Captain Myers Wahnee, Comanche
US Army Air Force & US Air Force
World War II & Korean War
Crew No. 56, 714th Bomb Squadron, 448th Bomb Group
2nd Air Division, 8th US Air Force (the Mighty Eighth)
Captured on March 20, 1944
Liberated on May 29, 1945

CPL Wahnee was born in Apache. He enlisted as an Aviation Cadet on September 28, 1941 in Oklahoma City. Upon completion of Officer Candidate School and flight training at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, he was assigned as a flight instructor for English Cadets of the Royal Air Force in Valedoso, Georgia. On his next assignment, he and his crew picked up their "ship" in Idaho and flew to Florida for departure to Europe. He developed an ear infection and a new pilot was assigned to his aircraft - while enroute to North Africa that plane and crew were lost and never recovered. Assigned a new plane, which he named "The Comanche," CPT Wahnee and his crew was based in England. Despite being wounded in the ankle by flak, he and all ten crew members parachuted to safety. Nine were captured, the co-pilot evaded capture. CPT Wahnee told family members, "He always carried a "medicine bundle" - on his last mission he couldn't find it and flew without it." The War Department reported him "missing in action and later as a prisoner of war." He was detained at Stalag Luft 3, also called Dulag Luft, which was located near Frankfurt am Main. This was the interrogation center to which all allied airmen were delivered as soon as possible after their capture. He was help captive for 435 days. CPT Wahnee also served during the Korean War. He died on July4, 1982 and is buried at Little Washita Cemetery east of Fletcher, Oklahoma. CPT Wahnee was 63 years old (DOB December 2, 1918).