Karoni, my niece, tagged my bother and me in a Facebook posting she shared last night. I thought the posting was extremely well done. Karoni is a skilled communicator and has been actively involved in POW/MIA issues since long before reaching adulthood.
In case you missed the posting, she wrote: "We have some big news in the Forrester family. Over the past few months, the US government has conducted two excavations of Daddy's crash site. The site is still open and there are additional Joint Field Activities (JFAs) being scheduled to complete the excavation. During the two excavations this year, osseous material (potential bone fragments) and two teeth were recovered as well as life support equipment (LSE) indicating at least one crew member was in the aircraft when it when down. It was confirmed to be the right crash site when, in June, the team found the dog tag belonging to the pilot, Capt. Jim Chipman, along with a fragment of a credit card with Dad's name on it. While the credit card remains a mystery (he didn't need gas money!), the dog tag confirmed for us that Capt. Jim Chipman went down in his A-6A on 12/27/72. Today we learned the lab in Hawaii has positively identified both teeth as Capt. Chipman's.
We still have a long journey ahead as DNA sequencing is being done in the lab on the osseous material recovered and there is more to excavate. We do not know if Dad's remains are among the bone fragments recovered. The DNA process is tedious and takes 12 - 18 months at times. Each small fragment recovered must be tested.
The GREAT news is that Capt. Jim Chipman, USMC, is coming home after 50 years. Our hearts are with the Chipman family during this bittersweet time for celebration. It's been a long road for our families to get this far and we couldn't have done it without the love and support we've received from you all over so many years. Thank you! More to come…"
Since learning the news earlier in the day yesterday, I have thought of little else. Though I know the news is bittersweet, I rejoice that the Chipman family finally has answers.
For that matter, we too have answers we didn't know definitively until recently. We learned in June that Capt. Chipman's dog tags had been located during the second excavation along with a gasoline credit card belonging to Ronnie.
Last night as I processed yesterday's news, a Scripture from I Corinthians 13:12 came to mind. Paul writes: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
For over fifty-years, seeing through a glass darkly has been fairly descriptive of information we possessed concerning Ronnie's loss. That won't always be the case. Whether in this life or the one to come, there will no longer be a sense of mystery.
For many years, I've chosen to let thoughts of Ronnie serve as a trigger for gratitude. I like remembering all the ways he enriched my life. The bond we shared is difficult to explain. We were as different as night and day and at the same time, we were very close.
I vividly remember the initial pain associated with the news that his plane was missing over Vietnam. We were twenty-five years old at the time. I was ill equipped to negotiate life without him. On a feeling level, I felt half-dead.
The lyrics from Garth Brooks song, "The Dance" summarize my thoughts:
And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end
The way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance."
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