More on the repatriation of a long-lost WW2 Navy pilot to Jackson, Minnesota, after more than 100 years, the University of Minnesota is close to returning land to the Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and a Drive-in theater won’t be showing “Twister” anytime soon.
Transcript
WITH HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE STATE, I’M XAN HOLSTON.
FOR ONE MINNESOTA FAMILY... A FUNERAL NEXT WEEK IS MORE THAN A PROPER MILITARY BURIAL.
IT IS THE END OF AN 80-YEAR MYSTERY… AND THE RETURN OF A WORLD WAR TWO NAVY PILOT TO THE RELATIVES AND NEPHEW WHO KEPT HIS NAME AND MEMORY ALIVE.
FOR 83 YEARS… NAVY PILOT, LIEUTENANT JUNIOR GRADE THOMAS ARTHUR RUTH, WAS ONE OF AMERICA’S MISSING FROM WORLD WAR TWO.
NEXT WEEK... HE RETURN WITH FULL MILITARY HONORS TO BE BURIED IN HIS HOMETOWN OF JACKSON..
RUTH ENLISTED IN THE NAVY IN MINNEAPOLIS IN 1941.
IN 1943... HE WENT DOWN IN HIS SINGLE SEAT F-4-F WILDCAT FIGHTER AIRCRAFT OVER THE SOUTH PACIFIC NEAR THE SOLOMON ISLANDS.. RUTH’S TEAMMATES SAY HE DEFENDED ALLIED SHIPS AND LANDING FORCES IN THE NEW GEORGIA CAMPAIGN... DOWNING A JAPANESE AIRCRAFT IN A DOGFIGHT THAT MORNING.
LATER THAT DAY... RUTH LED A SECOND PATROL INTO COMBAT. HE WAS LAST SEEN BY TEAMMATES AS HIS SQUADRON DOVE OVER THE JAPANESE BOMBERS…
FOR DECADES... HIS FAMILY BELIEVED HE WAS LOST AT SEA.
HIS NEPHEW. AND NAMESAKE.. THOMAS ARTHUR RUTH THE SECOND... SAYS HE IS GRATEFUL THE NAVY NEVER GAVE UP SEARCHING FOR THE UNCLE HE NEVER MET..
--[THOMAS ARTHUR RUTH, II: MY FATHER DECIDED TO NAME ME AFTER TOMMY... JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE CLOSE AND HE RESPECTED HIM.--
--ALL WE KNEW AT THE TIME WAS WE THOUGHT HE HAD CRASHED INTO THE OCEAN, AND SO MY FATHER TOLD ME THAT HE WAS, FAR AS HE WAS CONCERNED, TOMMY HAD DIED, GONE TO HEAVEN … BUT IT TURNED OUT HE HAD CRASHED LANDED ON THE SOLOMON ISLANDS.--
--WE WERE RELIEVED THAT IF REMAINS HAD BEEN FOUND AND IDENTIFIED AND FELT WE'RE VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE RETURNED.--
--WHEN THE FAMILY FOUND OUT ABOUT IT, WE WERE FIRST OF ALL THANKFUL TO NAVY AND THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT, AND THEN WE WERE GRATIFIED THAT HE WERE RETURNING HOME TO BE BURIED IN THE PLOT OF HIS PARENTS.]--
IN 2013... A JOINT POW-MIA INVESTIGATION TEAM FOUND THE CRASH SITE THE MUNDA AREA OF NEW GEORGIA IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS. HIS NEPHEW SAYS HE WAS STILL IN THE COCKPIT... HIS REMAINS WERE POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED LAST YEAR THROUGH D-N-A TESTING.
LIEUTENANT THOMAS RUTH WILL BE BURIED – ALONGSIDE HIS PARENTS - WITH FULL MILITARY HONORS ON MAY 27TH... AT 11 A-M... AT RIVERSIDE CEMETERY IN JACKSON.
--FIRE UPDATES--
THE FLANDERS FIRE IN CROW WING COUNTY IS NEARLY FULLY CONTAINED BUT THE CAUSE IS STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION
.
THE D-N-R SAYS IT HAS FOUND THE FIRE’S ORIGIN NEAR THE NORTH SHORE OF FLANDERS LAKE … AND HAS IDENTIFIED “PEOPLE OF INTEREST.”
