Fighter pilot's remains identified
2nd Lt. Enoch coming home from
Germany after more than 60 years In recent weeks, Cliff Enoch's son, who lives in Framingham, Mass., has been in contact with U.S. Department of Defense representatives who are planning a burial in Arlington National Cemetery. Tentative plans are to hold a memorial service in August.
Crittenden native left college to fight
Second Lt. Howard Clifton Enoch II was born in Crittenden County, the son of Howard Clifton "H.C." and Mattie Lucas Enoch. He was a 1942 graduate of Marion High School and enrolled at the University of Cincinnati, where he was involved in the school's ROTC program. He left school and joined the United States Army Air Corps in November 1942, about a year after the United States entered World War II. After entering the Corps, he attended basic training in Tallahassee, Fla., where he married Margarete Wylie of Princeton in September 1944.
Cliff, as he was known to friends in Marion, served as a P-51D Mustang fighter
pilot with the 368th Fighter Squadron, 359th Fighter Group nicknamed the Unicorns in the Eighth Air Force.
While on a mission near Halle, Germany, his plane went down on March 19, 1945. His son’s research uncovered eyewitness accounts of the accident, which are different than the official military report that says Cliff Enoch, who was flying solo, became distracted and crashed.
"This (eyewitness) account says he was engaged in an air battle and both planes crashed. There are additional eyewitness reports, but they are a little too graphic," Enoch says. "These two reports contain the essential facts as I believe they happened."
Enoch obtained the following report issued by the fire department of Eilenburg detailing the plane crash.
"On March 19, at 13:00 (1 p.m.) air raid alarm. The announcement was 'All fire brigades to the police department.’ An air battle over Eilenburg. An American fighter and an Me 110 were in combat and did strafe each other. Both came down burning. The German (aircraft) came down near the village exit to Battaune and the American (aircraft) crashed near the railway embankment.
Both crews were dead. The deployment (of the fire brigade) finished at 18:00 (6 p.m.)."
A second eyewitness account said an American fighter came down burning, exploding and totally crushing with only a few human remains and metal parts found.
Team discovers remains
In 2004, an investigative team surveyed the site where Cliff Enoch's plane crashed, and in August 2006, an excavation led to the recovery of his remains.
In April of this year, Howard Enoch III received the shocking – though welcome – news that his father, who was believed missing forever, had been found and identified after matching a DNA sample provided by a maternal relative in Jackson, Miss. The military located the relative, and unfortunately, attempts by Enoch to contact the relative have been unsuccessful.
Rose Hill remembers that Maddie Enoch never gave up hope that her son would be found alive. Hill and her brother, R.C. Hamilton, who was a World War II prisoner of war, are distant relatives of Cliff Enoch.
"A year ago, representatives from the World War II Families for the Return of the Missing started getting in touch, asking me questions, but all they would say is they would be in touch," Enoch’s son explained.
"By the time I was old enough to understand he was gone, my mother had remarried and my father was not talked about," he said.
"When I was contacted by the Army and asked to come to a family update, I was skeptical. After all these years, why would anyone have any new information? I had literally spent my life wishing and wanting to know more about my father, but I did not realize that anyone else cared or was still looking for him."
Enoch said he attended the update with high hopes and low expectations.
"It just didn’t seem possible that anyone could tell me anything because my family had not even mentioned my father. My search for my father was a personal search to find some kind of inner peace with the belief that he was gone, and I would never understand what happened and why."
Though Enoch had given up any hope of recovering his father's remains, efforts have been ongoing by several groups to find his father and others still missing overaseas. The World War II Families for the Return of the Missing, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office and the Repatriation Divisions of the U.S. Armed Services have all worked in unison to bring final resolution to the families and friends of missing American personnel from World War II. Cliff Enoch's is one of their success stories.
"I was totally unaware of the heroic efforts that are being made to recover and identify the men missing in the wars," Enoch reports. "I was emotionally stretched as I listened to the stories and descriptions of the work that is being done. More than once I was brought to tears as I learned, for the first time, how much my country cares about the men who have still not been given a final resting place in a place of honor in this country.
"For the first time in my life, I had hope for closure. That, had it been all, would have been a wonderful gift to see the dedicated men and women who work tirelessly to find and identify the missing and to feel the energy of the relatives who live for a glimmer of hope, filled me with new energy and resolve."
Enoch was ready to do his own personal research to aid in the process; however, he soon learned his father's remains had in fact been identified.
"I went into shock, and I am not certain I have recovered yet. I have a very vague memory of the time after I received the information, but I do remember being very grateful for the efforts that had been made to find my father," he said.
Enoch said it is impossible to describe the joy and sorrow that filled his heart when his dream came true. Not only did he suddenly have some certainty regarding his father's fatal flight but he began to weep for the lost years.
"I picture a young pilot sitting in a peaceful field in Germany waiting for someone to come pick him up and take him home," he says. "He is coming home now, and I am so happy to be able to have a place to go to honor him and to know he is resting with his buddies."
Enoch feels he owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to the men and women who have never given up looking for his father.
"I also want to add my support to the relatives who still wait. I received a great gift at the update. I truly wish I could share it with every family who is still waiting," he said. "I truly believe that some day every man and women who is still missing will be brought home. And I truly believe we can and must do what we can to give those who are searching and waiting our unconditional support."
