Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OGDEN — A team of Italian divers believe they've found a sunken B-17 piloted by a Box Elder County man. A major goal out of all of this is to help bring Lt. Thomas Ira Warburton home and give him a resting place.
On the day set aside to remember those who served and those close to us, Troy Burnett is honoring someone he's never met.
Burnett is a retired Ogden police officer, a veteran, and he says the story of Lt. Warburton — who went by Ira — really struck a chord with him.
"Yeah, I'll be honest with you. I'll probably get choked up, but he's a hero," Burnett said.
The reason: Warburton chose to go down with the plane, rather than leave a crewmate behind.
Burnett helps tell the stories of World War II veterans through Stories Behind the Stars, a website and organization run by volunteers who have shared the stories of hundreds of thousands of veterans.
Through declassified documents, Burnett learned that Warburton's plane, the Grim Reaper, was struck by a German anti-aircraft shell over the Adriatic Sea.
Several crewmen were able to parachute out and survive, but Warburton discovered his gunner could not get his parachute harness attached. Rather than leave, Warburton and three others decided to stay behind and apparently try to land the plane in the ocean.
"That millisecond over the Adriatic, where he just decided to stay to help his crewmen, that's pretty heroic in my book," Burnett said. "I think that Ira deserves — he's earned the right to be home, you know?"
And now, he may get that chance.
Dr. Fabio Bisciotti reached out to Burnett while searching online for information about the Grim Reaper. Bisciotti and his dive team have become known for finding several World War II vessels.
"We have found his tail or stern I want to say," Bisciotti said. "This wreck, it is exactly at 250 degrees and totally enroute to Totorella Air Base."
The location would be right along the path Warburton was taking.
"It was my duty, my personal duty, to say to this people that maybe I found their airplane," Bisciotti said.
Now Burnett is hopeful Warburton's family can hear about this discovery too, ideally getting him a proper resting place.
"I hope he comes home," Burnett said.
Bisciotti says he's been in touch with the Pentagon and much of the bomber is still covered in mud. His group works with a University in Italy trying to get vessels like the Grim Reaper on display in museums.
