MILLINOCKET, Maine — Second Lieutenant Ernest Vienneau was honored in his hometown of Millinocket Saturday morning, 77 years after he made the ultimate sacrifice.
Vienneau served as a pilot during World War II, assigned to the 340th Bombardment Squadron, 97th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force, based out of Amendola, Italy. On November 6, 1944, Vienneau was co-piloting a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber when they came under attack while on a mission over present-day Slovenia. The then 25-year-old was killed in the attack.
The pilot was forced to make a water landing, and Vienneau's remains were unable to be recovered from the sinking plane.
In the fall of 2020, however, crews from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), two universities, the Croatian Conservation Institute, and the Croatian military recovered what they believed to be the possible remains of Vienneau. They were sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for analysis. In April of 2021, his remains were identified using material and circumstantial evidence.
On Saturday, Vienneau was laid to rest with a proper burial service. Among a number of family members in attendance were Chelsea Carbonelle and her son, Caleb. Carbonelle is Vienneau's great-niece, Caleb his great, great-nephew. She said her grandfather was only two years apart from Vienneau and they were very close.
"I don't even have words for what this would've meant for my grandpa," Carbonelle said.
The ceremony began at St. Martin of Tours Church in Millinocket. A number of military personnel were in attendance for the service. Among them was Major Daniel Nauman. He's a B-52 instructor pilot at the 340th weapon squadron, the same squadron Vienneau was part of. He said he received a call from his squadron commander asking him to attend the service for Vienneau.
"I was honored to get that phone call and to say, 'yes I will absolutely be there,'" Nauman said.
At the cemetery, Nauman honored a special Air Force tradition by leaving his second set of broken Air Force wings on Vienneau's casket.
"The tradition is that you break that first set of wings in half, you give one half to your significant other or someone very close to you," Nauman said.
He says the belief is that as long as half of the wings are safe, the other will also be safe. When a pilot dies, both halves of the wings are buried with them. Nauman said he gave half of his first set of wings to his wife, his second set, dedicated to honoring Vienneau.
"I wanted them to go someplace special and I couldn't think of anything I'd be more honored to do than to bury those with him," Nauman said.
Vienneau's name is listed on the "Walls of the Missing" at the Florence American Cemetery along with others still missing from World War II. The cemetery is an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Impruneta, Italy. A rosette will now be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.