“Many times he has come upon a grave with a rude cross on which was
scrawled: ‘Unidentified American Aviator’ or ‘Two Unidentified American
Aviators.’ He has had to obtain positive identification by careful
examination of air-service records, questioning of peasants and
civilians who saw American machines brought down and deductions based
on the information he gathered. In some instances it has been necessary
to open graves to make sure.
“To start out with, Captain Zinn has the records of squadrons, which
show, for instance, on what date a missing pilot went out, what his
mission was, over what country he naturally would go, and what kind
of machine he had. Perhaps an attack by an overwhelming force or an
accident or other circumstances forced the pilot off the course marked
out for him. When he failed to return, only speculation as to where he
fell could be indulged in. Unless the Germans notified his squadron of
his death and the location of his grave, he became one of the men for
whom Captain Zinn now seeks.
“There was the case of young Kenyon Roper, of the 91st Aero Squadron.
By a process of elimination of facts gathered, it was fairly definitely
established that Roper had come down in the night between the lines.
Captain Zinn questions scores of peasant folk. But the search appeared
to be hopeless. And then Captain Zinn heard that a small boy had a
handkerchief that the dead flier had possessed. He found the boy and
the handkerchief. And written in indelible ink on the little piece of
linen was the name ‘Kenyon Roper.’ It was easy then to learn from the
boy where the grave was and to be sure that Kenyon Roper lay sleeping
there.”