant Alvin M. Pollingue

Lt. Alvin M. Pollingue was awarded the Purple Heart medal for his sacrifice for our nation. The Purple Heart is awarded for “Being wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States or as a result of an act of any such enemy or opposing armed forces.” (Melissa Buckley/Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office)
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The Purple Heart Mission of First Lieutenant Alvin M. Pollingue

Grave of Lt. Pollingue at the Brittany American Military Cemetery and Memorial in France. (Find a Grave.com website memorial page for 1st Lt. Alvin Michael Pollingue, image added by Joy Riggers.)
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The Purple Heart Mission of First Lieutenant Alvin M. Pollingue

Republic P-47D-20-RE Thunderbolt serial number 42-76452 of the 405th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group in France prepares to takeoff on a combat mission during 1944. Note the 500-lb bombs underneath the wings. It is a near serial number to the Thunderbolt which Lt. Pollingue flew on his fatal mission, P-47D-20-RE serial number 42-76435. (Via Capt. Tom Silkowski, 190th Fighter Squadron, Idaho ANG)
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The Purple Heart Mission of First Lieutenant Alvin M. Pollingue

Lt. Alvin M. Pollingue was a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter pilot during World War II. (Find a Grave.com website memorial page for 1st Lt. Alvin Michael Pollingue, image added by Thomas L. Harman.)
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