Moments before the conclusion of Friday’s memorial service for John J. Bono, Colorado National Guard Chaplain David Nagel recited a Bible verse, one he said epitomized the service and sacrifice made by the Army Air Forces staff sergeant.
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,” Nagel said. “Staff Sergeant John Bono followed in these footsteps and showed his great love for his nation, his fellow airmen, his family and his friends.”
“And today,” Nagel continued, “We welcome him home.”
Indeed, 67 years after his death, Bono, born and raised in Denver, returned to Colorado, his coffin traveling through Fort Logan National Cemetery on a horse-drawn carriage, with a pair of great-great nieces sitting in the passenger seats.
When it stopped, dozens of friends and family members, including Bono’s niece, Mary Jo Urban, gathered to pay tribute.
Urban was 7 when her uncle was killed in Germany, flying his 25th, and what was scheduled to be his final, mission. Most of the people present Friday, including Urban’s daughters, Tina Schiel and Cindy Dozsak, had never met Bono.
Even so, the emotions present throughout the funeral were palpable.
“We always knew about him. There were always pictures and stories,” Schiel said. “It’s just unbelievable that they can still find him. And returning him to us has been great.”
“His mother, our great-grandmother, was a big part of our lives,” Dozsak said. “She would be proud of this.”
Members of the Colorado Patriot Guard, the Army National Guard and the Buckley Air Force Honor Guard lined the street, where a rifle salute was performed.
Among the mementos given to Urban and her family was a plaque that called Bono “A True American Hero.”
According to Nagel, the 92nd Bombardier Group lost 291 B-17 bombers over the course of World War II. Each of those planes carried a 10-man crew, each someone’s husband, father, brother or uncle.
“The loss of one aircraft changed the lives of hundreds of people forever,” Nagel said.
Bono was a member of the 327th Division, which lost 17 B-17s. Flying over Germany on Sept. 13, 1944, Bono’s plane was shot down. In 1991, a German man digging a grave for his father-in-law found a set of dog tags from a U.S. soldier. However it took another 16 years before military officials could gain access to the site.
The next year, a grave holding the remains of three soldiers was discovered and returned to the U.S. Last year, the Army asked for a DNA sample from Urban and a cousin. After testing, it was confirmed that some of the remains were Bono’s, ending, for his family, a decades-long search.
“It’s closure for us,” Schiel said. “It really is ‘No Man Left Behind.’ “
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
