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WENDOVER — Heath Dorsey never met his uncle, but he felt his presence through stories.
"In a way, we did know him," Dorsey said.
On Jan. 26, 1944, Dorsey's uncle, 2nd Lt. Duray W. Dorsey, was on a routine check flight to test a faulty autopilot switch when poor weather rolled in.
Dorsey and his crew were ordered to return to the Wendover Airfield, but their plan crashed and they never did.
Heath Dorsey on Friday was joined by the 467th Bomb Group Association along with around 50 other individuals at the Historic Wendover Airfield to remember and memorialize U.S. Army Air Forces personnel who died in training or in accidents while traveling overseas — 15,500 of them — through a memorial dedication ceremony.
"This dedication provides a tremendous measure of closure for our family," Dorsey said.
Brian Mahoney, president of the 467th Bomb Group Association said that he first became interested in creating a memorial three years ago.
"Our campaign leading to this memorial began three years ago with the realization that 55 of our own (in the 467th Bomb Group) had been overlooked," Mahoney said.
Even after "extensive" research, Mahoney said that they weren't able to find a single memorial that commemorated the 15,500 individuals who died in training or travel accidents.
Dennis Parizek, Utah representative for the VFW National Board of Directors, noted that most of those lost in training died before even being assigned to a bomber or fighter group, meaning they have never been noted by any veteran or commemoration association, even though they sacrificed themselves for the country.
"Offering yourself for deadly service puts you in harm's way from the first steps in training, all the way through combat, until it's over, whether you see the end of the war or the war sees the end of you," Mahoney said. "Today starts a focused, national conversation. Its whole impetus is to foment healing of families. Yes, after this much time."
He reflected on a time when he drove a sister of a recovered crewman through Arlington Cemetery in a funeral quartet, 68 years after she had gotten the call that her brother died in action.
Mahoney said that "in a stroke," he saw 68 years completely vanish for the woman.
"There's no statute of limitation on grief, but closure is palpable and offers relief not available in any other way," Mahoney said.
The Historic Wendover Airfield now features two plaques, one commemorating the 55 individuals from the 467th Bombardment Group and another commemorating the rest of the 15,500 servicemen and women who lost their lives before seeing action.
Jim Petersen, CEO of the Historic Wendover Foundation added that an idea is in the works to build a larger, bronze memorial outside of the Wendover Airfield Museum that will feature all 15,500 names.
"Delayed and proper recognition is infinitely better than no recognition," Mahoney said.
