War is the most grotesque manifestation of mankind. Within it are sometimes great achievements never thought possible according to people like George Patton, while Robert Oppenheimer called death, “Destroyer of Worlds” perhaps a little of both is possible, but it is horror none the less. During the acts of war many strange things can happen, one of which being the perplexing circumstance known as MIA (Missing in Action). Whether being disintegrated by explosions, buried under rubble, misidentified in the wrong grave, or simply in some cases as the “Legend of Hill 60” combatants simply vanish. Such are the unsolved mysteries of war. In the final mission over Japan for a pair of American pilots this unexplained scenario surfaced again.

With the end in sight

August 13, 1945 only 3 days after the Nagasaki Atomic bomb detonation, an American aerial mission over the Japanese city of Nagoya is about to be launched, Captain Jerry Yellin is about to lead his 16 plane squadron on a ground attack mission. At the end of the briefing, his wing man, 19 year old Phillip Shlamberg, leans toward his commander and whispers that he’s not coming back from this mission. He can feel it. There were many soldiers during the war who were convinced of their own imminent demise prior to a battle. Some attribute this to a supernatural form of intuition. Captain Yellin found this to be quite unusual given the undeniable ending of the war. However, he compassionately advised his young pilot to stick to his wing throughout the mission to help minimize the chances of his loss.

Almost a walk in the park

In a squadron of P-51 Mustangs the likelihood of running into trouble with Japanese Zeroes and veteran pilots of the Imperial Air Force was minimal. The mission would involve likely low risk to the members of the flight. Little did the men of that mission realize that they would be flying the very last mission over Japan on that day. Strangely, it would not be until eight hours later after taking off from Iwo Jima and then returning after accomplishing their mission that the war had been declared over within three hours of their take off. Yet, the code word that would have been used to call off the mission (Utah) was never broadcast to the squadron as they flew into harm’s way.

Vision fulfilled

To add to the unexplained element of the mission was that after completion of their attack the aviators departed Nagoya and climbed in altitude as they entered a cloud bank. The P-51’s lost track of each other in the weather but continued on their course and heading back to their base on Iwo Jima. Captain Yelling landed and was surprised to find that war had ended, but he was saddened to find that young pilot, Phil Shlamberg never returned to base and was assumed Missing in Action. The 19 year old’s premonition had come true. With all odds in his favor and the war virtually at an end, the young American flyer disappeared forever from the skies over Japan.