WWII flyer killed over Germany makes final journey home to Metuchen
Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael Uhrin came home to Metuchen Friday after nearly 80 years.
After lying in state at Metuchen Memorial Park, Uhrin, who was honored during the borough’s Memorial Day parade, was laid to his final rest Monday at Hillside Cemetery.
Killed Oct. 14, 1943, during the Schweinfurt Raid over Germany in World War II, Uhrin's remains were not identified until May 12, 2022, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced in December.
"It is a tremendous honor to have him back home today," Mayor Jonathan Busch said Monday.
Uhrin was 21 when he died. He is among 31 borough residents killed in action during World War II.
"This Memorial Day carries with it both the weight and gravity of memorializing the fallen, and the light and hope of reunion and community," Busch said at the ceremony. "We gather today in a way unimaginable just a year ago. We are reunited with one another and finally, Staff Sgt. Michael Uhrin, a 21-year-old fallen service member, has finally returned home to be reunited with his family, his Metuchen."
Uhrin's parents and siblings had passed and never knew that their son and brother was recovered. The son of John J. and Mary Uhrin, Uhrin was born on Dec. 18, 1921, in New York City and lived on Central Avenue before he went away to war.
His older brother, Cpl. Joseph J. Uhrin, 24, was accidentally killed at Orlando Air Base in January 1943 and is buried at Hillside Cemetery. He was the borough's first known casualty in that war.
Another brother, Pvt. George Uhrin, was stationed in India, and siblings John, Anna, Mary and Helen, lived at home.
Uhrin graduated from Middlesex County Vocational School in 1939. Before entering the military in August 1942, he was employed at Celotex Corporation. After a year's training stateside, Uhrin was deployed overseas in September 1943.
In October 1943, Uhrin was assigned to 369th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bombardment Group, 40th Combat Wing, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. On Oct. 14, the B-17F Flying Fortress bomber on which he was the radio operator was flying a mission to Schweinfurt, Germany from Thurleigh, England.
A week before, Uhrin had been gunned down and parachuted to safety during a different mission. It was the family's understanding that he would soon be sent home.
"Instead, he was killed just days later," said Uhrin's nephew Michael Uchrin said in December.
During the mission, the plane was shot down by Nazi fighters near Rommelhausen and Langenbergheim, Hessen, Germany.
On a day that came to be known as "Black Thursday," Uhrin’s bomber was one of 60 aircraft to be lost. Uhrin's commanding officer said Uhrin had not been previously assigned to the plane. Though he was trained as a radio operator, Uhrin volunteered to fill in as the gunner.
Several of his friends who were in the mission reported seeing the plane shot down and crew members parachuting. The surviving B-17 crew members said Uhrin was killed before the plane crashed, and none witnessed him bail out. Seven of the 10 crew members who bailed out were taken prisoner, but it was determined the other three men on board were killed.
Uhrin's death was confirmed shortly after the crash, but there was no record where he was buried. He received the Air Medal and Purple Heart.
The remains, which had been buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery in Belgium, were disinterred in June 2021. They were sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.
To identify Uhrin’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.
email: cmakin@gannettnj.com
Cheryl Makin is an award-winning features and education reporter for MyCentralJersey.com, part of the USA Today Network. Contact: Cmakin@gannettnj.com or @CherylMakin. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: WWII flyer killed over Germany makes final journey home to Metuchen NJ
