Missing WWII pilot's story to be told at Fort Saturday

Jason E. Silvers/Tribune photo Ralph Carlson looks over some items associated with Howard Daniel, a World War II MIA pilot who was from Blue Mound. Daniel's story, along with a concert of WWII music, will be offered during a program this weekend at the Fort Scott National Historic Site.

Among veterans to be honored during a program Saturday at Fort Scott National Historic Site is a World War II pilot who went missing in action in the 1940s.

Local resident Ralph Carlson has organized a concert of WWII music to be played at 1 p.m. in a tent on the FSNHS grounds. He said while planning the concert he came across the story of Howard Daniel, a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corp who was from Blue Mound in Linn County.

Carlson said Daniel, who is the uncle of Dick Hedges of Fort Scott, had a dog that flew with him in the cockpit during missions, but for some unknown reason, Duke, the black and white cocker spaniel, did not join Daniel on his fatal flight on Oct. 18, 1944. After Daniel was declared MIA, men in his unit prepared a uniform for Duke, which featured his rank and medals.

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