Not deterred by inconvenient facts, Washington was sticking with Clarke’s bogus story about burials in the Abucay Churchyard even though it had been thoroughly excavated without finding additional Americans.
The Nininger family was equally determined to recover the remains of their son and bury him at home.
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The investigation conducted by the Memorial Division had recommended that each of the families be personally visited and briefed on the facts of the case. Since both the families and the Army believed Colonel Clarke’s story about the burials in the churchyard it wasn’t a difficult sell. Perhaps if the families had been shown the documents identifying the X-1130/X-4685 remains or the classified investigation report they wouldn’t have been so quick to agree.
The Nininger family was most concerned that nothing further would be done if the case was closed, but were assured that they would be notified if any remains were positively identified as their son. Of course, the Army didn’t intend to look very hard.
While the Army may have considered the case closed, the Nininger family certainly didn’t. They continued to collect information and interview members of the 57th Infantry.
By 1966, Sandy Nininger’s Nephew, John Patterson, joined the fight. A career foreign service officer, John was organized and able to effectively organize the information he collected.
There’s no record that the Army even responded, but by 1986 John Patterson had gathered a huge volume of documents and spoken with those who were present at Nininger’s death. He wasn’t relying on Clarke’s bogus informationand he had found someone who actually attended the burial. He requested that the army reopen the case and, in support of his case, provided a summary of the case and information from the witness the Army knew about, but never interviewed.
Patterson had obtained a copy of Nininger’s Individual Deceased Personnel File and found two references to a classified file filed under the name of 1LT Ira B. Cheaney.
In 1985, Patterson requested a copy of the classified file referenced in his Uncle’s IDPF.
The Army responded and flat out denied the existence of a classified file pertaining to either Cheaney or Nininger.
This classified file was the key to proving that Clarke’s information was incorrect and understanding the actual burial process. What’s more, the file showed that Washington was aware of the facts, but classified them as SECRET to conceal them. No wonder the Army wanted to keep that file hidden.
In 1986, Mr. Patterson requested that the Army reopen his Uncle’s case and provided information on a witness the Army had previously avoided interviewing. However, the Army had known since at least 1951 that Major Garnet Francis had attended the burial and pointedly avoided interviewing him.
The Army refused or neglected to followup with Major Francis and he passed away a few years later. However, they had the map created by Major Francis that John Patterson had sent them.
In 2012, the Nininger case came to the fore, again, and a young historian, Gregory Kupsky, was assigned to summarize the progress. Mr Kupsky’s report summarized further investigations of burials in the churchyard and also noted that John Patterson had supplied information from Major Garnet Francis, an eye witness, who placed the burials south of the river in the Abucay Cemetery area where the X-1130/X-4685 remains were recovered.
The Churchyard had been thoroughly excavated by multiple search teams without finding the remains Clarke reported had been buried there, yet, the Army’s professional bone finders didn’t think it necessary to look elsewhere.
No one thought it might be a good idea to interview Major Francis, either. Not many creative thinkers at DPAA.
Mr. Kupsky seems to have forgotten all about Major Francis’ information when he testified in court a few years later.
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