INVESTIGATORS WANT TRAIL CAMERAS … DOORBELL VIDEO … OR OTHER INFORMATION FROM FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NEAR FLANDERS LAKE … COUNTY ROAD 11 … OR HORSESHOE LAKE ROAD.
THE STEWART TRAIL FIRE IS COMPLETELY CONTAINED … AFTER BURNING 356 ACRES AND DESTROYING 34 STRUCTURES. INCLUDING HOMES, CABINS AND OUTBUILDINGS.
IN AN INTERVIEW WITH AMPERS MEMBER STATION W-T-I-P... TWO HARBORS MAYOR LEW CONNOR SAYS QUICK COORDINATION KEPT DAMAGE FROM BEING WORSE.
[TWO HARBORS MAYOR LEW CONNOR: HOW FAST THE STATE AND DNR — ALL THE DIFFERENT ENTITIES CAME TOGETHER, YOU KNOW, WITH THEIR PLANES FLYING, DROPPING WATER WITHIN HOURS.]
--AIRCRAFT & “HEATWAVE”--
FIREFIGHTING AIRCRAFT HELPED SLOW THIS WEEK’S WILDFIRES BY SCOOPING WATER FROM NEARBY LAKES... AND GETTING BACK TO THE FIRE LINE WITHIN MINUTES...
AIR TRACTOR PLANES PICK UP AS MUCH AS 800 GALLONS OF WATER IN ABOUT 15 SECONDS WITHOUT HAVING TO GO BACK TO A BASE TO REFILL.
[NAT: AIRPLANE NOISES]
A ST. PAUL COMPANY SAYS ONE PLANE FLYING THE MINNESOTA FIRES THIS WEEK USED ITS NEW ‘HEATWAVE FLOAT SYSTEM’...
THE WORK GOES FASTER … AND IT’S SAFER FOR PILOTS.
MOMENTUM AERONAUTICS SAYS THE REDESIGNED FLOATS REDUCE DRAG FOR FIREFIGHTING PLANES.. AND IMPROVE WATER HANDILING.. AND HELP THE PILOTS SAY STEADIER DURING WATER PICKUPS.
--FOND DU LAC LAND --
-- --
A PLAN TO RETURN 34-HUNDRED ACRES TO THE FOND DU LAC BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR CHIPPEWA HAS CLEARED THE MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE.
THE LAND IS HOME TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA’S CLOQUET FORESTRY CENTER …AND SITS ENTIRELY INSIDE THE FOND DU LAC RESERVATION.
THE UNIVERSITY HAS WORKED FOR YEARS TO RETURN THE LAND... AFTER FEDERAL ALLOTMENT POLICIES AND LOGGING TRANSFERS BROKE UP RESERVATION LAND MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO...
[U OF M SPOKESPERSON: RETURNING OWNERSHIP OF THE CLOQUET FORESTRY CENTER TO THE FOND DU LAC BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR CHIPPEWA IS A PRIORITY FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA AND OUR TRIBAL COMMUNITIES.]
THE BILL TRANSFERS THE STATE-OWNED LAND AT THE CENTER TO THE UNIVERSITY … SO THE UNIVERSITY CAN MOVE FORWARD WITH RETURNING THE FULL PROPERTY TO THE BAND.
UNDER THE DEAL … THE UNIVERSITY EEPS OPERATING THE FORESTRY CENTER IN COOPERATION WITH THE BAND.
--DRIVE-IN THEATER DAMAGED--
AND FINALLY …
IN A PLOT TWIST FOR A WARREN, MINNESOTA DRIVE-IN THEATER …HEAVY WINDS BLEW PART OF ITS SCREEN DOWN DAYS BEFORE IT SHOWED THE FIRST MOVIE OF SEASON.
SKY-VU DRIVE-IN WILL REMAIN CLOSED TEMPORARILY WHILE IT REPAIRS ITS SCREEN … AND HAS AN ‘EXTREMELY TENTATIVE’ SCHEDULE PLANNED FOR LATER THIS WEEK … JUST DON’T EXPECT TO SEE “TWISTER” THERE ANYTIME SOON.
FOR NORTH STAR STORIES, I’M XAN HOLSTON.