Bring a World War II hero home to York County (editorial)

York Daily Record

This painting of Lt. John Murphy was displayed in the VFW in Delta that was named in his memory. Earlier this year, the post closed, and recently, Murphy's cousins came to retrieve the painting and some of Murphy's medals. Murphy was lost during World War II when his plane went down over eastern Germany. He and the other members of his crew were able to parachute safely to the ground, but he and three others were separated from the rest of the crew. They were never seen again. Earlier this year, a German researcher started investigating the case. He thinks he might be able to figure out what happened to Murphy and the others.

All his family has is the monument in Chanceford Presbyterian Cemetery in Lower Chanceford Township. His grave is empty, his body never made the journey home.

His name was John Stewart Murphy.

He was the eldest of James and Helen Murphy's two sons, both of whom served during World War II, members of the Greatest Generation, the men and women who saved the world from tyranny and madness.

He grew up in Delta, a country boy with the looks of a movie star, looks that his kin said made the girls swoon. He could fix anything, having that knack that so many country boys have for anything mechanical.

He was drafted during the war and assigned to the Army Air Corps, where his smarts and good old country work ethic earned him promotion to the officer corps. He was lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, serving as a navigator on a B-17, the Flying Fortress.

And that's what he was doing when he lost his life.

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His aircraft had been hit and he and eight others in her crew bailed over eastern Germany, parachuting to an uncertain fate. It was April 10, 1945, four days after his 22nd birthday.

What happened after that was unknown.

All that his family knew is that he never came home.

For years, his mother tried to find out what happened to him after he bailed from his damaged aircraft. She passed in 1981, never knowing.

It's an all-too-common tale, families of those lost in the fog of war not knowing how their loved ones met their demise. It's hard to imagine the kind of uncertainty that creates, the hole that it leaves in the hearts of those left behind. Not knowing just compounds the grief, and allows it to live forever, all consuming, pushing out the memories of better times, the Sunday dinners, the family picnics, the quiet times spent in the company of those you love.

Charles Ray King, another country boy, from Stewartstown, was among those, until recently. All his family knew was that he was lost crossing the English Channel. Thanks to an amateur historian and researcher, they learned that he had perished when German U-boat sank his troop transport in the channel. His body was never recovered.

Lt. Murphy's family also had very little knowledge about what happened to him. That was until a German IT consultant named Enrico Schwartz got on the case. Mr. Schwartz is the founder and chief researcher for the Missing Allied Air Crew Research Team, dedicated to solving the mysteries that arose from the war. It’s a completely volunteer gig; he does it because, well, it's the right thing to do, to give the families of the soldiers who rescued his country from madness some peace.

Mr. Schwartz has dedicated a lot of time and effort in this lofty endeavor. It could be described as a calling. He is committed to it, simply out of the desire to make things right.

He had heard about the last flight of Mr. Murphy's aircraft, third-hand, and began investigating.

What he found was horrifying, the kind of thing that makes you wonder about some people's capacity for cruelty and violence, even in wartime.

He had heard, through rumors, that some members of the crew had been rescued. And he heard that others, including Lt. Murphy, had met a terrible fate, murdered by civilians just hours before the village was liberated by allied forces.

It sounded crazy.

And it was.

He learned about a woman who had supposedly witnessed what would be a war crime. The woman was in her 90s and was willing to talk to him. But when he spoke with her, her story had some holes. He planned to revisit her and ask her about what happened to Lt. Murphy and his crewmates. The day before he was to return to visit her again, he heard she had killed herself.

A submitted photograph of John Murphy, of Delta, who disappeared after his plane went down over eastern Germany in World War II. Murphy was serving in the Army Air Corps at the time, and he and three others from his crew were never found. A German researcher has been investigating the case and believes he might be able to find out what happened to Murphy and the others and, though it's a very slim chance, he might be able to find their remains.

The woman had left him with a vital clue, leading him to the spot where he and his crewmates had been beaten to death by villagers. He has obtained the rights to search the area and, perhaps, unearth the remains of Lt. Murphy and his compatriots.

Now, it may seem that this is not worth the effort, that it was long ago. The VFW post named for Lt. Murphy in Delta has closed and much of his family has passed. Memories of him have faded.

The question, as York Daily Record reporter Brandie Kessler wrote, remains.

"Would it matter, after his parents and his brother have passed on, after the VFW named in his memory has closed, and after more than 70 years have passed, to finally have an answer?"

Lt. Murphy's cousin, Kay Shaull, answered the question.

"If they ever find him, that would be wonderful."

Yes, it would.

It would be right that this son of York County returned home. It would matter.

Also of interest, watch as 91-year-old vet rides in World War II bomber: