LOCK —Lock Airman Wayne D. Crowl now rests with his family 80 years after losing his life in World War II.
His family laid his remains to rest Friday morning in Lock Cemetery alongside his parents, Forrest and Ethel Crowl. Other family members rest nearby.
Trained as a bombardier in the Army Air Corps, Crowl was killed in action when his B-24 Liberator took enemy fire over northern France. He and two other crew members died instantly.
French civilians buried 1st Lt. Crowl’s remains about 10 miles from the crash site. The U.S. Army exhumed the remains and brought them to the United States.
In 2021, Crowl’s niece, Joyce Evans, gave a DNA sample to the Department of Defense. She learned in January that the DOD’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency matched her DNA with her uncle’s remains.
Evans and her grandson, Graydon Evans, researched Crowl’s story during the two-and-a-half years the family waited for news.
“I really took his story to heart, and I felt the pain,” Graydon Evans said at the gravesite. “I felt the pain of his mother, and I felt the pain of the other families.
“But it was all worth it. I know he’s looking down on us.”
Wayne’s 89-year-old brother Richard traveled from Missouri to attend.
“Thank you for coming out to honor someone who you really didn’t know,” he told those assembled. “And thank you to the government for the work they put in.”
Recalling the words President Ronald Reagan said people never want to hear — “We’re from the government and we’re here to help” — Richard said, “Well, in this case they did help.”
A hero honored
Richard, who is 17 years younger than Wayne, recalls the casket being in the living room in 1949 and said the family always wondered.
“Army Air Corps Lieutenant Wayne Crowl is home.”
Licking County Veterans Alliance
“Now we know that there’s closure. He’s here and it’s over,” he said.
Joyce Evans had mixed feelings.
“I am very, very happy and so appreciative of everyone who showed up today. And I’m happy to finally have him being home,” the Johnstown resident said.
“It is overwhelming, of course. I’m glad he’s home with his parents. It’s hard to put into words. It feels like such an accomplishment.”
Richard agreed.
“You feel relieved,” he said. “You know the story you thought ended 80 years ago. With the casket in the living room, you always wondered. Is there anything in there?
“Through the search, we found out what was in the casket. Now we know that everything is here.”
Capt. Hartwell Howington, the B-24’s pilot, lost his life when the plane plunged to earth in a farm field after the remaining crew members bailed out of the plane.
The surviving crew members separated. The Germans captured some and sent them to a stalag; others escaped through the Pyrenees with the help of the French resistance.
“That’s something we never thought about, the French freedom fighters that got them out of the country,” Richard said. “They would’ve been persecuted had they been found out.”
The Licking County Veterans Alliance performed full military honors during the ceremony. Alliance members performed a rifle salute, played TAPS, and presented flags to Joyce Evans and Richard.
