Lt. Burleigh Curtis’s family didn’t get closure after he died in World War II.
Curtis, a 22-year-old fighter pilot from Massachusetts who lost his life in June 1944 during a bombing expedition in France, was listed as Missing In Action for almost 75 years.
It wasn’t until 2018 when History Flight Inc. and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency excavated Curtis’s crash site that his remains were recovered, along with identification tags and other personal effects. After an emotional journey, his family was finally able to honor Curtis and lay him to rest.
Curtis was Concord theatre teacher Clint Klose’s uncle, and his family made a 30-minute documentary with local producer John Gfroerer detailing Curtis’s story. The documentary features Curtis’s sister, Klose’s mother, who is 95, and her older brother, who is 100 years old and a retired colonel from the Air Force, speaking about Curtis’s life. Burleigh’s Story will premiere on YouTube at 7 p.m. on Easter Sunday.
“It’s a story of faith, connection with family and gratefulness because we are so grateful,” said Klose’s sister, Cherryl Boucher. “It’s also a story of hope, and not ever losing it. I think we all need that right now.”
Of the 400,000 Americans who died during World War II, at least 70,000 are still unaccounted for.