Much of the information provided by Howard Enoch III contained in this article is also posted as a World War II Families for Recovery of the Missing update on www.skycontrol.net.
Board cuts resource officer, ups meal rates To make ends meet next year, Crittenden County Board of Education on Tuesday cut on-site security at the middle and high schools and increased the price of student meals as much as 35 cents.
Eliminating the school resource officer’s position created two years ago will save the school system $24,000. While cutting the position started under his leadership was a difficult decision for Superinten-dent John Belt, $250,000 more in additional cuts will still be needed in order to balance the school system’s upcoming $10 million budget.
“We’re coming closer to a balanced budget, but we are not there yet,” he said.
The position of resource officer, funded with an additional $6,000 each from the fiscal court and City of Marion, was held by Deputy Greg Rushing, who was provided by the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department. Other school positions and services have also been cut or scaled back to reduce costs for the district.
Though Rushing will not necessarily be out of a job, Sheriff Wayne Agent may be faced with cutting staff without the additional funding.
Another significant step by the board of education in addressing the budget was approving an increase in school meal prices. Food Services Director Janet Stevens said the bump in both breakfast and lunch prices was needed to offset growing food costs.
“Last year, milk was up 26 percent and the cost of food 12 percent,” Stevens said. “And that’s not even what it’s going to be this year.”
Breakfast will up 20 cents across the board to students beginning this fall. Lunch at the middle and high schools will be 35 cents more and 30 cents at CCES. Reduced-rate lunch prices will not change.
County accepting bids for trash pick-up Garbage pickup will be a primary issue in Crittenden County in the coming months as the county begins accepting competitive sealed bids for the collection and disposal of trash.
Crittenden County Judge-Executive Fred Brown told magistrates Tuesday during the regular fiscal court meeting that the county's contract with Freedom Waste is expiring this fall. The contract was assigned to Freedom Waste, which purchased Waste Management's local operation last winter. Waste Management had originally been given the county's franchise agreement to collect and dispose of refuse in 1993. It had been given two five-year extensions prior to selling off this and other area county operations to Freedom Waste.
Freedom Waste, which operates a landfill in Mayfield, wants to retain the county's business, Joe Buchanan told the court this week. Buchanan is a part-owner and spokesman for the company. He said Freedom is prepared to negotiate a new contract with the county, which would include a small price increase for residential customers.
County residents are paying $11.76 a month without a cart now or $14.86 with a cart. Freedom Waste’s new proposal calls for prices to go up to $12.76 per month without a cart and $15.86 with a cart. Commercial dumpsters are priced based on a rate of $4.86 per cubic yard and frequency of pickup.
Freedom is currently levying a 14 percent fuel surcharge to offset high energy costs, an amount tacked onto the bill.
Buchanan told magistrates that 14 percent is a low surcharge compared to prices paid in other area counties. He said some fuel charges are higher than 20 percent.
Buchanan also provided a price list of what residents are paying for curbside trash pickup in other counties. Crittenden is the lowest, he said. His documents showed Caldwell at $14.22 without a cart and $17.33 with one. Lyon $21 with a cart; Union $21 without and $23 with a company cart; Webster is $21 and $23; and Livingston $22 in Smithland and $24 outside the city with a cart.
Although Freedom has already disclosed its proposed rate structure and other contract provisions, the service will be advertised for bid, according to state law.
Freedom Waste wants to give the county $1,500 a month to take over operation of the convenience center that accepts refuse at the county garage on U.S. 60. Because the operation is not profitable, Freedom is agreeing to subsidize the county to operate it.
Judge Brown said he thinks the county can operate the facility and make it more appealing to county residents by standardizing the rate structure and making recycling easier.
By increasing recycling and reducing the tonnage that goes to the landfill, the county can cut its costs to operate the convenience center, Brown said.
Brown said that based on current information, he would recommend sticking with Freedom Waste when the contact period ends later this year.
County to start buying fuel wholesale Rising fuel costs are prompting county officials to look for new ways to save.
Judge-Executive Fred Brown has proposed a plan that would allow the county to quit buying fuel at retail prices. Right now the county is paying normal rates at the pump, but it gets a small discount for using a BP credit card and federal highway fuel taxes are waived.
By purchasing or leasing three large fuel storage tanks and buying gas and diesel at wholesale prices, the county can save anywhere between 12 and 22 cents per gallon.
Last year, Crittenden County budgeted to spend a little more than $70 on fuel. It eclipsed that mark by more than $30,000. Next year's budget calls for $125,000 for fuel.
Brown has contacted one area wholesaler that can supply bulk storage tanks ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 gallons. The county uses gasoline, diesel and off-road diesel. It would need three separate tanks, which would cost upwards of $50,000 to install. Fuel terminals offer a tank leasing program, Brown said, which covers all of the maintenance costs during a contract period.
"We could sign up for three, five or 10 years," he said.
All county agencies would have access to the fuel center during normal operating hours. Some agencies, such as the sheriff's department, might be able to fuel up at night, but those details will be worked out later, Brown said.
Savings would be large over a year's time, Brown said, although he had not figured the potential savings because there are so many different alternatives available.
"It will depend on whether we buy our own tanks or lease them and the terms of the lease," he said. "I think leasing is best because I don't know where we would come up with the money to buy our own tanks."
The county will draw up bid specifications and advertise for tanks and wholesale fuel prices.