In 1942, Paul College dropped out of Greencastle High School to join the
Army, in the hope that his four brothers would not have to go to war.
A year later, College was killed in the crash of an Army Air Force bomber
high on a California mountain.
On June 29 of this year, following an incredible chain of circumstances,
College's Greencastle High School class ring was returned to his hometown
after lying for 60 years amid the rubble of the crash.
In an informal presentation at Harry D. Ziegler Post 6319 Veterans of
Foreign Wars, Greencastle, post commander Jesus Gonzales accepted the
long-lost ring from James Sharpe and his wife, Sylvia, a niece of the late
College. The ring, encased in a shadow box holding a few other mementos of
the young airman, will be kept on display indefinitely in the dining room of
the post home.
The post doesn't normally accept mementos of veterans other than the one
for whom it is named, Gonzales said. But because this story was so unusual,
he and the members agreed to display the shadow box at the post.
An airline pilot with Dow Chemicals, Sharpe, now retired, said he became
interested in the crash of the U.S. Army Air Force B-24 bomber after hearing
about another airplane crash a friend was investigating -- a P-38 that went
down in northern Michigan.
In March 2003, his friend, Paul Bolander, showed him all the research he
had done.
"I was amazed," Sharpe said, "at the amount of information he was able to
find. 'Where did you get all this stuff?' I asked him."
Bolander told Sharpe the name of a Web site --
http://www.accidentreport.com/
-- that provides information about declassified military accident reports.
With the blessing of Evelyn College McCarren, his mother-in-law and the
late College's oldest sister, Sharpe began his own search, starting with the
airman's obituary. All McCarren ever knew was what the Army had told the
family at the time of her brother's death -- that his plane had hit a
mountain after take-off for a night flight. She couldn't remember the name
of the town where he was based or where the crash happened.
From the obituaries, Sharpe learned that the crash occurred on Oct. 15,
1943, some eight miles northwest of Blythe, Calif., near Arizona. One of the
obituaries also mentioned the name Dean M. Muleberger, who was killed in the
same crash.
"Paul died on his mother's birthday," Sylvia Sharpe said.
"It was very hard on my mother," McCarren said softly, lowering her eyes
in renewed grief.
Early last October, Sharpe had contacted the Web site for an official
Army accident report and called the public library in Blythe for any news
articles from the time of the accident. Following leads from a news article
and the accident report, he scouted out more information from a Web site for
the 390th Bombardment Group Memorial Museum in Tucson, Ariz., through which
he met Trey Brandt, who was looking for information about the 390th when it
was based in Blythe.
Brandt's entry read that he had recently visited the crash site of a B-24
that hit a mountain while on a night flight. The pilots were Merrill Bernard
and Dean Mulberger.
When he called Brandt, Sharpe identified himself and his mission and
asked for directions to the crash site.
Brandt asked him a number of questions, including "What high school did
he go to?"
"Greencastle High School," Sharpe replied.
"Oh, OK," Brandt said. "The reason I was asking ... is because I found
some things up there. I found a dog tag that belonged to the radio operator.
He has a sister out east in her 80s, so I sent it to her. She was very happy
to get it."
"That was a very nice thing for you to do," Sharpe told him.
"I also found a high school class ring up there," Brandt said. "It's only
part of the ring and it's pretty worn. You can make out part of (one
initial), a "P" or an "R." It's dated 1942. You can't really read all of the
school's name, but the last part of it is -castle."
Sharpe was ecstatic. On Feb. 9, he and his friend Bolander flew to
southern California to take a hike up the remote desert mountain to see the
site where the ring had been found.
The following morning, with the guidance of Brandt and now in possession
of the class ring, the men climbed up a wild burro trail that led along the
top of a deep wash. After climbing down into the bottom of the wash, they
had to head up a ravine as steep as a flight of stairs but with poor footing
on loose shale-like rock.
Near the top, they began to find pieces of sheet metal debris lying among
the rocks. Within five feet of the crash site, molten aluminum was splayed
like lichens growing on the boulders. Broken bits of the airplane lay among
the sharp, slate-gray stones. Using a diagram he had taken with him, Sharpe
could identify the landing gear.
After taking photographs and trying to visually recreate the impact,
Sharpe had gotten what he needed from the mountain. But he wasn't finished:
To a section of the landing gear, he then wired a plaque in memory of the 10
crewmembers who died that day.
On Feb. 17, Sharpe wrote an account of the events leading to his trip to
the B-24 crash site. He hopes to one day publish the complete story,
including his research and the details of the accident.
Paul College was the third son among nine siblings. McCarren, the oldest
child, was born on her grandmother's farm on Mason Road, Greencastle. She
and her three sisters and five brothers were raised on a farm in Welsh Run.
Three other brothers entered the military: Dave served in Guam during
World War II and Calvin and Harvey served during peacetime.
During World War II, their brother Boyd worked at Landis Tool. Because
his job was considered necessary for defense, he was not released to enter
the military, said McCarren, who now lives in Hagerstown, Md.
Editor's note: This feature, which appears each Tuesday, is a celebration
of the people, places and things, past or present, that make this area
unique. If you have a story idea or comment, call City Editor David N.
Dunkle at 262-4764, or e-mail him at
mailto:newsdesk@pubop.com
Originally published Tuesday, July 6, 2004
