Local couple helps Italians connect with WWII widower

Members of a group of retired Italians resurrect a cross made from remnants from a World War II aircraft that crashed at the base of Mount Tezio near their hometown of Perugia. The group has been researching the crash and is trying to find relatives of the six American soldiers who died in the crash.
Members of a group of retired Italians resurrect a cross made from remnants from a World War II aircraft that crashed at the base of Mount Tezio near their hometown of Perugia. The group has been researching the crash and is trying to find relatives of the six American soldiers who died in the crash.

An American plane had just dropped off British paratroopers to sabotage a German airport, when fog and low-tech instruments interfered with their return to base. The crew of six perished on the side of Mount Tezio, Italy, on Jan. 12, 1944.

Lt. Col. Raymond Nowotny, the pilot and commander of the No. 38 Troop Carrier Wing of the U.S. Army Air Force, left behind his wife, Helen, and 1-year-old daughter, Susan. A group of men who grew up in Perugia, Italy, at the base of Mount Tezio, recently made contact with Nowotny's survivors.

One of the Italians is father-in-law to local entrepreneur Michael Honeywell, who at Christmas may have been the first American to visit the crash site. Since then, Honeywell and his wife, Francesca, have joined the group in their effort to mark the loss there.

Online:

Mount Tezio Cultural Association (in Italian)

Mount Tezio Cultural Association (English translation via Google)