The adopted son

In the days following Fred Knauf’s crash on the Broad Mountain in Nesquehoning, the residents of the small town began picking up the pieces of a broken life that was taken far too soon, and fellow military men remembered the man they knew as one of their own.

Lt. John Hayden of Mitchell Field, New York, who accompanied Knauf’s remains back to Michigan, told the Mauch Chunk Times-News that the young pilot “had a very fine record.”

First Lt. David D. Terry Jr., Knauf’s commanding officer, wrote in a letter to the family two days after the crash that “The tragedy came as a great shock to all of us, especially since he was one of our ablest and most enthusiastic pilots,” and was “one of the most popular men in the squadron.”

A promise is made

On July 21, 1942, 115 days after the tragedy, a memorial ceremony was held. In attendance were Knauf’s parents and a sister.

During that ceremony, a memorial plaque, blessed by the Rev. Agnello Angelini, was placed at the site of the crash, and Isador Riley, a member of the Frank Ferrara Post No. 172 American Legion, made a promise to the Knauf family that a wreath and American flag would be placed at the site of his crash every Memorial Day to keep the Michigan man’s memory alive.

A town remembers

Over the Past 75 years, the town kept Riley’s promise, holding an annual ceremony to remember Knauf.

“When I think of Lt. Knauf, the feelings I have are very protective, much as if he was always one of Nesquehoning’s own,” said Christa Kattner, Nesquehoning VFW Auxiliary president. “Not much older than a child, he was willing to and did give his life in defense of our country. When that accident happened, Lt. Knauf and his family forevermore became linked to our town, became our family, and like anyone would do for their family, I find it important to maintain his memorial site, to visit it and to make sure that future generations in this town know of the hero who lost his life on the top of the Broad Mountain.”

The site of his crash, a place so quiet and nestled in the mountain near a fire tower, yet so visited by those who could never forget, is still cared for by the men and women of the borough, the Nesquehoning VFW, UVO and the Boy Scouts.

In the early 1990s, members of the Nesquehoning VFW installed a small picket fence around the memorial stone, and a flagpole was erected.

Robert Paul, vice commander of the VFW, said during that time, they found a pair of scissors that were believed to be Knauf’s.

“Those scissors hung at the memorial for years and no one touched them,” Paul said, adding that the post gave the scissors back to the family when they visited a few years ago.

“It’s hallowed grounds up there,” Paul said, “and it’s respected by everyone.”

Eventually, time took its toll on the fence, and Boy Scout Thomas E. Kuba of Troop 744 took up the charge in 2009 to replace the wooden fence with a vinyl one, restore the flagpole base and memorial gravestone and construct benches for any visitor who wished to sit and visit with Fred.

A solar light, given by the Knauf family, also sits on top of the flagpole to provide their lost loved one’s memory with light and remembrance.

The Knaufs visit

In 1990, Fred’s brother, Lawrence, who had never visited the crash site, was diagnosed with cancer.

“He told my sister that he had always wanted to visit the site,” Janice Hood, Lawrence’s daughter, wrote. “He called it his grave site because he believed there was more of him (Fred) buried there then was returned to his family.”

That fall, Lawrence, his wife, daughter and son-in-law came to Nesquehoning for the first time since Fred’s parents and sister made the trek from Michigan decades earlier to visit their long-lost brother.

Hood said her family received the red-carpet treatment from the Nesquehoning community and felt at ease that their loved one’s memory was in very good hands.

Following that visit, Lawrence began planning to bring the rest of the family to a town that opened their hearts and homes to a family that they had never met.

On the Wednesday before Memorial Day in 1991, a caravan of more than 40 Knaufs traveled from Bark River, Newberry, Detroit, Canada, Nebraska and Fort Bragg to Nesquehoning.

The visit was like a dream, Hood said, adding that the residents were more than welcoming to her family.

“People invited us to their homes,” she said. “We couldn’t have felt more at home.”

Back home, Hood said the Bark River American Legion Post was named in part after her uncle.

“I can very comfortably say that for the people of Bark River and the members of the Rheame-Knauf 438 Legion Post, the name Knauf is a respected name from the past,” she said in her 2016 Memorial Day speech at Bark River, “but for the people of Nesquehoning and Carbon County, the name Lt. Fred J. Knauf is living on as an adopted son.”

Never forgotten

The Nesquehoning VFW remembered Knauf on Tuesday, the 75th anniversary of his death, with a gun salute and prayer at the crash site, surrounded by fog that hung low in the air, much like what Fred saw that fateful day in March 1942.

Plans are also in the works for the annual laying of a wreath at the site the Sunday before Memorial Day, which Hood said members of her family will be attending.

Seventy-five years may have passed since the young soldier lost his life, but the bond his death created between a community and the Knauf family will always remain.

“All veterans are our brothers and sisters,” Nesquehoning VFW Commander Rick Ellis said. “Fred is my brother who gave his life in the service of our country. I never personally knew him nor his family from Michigan, but they all have become family to us.”

“Too many people are unaware of this (tragedy) anymore, and it’s so important that we keep Fred’s memory alive and keep that memorial the beautiful site that it is,” Kattner said. “I’m happy that our town has provided a deserving hero with a calm, beautiful and respectful resting place that may be far from his home but will never be far from friends.”