PORTLAND, Maine — In 1944, an American B-17 bomber went down in the Adriatic Sea with 11 people on board. They got out safely and made it to shore only 100 yards away — all except Lt. Ernest Vienneau of Millinocket.
So gravely wounded was Vienneau that his crewmates thought he was dead, and they reluctantly left his body behind as the plane sank, quickly and gently, to the bottom of the ocean.
Seventy-seven years later, the U.S. government recovered Vienneau’s remains from the remarkably intact aircraft, confirmed they were his, and brought them back to his hometown of Millinocket.
The story is told in “A Solemn Promise,” a documentary that will air next week on Maine Public Broadcasting Network.
“We have a small team, and we have to pick and choose pretty carefully what projects we work on. This one spoke to us,” Maine Public producer Brian Bechard said. “It’s just a great American story.”
Kirk Wolfinger of Lone Wolf Media in South Portland brought the idea to Maine Public. For him, part of what makes the story inspiring is the dedication of a small unit in the Pentagon devoted to bringing home the remains of missing American servicemen and women.
“If there is a report of a missing serviceman, be he in the highest of the Alps or the deepest of the ocean,” Wolfinger said, “[There’s] an absolute commitment to recovering anyone who can possibly be recovered, no matter the danger, no matter the expense.”
What’s especially moving is how the town turned out when Vienneau’s remains were brought back for burial in Millinocket. His parents died, never knowing exactly what had happened to his body, and a definitive answer did not come for nearly eight decades.
“It’s closure for my grandparents,” one of Vinneau’s nieces in the film said. “I know they’re all smiling down from Heaven today.”
“A Solemn Promise” will air on Maine Public Broadcasting Network at 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 17 and 5 p.m. on Feb. 20.