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Missing soldier to be honored 72 years after plane went down in flames

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RONAN — Although the incident occurred nearly 72 years ago, WWII soldier Robert A. Needham will finally receive military honors at his Ronan grave marker on Memorial Day. Needham, however, is not laid to rest there; his final resting place is likely somewhere in the English Channel.

Robert graduated from Ronan High School in 1940, enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces when he was 22 years old, and quickly rose to the status of top gun. He was wounded while participating as a gunner in the D-Day invasion June 6, 1944, and was awarded a purple heart. After recovering from his injuries he went back into service July 5, 1944, a day after celebrating the Fourth of July in Trafalger Square. Later the family would receive photos of Robert feeding the pidgeons in the London location.

Yet that fateful day while gunning aboard Commander Lewis Stalking’s A-20 fighter-bomber, the plane took a shell from enemy fire and went down in flames over France. All three on board parachuted out; the commander and the navigator were rescued. Robert was not.

“He’s my only brother who has been missing in action for 72 years,” Tom Needham said. Tom was 11 years old at the time.

Years later Tom attended a reunion of the 409th Bomb Squadron and heard a detailed account of the incident from Stalking, who retired as a Brigadier General in 1969 and lived until 2008.

 “He said they both went into the water, and it was hot,” Needham said. The commander had been in the water for four hours when he saw a big wave coming. On the crest of that wave was a shadow of somebody in a boat.

“He got of glimpse, and that was the last we knew,” Tom said.

Last year, after realizing that he could still give Robert the respectful military honors his brother deserved, Tom first had to obtain an official death certificate before the ceremony could take place. 

With that completed, the ceremony is scheduled for Memorial Day this Monday, May 28, at the Ronan Cemetery, following the annual ceremony for Medal of Honor recipient LaVerne Parrish. In fact, Robert’s gravemarker is situated near his fellow hometown hero’s.

Tom’s 92-year-old sister Rachel Newlin can’t make the trek from Arkansas to Ronan for Monday’s ceremony, but Tom’s daughter will arrive from Colorado to accept an American flag on her aunt’s behalf. Tom will also be presented with a flag. 

The public is invited to come and remember the service of Staff Sergeant Robert Needham, who flew 49 missions.

Denny Lenoir, director of Veteran and Military Affairs for U.S. Senator Steve Daines, is setting up the military honoring ceremony and may be in attendance, according to Tom.

On a final note, Tom said one of Robert’s best friends said something upon learning Robert was missing in action.

“He said, “I knew him as a kid and a man, and he was a first class guy. They had the right guy to be the top gun,’” Tom recalled, laughing as he continued to tell what his friend said: “‘If he was still in a boat, I know exactly what happened. Just off the coast of Normandy, at Omaha beach, Robert was picked up by a French fisherman who had a beautiful daughter. Now get your buns to France and find the rest of your family.’”

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