RICHMOND, Va. — For the very first time, James Yeary is finally laying eyes on the relative he’s only known through stories passed on from one generation to the next.
“It is kind of surreal, I suppose," Yeary said. "Just to see something, to meet family you’ve never met. Something historical is now current events. It’s pretty amazing.”
The introduction to his long-lost uncle Hubert began with a phone call James never expected.
In 1943, his uncles Hubert and Herbert Yeary marched off to fight in WWII. The siblings were just 19.
“Hubert and his brother Herbert were one of two sets of twins from Richmond who joined at the same time and there was a news article about that,” Yeary explained. ”I’m sure they were quite proud.”
But one year later, tragedy visited the Yeary home. On April 8, 1944, a B-24 carrying Hubert, the ball turret gunner, took off from England.
“On the belly, the other side of the plane, basically, big Plexiglass bubble with 250 caliber machine guns picking out of it,” Yeary said. “You know that had to be an incredibly frightening place to be.”
During Hubert’s sixth mission in the skies above a target in Brunswick, Germany, the "Little Joe" was shot down.
“They were met with 50 to 60 enemy aircraft coming at them. Large number of casualties,” Yeary said. "No. No survivors. All 10 men perished."
Following the war, the military hunted for the downed bomber with no luck. The Army declared Hubert killed in action.
“Only 20 years worth of memories,” Yeary said. ”Very young. Very young.”
The fateful ending of the plane and her crew is where our story with James begins.
Staff Sergeant Yeary is remembered at the Netherlands American Cemetery, the final resting place of 8,288 soldiers. Hubert’s name is engraved on the Walls of the Missing, along with 1,721 others.
“It has to be a huge void to not be able to bury your son, and just know they’re somewhere out in the world, missing,” Yeary said.
As months melted into years, Yeary's memory of his uncle grew dimmer.
“I’d always heard that story, but that’s all it was," he said. "It was a face I’ve never seen. It was someone I didn’t know, someone my father didn’t know."
The young Virginian’s death was a taboo subject for James' grandfather, Hubert’s older brother.
“That generation didn’t talk too much about their experiences in the war in a lot of cases, and my grandfather is no different,” Yeary said.
But in 2021, there came a glimmer of hope. Investigators with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency begin excavating a small corner of Salzwedel, Germany.
“It is amazing what was out in a farmer's field,” Yeary said.
For two years, archeologists pulled propellers, machine guns, and bones from a crash site.
“That has a lot of human hands on small tools to unearth the past,” Yeary said.
Using dental records and family DNA, SSGT Yeary’s remains were finally identified on June 20, 2024.
“I think it is great," Yeary said. "That is a long time to be away from home. To be found really means a lot."
For Yeary, the surprise news is healing invisible wounds.
“But to see somebody like that, and he’s been gone for 80 years, suddenly now show up with current events," he said. "It’s unexpected and it’s wonderful."
The military presented James with the medals Hubert never received. Among them is the Purple Heart.
“A lot of people have received this that probably never wanted to get one, I’m sure,” Yeary said.
This spring, Hubert will be laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
“But to actively be out searching for those people, 80 years later, that is a real credit to the United States military and their dedication to no man left behind,” Yeary said.
The uncle James never knew is now coming into sharper focus, a stranger no more.
“To be related to that is quite an honor really,” he said.
SSGT Hubert Yeary, the airman who will be forever 20 years old, will finally get a long overdue homecoming.
“That’s all everybody over there wanted was to be back home," Yeary said. "That was their greatest hope, is to come back home. So it’s nice to have a conclusion to that."
A rosette will be placed next to SSGT. Hubert Yeary’s name on the Walls of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery. The rosette symbolizes when a missing soldier, Marine, sailor, or airman is identified.
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