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MIA Woody McVay

O

Owen

Member
Gentlemen:
This man was one of you....

Below are links to an article about Naval Aviator Woody McVay
of Mobile, AL who is finally coming home. His remains will
be met in Pensacola on Fri by the USN funeral detail and be
transported with a police escort for burial in Mobile. He
will be burried on Mon with full military honors and, hopefully,
a flyby. The funeral detail will return and there will be a group
of sailors and Marines to form up ranks. His widow and
granddaughter will be there.





http://blog.al.com/jkennedy/2009/06/alabamas_lt_woodie_mcvay_world.html

http://blog.al.com/jkennedy/2007/08/woodie_mcvay_flew_from_the_uss.html
 
Bevo16

Bevo16

Registered User
pilot
This was one of my cases before I moved over to current operations.

I am glad that the family is happy with the final result, but the story does not do a very good job of relaying the actual chain of events leading up to the disinterment.

Part of the problem is that Ray Emory has a really bad habit of making family members believe that he has some kind of official position in the government. He is a smart guy with pure motives, but he is sloppy in how he communicates with family members and often misrepresents the "facts" in order to get people moving. He has been part of some successes, but more often than not he gets people's hopes up for no reason.

JPAC was doing this disintirment by the book (for a change), and that takes time. The family has to get a viable maternal mtDNA sample in, they have to have a reasonable certainty that he was in the grave, they had to get permission of the family and the ABMC to dig up the grave site, and then then they have to wait months for DNA results from the lab to make the conclusive ID. All of that research and forensic work takes time, and the clock does not start ticking when a civilian makes the first phone call to stir the family up.

The chain of events that led to the unmarked grave are unfortunate, but this ID was done the right way.
 
O

Owen

Member
McVay funeral....

All,
Thanks for your support! Thanks to the stash Ensigns who came on their own time and at their own expense. Thanks to the funeral detail and the other enlisted who came. And thanks to the guys in the choker whites and gloves that came together as well as the as the aviators that preformed the flyover.


Today was an honor for ALL included. The FAMILY, the USN, the police, the media, and the interested. What a wonderful tribute to an All American hero!


Below is a link to the coverage WALA TV10 provided. This should be a model for future events!


We should ALL remember that freedom is not free, occasionally it has to be fought for. When that happens, good men die. They need to be remembered and revered. AND, the ones who made it home need to be honored for their actions. It is imperative that we teach this to following generations.....

Blue skies,
Owen Miller
www.ussalabama.com

http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/local_news/mobile_county/WWII_Pilot_Missing_Since_44_Buried
 
DFSpence

DFSpence

New Member
Myself and three other Ensigns rode out to Mobile yesterday for the funeral. It was a great experience and the first military funeral I had been to. I especially enjoyed hearing anecdotes about Lt. McVay from his cousins who were only adolescents at the time of his death but still had fond memories and great things to say about him.

Also, the T-45 flyover and 21-gun salute were a nice touch to an already great day for a true American patriot and his surviving family.
 
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