WWII air heroes reunited in death
Two best-friend aviators from Washington state, one who survived World War II, and one who did not, are now buried side by side — a sad reunion made possible after the bones of one of them were discovered in Germany, embedded in the roots of a tree.
For more than 70 years, the tree had grown up around the remains of Army Air Forces 1st Lt. William Gray, protecting his bones from being scattered and lost after his single-seat aircraft crashed in the woods of Lindau.
“It grew over his remains and really protected and marked the spot,” his nephew, Doug Louvier, told KCPQ-TV of Seattle.
Gray and childhood friend from Washington’s Rainier Val- ley, Jim Louvier, enlisted together.
The two men made a promise as they shipped out together, family members told the TV station. Should one of them die, the other would take care of his family back home.
“They loved each other as brothers and friends,” Doug Louvier said.
Then, on April 16, 1945, Gray crashed after his plane took enemy fire during a dive-bombing mission. He was just 21 years old. Family members assumed, after a while, that his last tangible remnant would be the more than 100 letters he wrote home during the war — the final one boasting he’d done 68 missions.
Meanwhile, Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Louvier, returned home to keep his promise by marrying Louvier’s sister.
“I know he loved her dearly and committed to her [for] 64 years before he died,” their son, Jan Bradshaw, told the station.
Louvier died at age 89, in 2010, but his family could not decide where his ashes would be buried.
Then, last year, Army crews happened to be in Germany in the area near where Gray had crashed, and a pair of elderly locals led them to where they had seen the plane go down.
It took 15 days of excavating before they found the bones.
DNA from the remains turned out to be a match to Gray’s two sisters.
The body was transported back home Wednesday, and on Friday, Louvier’s ashes and Gray’s bones were buried with military honors, side by side in Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Wash.
“We couldn’t decide what to do” with Louvier’s ashes for all those years, Bradshaw noted. “And now we know why.”
“I think they are having a cold drink up there, smacking their glasses together and saying, ‘We are finally back together,’ ” he joked.