Betty Muscato's father, Air Force Master Sgt. Calvin C. Glover, died in Cambodia in 1968, and now that his remains have been found, the family with strong WNY ties looks forward to the honor of his burial at Arlington National Cemetery.
Derek Gee / Buffalo News
Family of flier killed in Cambodia awaits an overdue honor
http://www.buffalonews.com
via CAAI News Media
By Susan Chiappone
Chautauqua Correspondent
April 15, 2010
An 11-year-old girl’s wait for her lost father will end next month, almost 42 years to the day that his plane went down in Cambodia.
Betty Muscato, now 53 and living in Cassadaga, will travel to Hawaii and then to Arlington National Cemetery for a long-awaited goodbye to a father, Calvin C. Glover, she last saw in 1968.
Glover’s remains were found just a year ago in Cambodia.
“I remember when the plane went down,” she said of that still-vivid day on Okinawa, where her father was stationed. “It was May 22, 1968, and I came home from school and heard the news.”
Her father was a master sergeant and flight engineer with the Air Force and had been in the military for more than 10 years when his plane was lost.
The news that he was missing in action arrived just a day after Betty’s mother, Deanna, had celebrated a birthday and on the same day received the most welcome of surprises — a card from her husband from overseas.
Glover had apparently sent the card before his C-130 cargo plane took off on a supply mission.
“He must have mailed it before the flight left; either that or someone found it and sent it for him,” Deanna said.
She may never know, but the card served as a bittersweet reminder of the relationship that grew out of their letters to each other.
They first met in Silver Creek — she was a local girl, he was already in the Air Force — and began a letter-writing courtship that continued until their marriage.
After the crash, Deanna left Okinawa and moved her family back to the States, not really knowing whether Glover was dead or alive.
She knew that her husband had been declared missing and for many years wondered whether he was a prisoner of war. Reports coming out of Cambodia during the Vietnam War suggested that many military personnel were being held hostage there.
“I received letters and information from the military from time to time that they were searching for the plane,” Deanna said.
The news that Glover’s remains had finally been found arrived last May, just as Deanna was about to undergo open-heart surgery.
She delayed her trip to Hawaii so she could recover from her surgery and help her family save money so Betty could travel with her. She also hopes Glover’s mother, Alice Montgomery, now 90 and living in Ohio, where her son was born, will join them.
A year later, Deanna considers the triple bypass successful and says she’s ready for a journey that will bring her husband’s remains back for a military burial at Arlington.
The ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. May 19, three days shy of the 42nd anniversary of Glover’s plane going down in Cambodia.
Deanna also hopes to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for the first time and is prepared for a deeply emotional experience. Glover’s name was added to the wall when the military declared him missing and presumed dead, years after his plane went down.
If there has been an obstacle to the family’s journey other than Deanna’s health, it has been the cost of traveling to Hawaii and Washington, D.C.
The military is covering Deanna’s expenses, but the rest of the family, including Betty and Glover’s mother, are responsible for paying their own way.
The Glover family has deep roots in Western New York, including family still living in Cassadaga and Silver Creek.
Deanna recently moved to North Carolina, and she has a son, Michael, who lives in Maryland.
Her first stop will be Hawaii for a day of tours and a brief ceremony, and then on to Washington.
“We were told we had to go to Hawaii to meet his remains and then go on to Washington,” Betty said.
Despite the hurdles, Deanna, who never remarried, thinks a military burial is the appropriate way to honor Glover, who was proud of his Air Force service.
“He deserves to be buried at Arlington,” she said. “I feel like it will be a good closure after all these years.”
For others, that closure may never come. Deanna said her husband may end up being the last of his crew to be identified, since the military is ending its search of the site in Cambodia. Four other members of the flight crew remain missing.
Deanna said she was told that at a later date, there will be a memorial service honoring the entire crew.
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