Hunt for answers: The mystery of Rochester pilot and Biden relative missing since WWII

In May 1944, "Barry's Baby I.N.S," a light American bomber used for low-flying missions, crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

That May 14, 1944, crash, which just commemorated its 80th anniversary, recently stepped back into the news as President Joseph Biden remembered his uncle, who was among those still missing from the mission. But little is known about another of the missing, the pilot Lt. Harold Prince, who was from Rochester.

"Some pilots you, could write a small book about," said Edward Rogers, who has written histories of World War II air campaigns. "Harold Prince, he flew a lot of combat missions, but there is not a lot of information about him."

What is known is information largely compiled by Rogers and the nonprofit organization, Pacific Wrecks, which distributes information about the Pacific campaigns in World War II and the Korean War. Its founder, Justin Taylan, has embarked on searches for Prince's airplane, a Douglass Aircraft A-20G, as well as others that disappeared during the wars.

"We've been in touch with all of the families (lost in the mission), except Prince's," Taylan said in a WhatsApp telephone conversation this month from New Guinea, where he and others were about to start a search for another aircraft lost in World War II. (Days after the interview, Taylan and his crew found what appears to be the wreckage of the lost plane, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter.)

Contrasting his family's military service with that of former President Donald Trump, Biden recently spoke of his missing-in-action uncle. Biden suggested that his uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, may have been eaten by cannibals in New Guinea after the plane went down — there has never been evidence of this sort — and his remarks sparked pushback from the Pacific nation.

"I think it's important to highlight, aside from President Biden's connection to this airplane, three other families are also connected, ordinary people like you and I," Taylan said. "It's unfortunate that this has been politicized."

Biden has spoken of his uncle many times, Taylan said, "as a senator, as vice president, and now as president."

If remains were ever to be recovered, Biden's DNA could be used for identification, Taylan said.

Letter from MacArthur

The June 14, 1944, story in the Democrat and Chronicle about the missing bomber pilot was brief.

"First Lt. Harold R. Prince, 23, was killed in action May 14, returning home from a personal mission for Gen. MacArthur, according to a letter the General has written to the officer's parents, Mr. and Mrs. William S. Carr, of Santa Monica, California, formerly of Rochester," the story's opening paragraph read.

According to the Democrat and Chronicle story, Prince flew more than 70 combat missions. Many of them were "low-level bombing and strafing missions, anywhere from 20 to 150 feet from the ground, which is very low and has its own risks," Rogers said.

However, his plane went down during a more mundane journey, in what was deemed an "administrative flight" to New Guinea's NazDab airfield. Also onboard were gunner Ashford H. Cardwell, and engineer Anthony Zulkus. Both were technical sergeants by rank.

"The weather was reported as good on the flight route," the Pacific Wrecks history reports. "Forty minutes into the flight, this A-20 attempted to ditch in the sea but both engines failed roughly 30 (foot) altitude and nosed over impacting hard."

Zulkus survived, rescued by a passing barge.

Prince was nearing the end of his military combat stint.

"Certainly Harold Prince, if he had survived this mission, he would have been sent home within the month," said Rogers, who plans to include the story of the crash in his forthcoming second book on the history of the 3rd Bombardment Group. Prince flew with the Group, nicknamed "The Grim Reapers."

Trying to find 'Barry's Baby I.N.S.'

A graduate of John Marshall High SchooL, Prince worked in the chemical field at Eastman Kodak Co. after graduation. He enlisted in 1939, training as a pilot and joining the Air Corps, a combat appendage of the Army.

Letters in his military file show that his father abandoned the family when Prince was very young, according to a correspondence from his mother, in which she asked the military to send Prince's personal items to her. His mother later remarried.

Rogers, Taylan and others have pieced information together, including the correspondence from Prince's mother, and Taylan continues to try to find remnants of the wreckage in the depths of water off New Guinea.

""This a case that we've been researching for years," Taylan said. "Last year we led an expedition to search for this aircraft."

That search was bolstered by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest, who, like Biden, has an uncle missing in action. Forrest provided high-tech unmanned equipment for the search, and the results are still being scrutinized in hopes that some piece of wreckage may be spotted on the underwater surveys that were conducted.

"With his help this process became even more focused and we had access to perhaps the best tools that money can buy to conduct an underwater survey," Taylan said. "Finding an airplane is very difficult underwater. It likely broke up on impact."

The airplane's name may seem unusual, but there was a likely reason, Taylan said.

The aircraft were occasionally named in hopes they would get some notice, or sometimes with inside jokes from the crew. Barry Faris headed the International News Service, or I.N.S., and the bomber's moniker may have been a bid to get his attention.

If so, it worked. There is a photo of Prince and the crew alongside "Barry's Baby I.N.S.," with Prince shaking Ferris' hand.

It is a lighthearted moment, a photo taken in April 1944 with Prince likely knowing he had few if any combat missions in his future. The recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross and other military honors for his service, Prince was very close to the return to Rochester and a fiancée; he was engaged.

Taylan hopes one day to bring the remains of Prince home.

"By traveling here, working with local communities, these planes can be found," he said from New Guinea.

"In my opinion, searching for these planes, telling the stories and honoring the legacy of these men is the greatest thing that I as an American can do."

— Gary Craig is a veteran reporter with the Democrat and Chronicle, covering courts and crime and more. His father, the late Irving Craig, was a pilot in the military and a commercial pilot afterward. If you have information on Lt. Harold Prince, you can reach Craig at gcraig@rocheste.gannett.com. 

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester NY pilot and Biden relative still missing from WWII