By Brian Albrecht, The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio March 27, 2017 -- For 72 years, the remains of Cleveland's World War II fighter ace Albert Schlegel were known only as X-73, buried in an anonymous grave in an American cemetery in Champigueul, France.
Then, in 2016, an investigation finally revealed the tragic story of the airman who had been shot down while flying his P-51 Mustang on a mission in France, and was apparently captured by German troops and summarily executed with a bullet to the forehead.
Schlegel, who wanted to fly and fight so badly that he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force shortly before America entered the war in 1941, will be buried with full military honors on March 30 at the Beaufort (South Carolina) National Cemetery.
"Uncle Sonny" will be saluted at the memorial service and burial by his nephew, Perry Nuhn, 84, a former Clevelander now living in Beaufort County, South Carolina.
Nuhn, the last surviving family member who knew Schlegel before and during the war, is a retired Air Force colonel who served as a bombardier/navigator during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
He said his uncle was born in Cleveland but raised in Garfield Heights, and played baseball and football at John Adams High School. His hobbies included making model airplanes.
Nuhn said Schlegel was put in charge of watching the kids whenever Nuhn's family visited. "With us, as kids, he was patient, did not complain about watching us and keeping us entertained," Nuhn said.
"Both before he left for Canada and when he came home after flight training, he passed on all his toys and models, some clothes and other items to us, some of which I still have," he added. "He was someone it was easy to want to be with, and caring."
After Schlegel graduated from high school, "like all kids at the time, he was interested in aviation, and wanted to go into the U.S. military air (program)," Nuhn said.
At the time, however, aviation candidates had to have two years of college, and "there was no way he could go to college, he didn't have the money," Nuhn added.
Schlegel then heard the Canadians were recruiting American pilots for the war, and he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. One Canadian officer described Schlegel as a "good, clean-cut American lad. Will develop into good aircrew material. Pleasant and good appearance."
Schlegel went to England to join 8,800 other Yanks fighting for the RAF in the Eagle Squadrons, but was injured while riding in a Jeep that hit a bomb crater on an airfield. He lost most of his teeth, and four pins had to be used to set his broken leg. (Those injuries would later help identify his remains.)
(Photo: Albert Schlegel in front of a Harvard trainer at Aylmer)
Once healed, Schlegel, who was nicknamed "Smiley," tore up the skies in a variety of aircraft. He flew Hurricanes and Spitfires for the British. After becoming part of the U.S. Eighth Air Force's 335th Fighter Squadron in 1943, he also piloted P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs.
He flew missions escorting bombers and attacking ground targets. Eventually he became an ace (five or more victories in the air), credited with 16 enemy planes (confirmed and probable, in the air and on the ground).
Schlegel was able to make a short visit home in 1944. Nuhn recalled that the pilot spoke little about combat.
"Hairy war stories were not in conversations with me or my brothers," he noted. "Mostly, funny instances about him and his fellow 4th Fighter group friends."
Nuhn said many veteran pilots were being re-assigned to duty in the U.S., but his uncle chose to return to combat. "He wanted to go back over and fly," he said.
On Aug. 28, 1944, Captain Schlegel was a flight leader on a raid on a railroad yard near Sarrebourg, France. Three of the flight's 16 planes were shot down by enemy antiaircraft flak, including Schlegel, who radioed the formation, saying he'd been hit and "might have to bail out."
Neither Schlegel nor his plane was found. The Germans did not report Schlegel as being captured, and the pilot was listed as missing in action.
However, an investigation in 2015 turned up reports that on the day Schlegel was shot down, in the same area, villagers of Valmy, France, reported seeing an Allied airman brought to the train station by German troops, then hearing two gunshots.
A body was later discovered near the train station, shot in the head, and the remains -- identified only as X-73 -- were transferred to the American cemetery in Champigueul.
Investigators had the skeletal remains sent to a laboratory in Nebraska, where they were identified, and Nuhn was notified in 2016 that the family's longstanding mystery had been solved.
Nuhn recalled that when his uncle was reported missing, then killed in action, "I do not believe my mother or grandmother ever got over his death. As for me, instant shock, deep loss and grief."
Nuhn will speak at a memorial ceremony honoring his uncle on March 29 at the National Museum of the Mighty 8th Air Force,in Georgia. A flyover is planned by current members of Schlegel's old squadron, the 335th.
He also will speak at the March 30 burial, where Schlegel's uniform and decorations will be displayed.
Nuhn remembers Schlegel as both a fighter pilot and an uncle.
Judging from Schlegel's letters home, "he was truly happy when flying," Nuhn said. "He got a 'rush' from real low-level flying.
"I have known more than a few fighter pilots. Generally they tend toward more on the wild side as pilots go," he added. "I would not put my uncle in that category. But when it came to flying fighters, he loved it, and I suspect he was a determined 'fighter' as a fighter pilot."
As an uncle, "he was always somebody we looked up to," Nuhn said.
When he first got word that his uncle's remains had been found and identified, Nuhn said he was surprised and relieved.
"You're talking about closure here," he said. "It's like reading a book, and now you're on the last chapter."
After a journey of more than 70 years, U.S. Army Air Force Capt. Albert L. Schlegel made it home Thursday morning to his final resting place.
Schlegel, a World War II pilot, received a hero’s welcome home as hundreds gathered along the road in front of Beaufort National Cemetery to pay tribute to him. He was welcomed home by school children, veterans, current service members, families and many others who just wanted to say thanks one final time for his service to the country.
“This completes the story,” Perry Nuhn, Schlegel’s nephew and last remaining relative said of the service. “Now I know what happened to him and it is good to have this closure. This is not a sad moment. This is a happy moment.”
