Welcome to the short life of U.S. Army Infantryman, Tec/4 Edward S. Lippert, who died during WWII in China on 28 Sep 1945, at the age of 21 years, 11 months and 9 days. Edward was an uncle whom I never met but was named after.
His younger brother, Leonard, had already died in Germany the year before, on 19 Nov 1944. Edward was survived by his younger sister, Dorothy (Sis), and two much younger brothers, Norbert and Dale. His father was Edward L. Lippert and mother was Marie A. Lippert (Kraus). I am the eldest and son of Dorothy. I was born on 1 Nov 1945, named Edward Gary, in honor of my uncle, who died a mere 34 days prior to my birth.
Edward was assigned to the 475th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Company F, as part of the MARS Task Force… I believe in a cook/mortar specialty… to the China-Burma-India (now Myanmar) Theater of Operations.
Sadly, his death occurred 26 days after the Japanese had already surrendered on 2 Sep 1945. He was on a C-46 flight leaving Kunming, China on the way to Shanghai for return to the U.S. The crash site is believed to be near Chihkiang.
His body was recovered after the crash over “the Hump” … a deadly air journey over the Himalaya Mountains, named the “Aluminum Trail” for all the aluminum-built aircraft that never completed their journey. Thus, I call Edward’s story An Aluminum Soldier.
I found a video that describes the war in Burma and the air war. Please listen near the middle of the video where the word “aluminum” is pronounced uniquely.
Of special importance was a poem that emotionally describes the journey over “the Hump” from a soldier’s perspective… a poem where I felt I was on his flight home. It is a poem that connected me personally with my uncle. Click on the link below:
Over 450 planes took the Flight of No Return attempting to cross the Himalayas of China. Their wreckage, strewn across the Hump Route, formed what ominously came to be known as “The Aluminum Trail.” This poem by Sunny Young pays tribute to the brave men who set out Over the Hump either into China or within China and never made it. From the book, The Aluminum Trail, by Chick Marrs Quinn.”
Other research has indicated that over 600 planes crashed.
This poem was found while researching a website built by a son to honor his dad, Army Sgt Warren Weidenburner, for his service in the CBI theater during WWII. It has many great links to peruse and learn. You may ask, what is the CBI theater? Click on the CBI button below to read a description of the CBI war. Also visit these two links for multitudes of CBI related weblinks: