There are a few vacancies on the WKVI tour bus that will head to Washington, D.C. in June.
“It’s the 14th-18th of June and you know we’ve got six seats available,” said Ed Hasnerl who will be leading the group on the trip. “We’ve had some folks who had to change their plans and they’ve canceled. Six seats have opened up. If you would like to go, let’s get those requests in.”
This week we have been reviewing the Top Stories of 2011. Today we reveal the top story of the Year.
It was a story that captivated all who heard it. Chief Warrant Officer Andy Howes returned home after being lost in the Vietnam War on January 10th, 1970. Although his remains had been in storage in Hawaii since the ’80’s, only improved testing allowed an Armed Forces Forensic Team to match DNA samples to those that had earlier been taken from relatives.
After being honored by his hometown Monday and Tuesday, Chief Warrant officer Andy Howes will be buried today in Arlington National Cemetery.
Services will be held at Memorial Chapel on the Ft. Myers property at 11:00 a.m. ET. Following the services, the procession will go to Arlington with the casket riding on a horse drawn caisson. Also participating in the services will be an Army band and a firing squad will fire the 21 gun salute.
The remains of Chief Warrant officer, Andy Howes, now move on to a final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery after Memorial Services were held in Knox yesterday. Those services will be Friday, August 5th.
The family had brought him back to Knox hoping the ceremonies would bring closure to the community that nurtured him in his formative years.
Services will be held in Starke County in August for Chief Warrant Officer, Andy Howes. Although complete details are not available at this time, it is known that services will be August 2nd and that his remains will be taken on to his final resting place, Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Those services will be held August 5th. Howes’ partial remains have been in U.S. possession since 1988. They were identified through DNA samples.
Originally, plans were set for 2012 but were moved up to August of this year.
Howes was on a mission in November of 1970 when his helicopter failed to return to base. He was a Knox High School graduate.
We are learning more details about a story WKVI broke on Saturday. Several bones that were returned to the Army in 1988 have been positively identified as belonging to Andy Howes, the young soldier from Knox who was MIA for over four decades after the helicopter he was in went down in Vietnam.
We now know there were six bones recovered (a right upper arm, a left lower arm, a right upper leg, one rib, and two other bones). All of the bones are partial and degraded, but positively match the DNA profile provided by Rob (Andy’s brother) and his late sister, Valarie.
Members of the Knox VFW and the American Legion laid wreaths at the War Memorial at the Starke County Courthouse. Organizer, Terry Turner, says this is a part of the national Wreaths Across America program.
