Soldier finally laid to rest

CRESCO - When First Lieutenant Loren E. Hintz volunteered for one more mission, he was likely thinking of his 15-month old daughter, Gretchen, and his eight-month pregnant wife, Gert. 

Gretchen’s cousin, Mary Wemark of Ridgeway said, “At that time, the more missions you volunteered for, the sooner you could come home.”

Sadly Hintz was one of those who did not come home. On April 21, 1945, he climbed into his P-47 Thunderbolt and was later shot down by German soldiers hiding in bunkers near Bologna, Italy.

It took the determination of his grandson, Hans Wronka (a cousin of Wemark and Tom Barnes of Cresco) and 74 years to finally give him a formal burial. He was laid to rest in the American Battle Monuments Florence American Cemetery in Italy on Nov. 16, 2019.

 

Never forgotten

The Army Air Corps (now Air Force) pilot’s death during World War II, just 17 days before Nazi Germany surrendered, happened before Wemark was born, but the family never forgot and shared stories with the next generation.

Jeanne (Herb) Barnes and Gertie (Loren) Hintz were sisters and very close. They both married their respective husbands in California, while they were on leave from the war at separate times in 1943. Loren grew up on a farm near Charles City.

“Our mother, Jeanne, spent most of the days with Gertie during the time he was reported missing,” Wemark remembered from family conversations. The telegram arrived on May 5, 1945, ironically the first birthday of Jeannie Barnes. Their son, Loren Martin Hintz, was born on June 1. On June 25, Gertie received word her husband was dead.

During WWII, Chaplains of the Army Air Corps were in charge of letting families know information about their loved ones. “So many were killed in Italy, it was almost a rush job to get remains. Most families were just told their relative was dead.”

Gert and her two children, Gretchen and Martin, stayed at her parents’ house in New Hampton. The Barnes family visited frequently. “There was a framed picture of Loren in Nanny Russell’s den for as long as I can remember. We knew he had been killed over in Italy. That’s what we accepted.”

When visiting, the Barnes kids would play in Martin’s room. Wemark recalls it was filled with airplane pictures and models and pictures of his dad.

“Nanny told us not to go into the attic when we were little. Little did we know, there was a trunk filled with his possessions that had been sent to Gert.”

Gert and Jeanne both wrote multiple letters to the government to find out more information about Loren’s death, to no avail.

 

Life goes on

Although Gert never remarried, life went on. Gretchen and Martin grew and moved out of the house. They married and each had three children, who had children.

 

 

 

 

Finding Loren

Gert and Loren’s grandson (Gretchen’s son), Hans Wronka was curious about his grandfather’s last day. In 2000, according to Wemark, he and Gretchen went to the New Hampton Public Library and Googled Loren’s name. 

Nothing matched.

He then left a message on a website for the 79th Fighter Group.

No answer there, either.

Wronka continued his research. In 2005, he found a map of where it was believed the crash site was located.

More research with little results.

Then in May 2012, Piero Fabbri sent an e-mail to Wronka. He was responding to the question Wronka had left on that website 12 years before. Fabbri was also interested in the story and became a liason between the Italian people and Wronka and his family.

The Italians lived through some horrible experiences during the war and didn’t talk about it. But they did so an American man could find his grandfather. Wemark noted, “Italians love Americans for freeing them from Nazism and Fascism.”

 

Finding the crash site

Locals started talking about the war. 

The Hintz family, with help from Fabbri, found Aristide Chiesa, whose grandfather died because of the plane crash. Loren’s plane hit the ground just a few feet from the Chiesa house. Rinero Chiesa saved the family from the ensuing fire, but was killed himself when he tried to save the animals.

“Maria Teresa, I’ll always remember her name, since my name is Mary Teresa,” said Wemark. “She was a neighbor. As a small girl, the Nazis went to farm house and lived there. The family had to feed and take care of the soldiers. We visited her house. There were still bullet holes in it.”

When Maria heard of the quest to find the American pilot, she went to the older people in the village, who started to open up.

“One man went with Piero and Hans to where he thought the crash site. He was pretty sure. Then a man came up and said he saw the crash. He said, ‘You’re digging on the wrong side of the road.’”

The dig to find the crash site was taking place during Cresco’s 150th celebration, July 23, 2016. It was a rainy day. Wemark was visiting with her classmates at their reunion and getting texts from the crash site.

“My cousins wrote they could smell oil in the dig. They dug more. One of the first things they dug up was the dog tags. Then a tail wheel. They found the engine 18 feet in the ground. They found a femur and parts of a skull. A priest was there to say blessings. They even found a hand-carved knife Loren had made as a Woodcrafters youth organization in Charles City.”

She continued, “It was so emotional, I had to leave and just go home to think.”

 

What happened on April 12, 1945?

After unearthing the plane and from records obtained through years of research, it has been learned Hintz was part of a bombing run of 12 planes. He was the only man on board and brought up the rear. 

It is believed the Germans shot at the plane and hit him in the back, likely killing him instantly. His plane took a nose dive and crashed into a farmer’s field. The ensuing explosion caused a nearby house to catch fire.

 

Cutting through red tape

Any serviceman who has died, has to have the remains brought to Dover, Del. to be tested and looked over. DNA tests proved the remains were of First Lieutenant Loren Hintz. 

The pieces of the plane and engine were brought back to the United States and were on display. Members of the archeology team, Fabbri, Chiesa and others flew to Minneapolis to meet with the family. While here, they gave presentations at AirCorp Aviation and during the Oshkosh air show. They later came to the Wemark farm to visit. “They were thrilled to come to America. They gave talks at St. Paul at the airfield.”

More red tape, but the family was allowed to bury Loren’s remains at the American Battle Monuments Florence American Cemetery. He was already represented by a burial cross, but now his remains were to be buried there as well.

He could have been buried in the United States, but the family decided it seemed right to have him buried in Italy. “They wanted him to buried where he died. This is the first time this has happened, that a family has buried their loved one in the cemetery,” Wemark stated.

 

Burial Ceremony

There was a group of around 40 family members who attended Loren’s service. 

“Gretchen had a woodworker make a box from barn boards from New Hampton. It held the remains. I had to bring Iowa farm soil to put in there. I got stopped and searched for that,” she laughed. “Also in there were petals from a rose Loren had sent Gertie, a piece of his clothing recovered from the crash sight  and his remains.”

Four American soldiers accompanied Loren’s remains from Landstuhl Germany where they had been held. “They were four wonderful men.”

The flag that flew over the ceremony was the same flag that was presented to Gertie over 70 years ago, at Loren’s stateside funeral.

The group spent two-and-a-half weeks touring the area. They saw the Vatican and Coliseum. Gretchen and family had researched and read his letters to see where Loren may have went during his time in Italy.  “We followed him. The Allies put a temporary landing strip on the beach. There was a hotel called Britannica, where the pilots and solders partied after missions. That was where Loren was the night before he was killed.”

Unfortunately, Loren’s wife never knew any of this as she passed away in 2003. She was a beloved member of the New Hampton community and served as secretary to the high school principal for over 30 years. Wemark smiled, remembering, “When she retired, she said she didn’t want a ‘d**n’ plaque. The alumni and administration gave her a car and one year’s worth of gas. The license plate said ‘Plaque’!”

Wemark concluded, “I am so glad I went. I would have been very diappointed in myself had I not gone. I’m not one to go away from home, but it was a wonderful trip.”