ROSE — Last May, the remains of a long-lost airman from this rural Wayne County community went home.
Army Air Forces 1st Lt. John B. Thomas was a World War II pilot declared missing in action in 1943 after a bombing mission in Romania. His remains were identified in 2022.
Matt Osborne, a military historian and distant relative to Thomas, will come to the Rose Community Building at 10734 School St. on April 18. His 6 p.m. talk will focus on the research he has done since then regarding the mission that took Thomas’ life.
According to Deb Hall, director of the Wayne County Historical Society and the Museum of Wayne County, Osborne is a former Army signals intelligence and electronic warfare specialist and now a military historian. His renewed interest occurred when Thomas’ remains were finally brought home to North Rose in 2023.
Additionally, said the museum, Osborne will share further research on another local war hero, Melvin D. Putnam, who also was killed while serving as a member of the Army Air Force in 1944.
Putnam and Thomas were classmates at Rose High School in 1938, which was in the same building where Osborne’s presentation will be given. Their class photos are still hanging in the hallway. In addition to Osborne’s research and presentation, Mark DeCracker of Mural Mania will discuss the production of a recent Wayne County Mural honoring these two World War II heroes. The mural was painted inside over the winter and will be displayed on stage at the April 18 event. The mural will be hung at the Rose Cemetery with a dedication ceremony on Memorial Day this year, Hall noted.
Mural Mania, whose mission is to preserve history through community art, has been involved in painting murals in Wayne County since 2007. There are now over 50 murals in Wayne County. This latest mural is called the Heroes of Rose.
“The history here was almost forgotten,” DeCracker said. “When I saw the news of John Thomas coming home, 80 years after he was shot down, chills immediately went down my spine. A few days later I found out that John’s classmate Melvin Donald Putnam, was also shot down later in 1944.”
Putnam was involved in Operation Crossbow, supporting a B-17 on bombing missions in southern France. The Army Air Corp required pilots to fly 25 missions before they could come home. Both Thomas and Putnam flew more, Hall said. Thanks to the efforts of the Thomas family, the diligence of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency who identified Thomas, and local military historians, these two North Rose heroes will forever be remembered in a mural.
Putnam and Thomas are buried in Rose Cemetery.
For the Wayne County Historical Society, this event kicks off the Military Memories exhibit, Hall said.
“The Museum of Wayne County History is calling on all Wayne County veterans and their descendants to share their memories and memorabilia for our next exhibit that will highlight local veterans,” Hall said.
The museum will be honoring veterans from all wars, displaying items from private collections and hoping residents will bring more depth to the stories of local military personnel.
“We want to honor the men and women who have served our country,” Hall said. “They all deserve a spotlight.”
The Military Memories exhibit will be at the museum from Memorial Day through Pearl Harbor Day.
For more information about Military Memories visit www.WayneHistory.org.
