Never Forget

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

As President Obama noted in his remarks at the Vietnam War Memorial this Memorial Day, there are 1,666 Americans still missing in action (MIA) from the Vietnam War. Of course, there are still many Americans MIA from all previous wars.

A memorable made for television movie by CBS, Sole Survivor (1970) -- for some reason never released on VHS or DVD or available today on television -- tells the story of a B-25 Mitchell bomber crew that crashes in the Libyan desert after becoming lost following a bombing raid over Italy. The crew survives the crash, only to die from exposure wandering in the Saharan Desert.  The ghosts of the crew have made their way back to the wreckage of the aircraft where they have spent the next seventeen years in a type of limbo state, playing baseball and longing for repatriation back to their home country, which can only occur if their bodies are recovered.

The plane is eventually discovered by an oil surveying aircraft. A team of Air Force investigators is sent to the crash site. The ghost of each crewman suddenly vanishes as their bodies are discovered and recovered, their spirits apparently forced to accompany their remains back to the United States. The exception being Tony, who had stayed with the plane. The film ends with a solitary Tony at the plane, but with a glimmer of hope as the pilot's log is found, mentioning Tony's return to the plane. One final visit to the crash site is decided upon by investigators.

The film is loosely based on a 1959 discovery of the remains of a B-24 Liberator bomber, "Lady Be Good" in the Libyan desert, which crashed following a bombing raid on Naples in 1943.

The Twilight Zone TV series episode entitled "King Nine Will Not Return" had a similar storyline, and was also based the discovery of the "Lady Be Good."

While this movie is not available in VHS or DVD, you can view a poor quality video of Sole Survivor on Google Video. There are clips on YouTube (also poor quality video).

I have often thought of this movie whenever I am reminded of servicemembers who are still MIA. How many servicemembers are still waiting to be found and to return home?

CBS should digitally remaster this film for release on DVD, or an actor who does substantial work with veterans groups like Gary Sinese, through his Gary Sinise Foundation, may want to remake this film and dedicate it to the veterans organizations who work to find MIA servicemembers to bring them home.