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World War II veterans to reunite after 74 years

Ninety-five-year-old Arthur B. Unruh and John Klette flew in the same plane on a mission in 1944, but they never actually met.
Ninety-five-year-old Arthur B. Unruh left Sea-Tac Airport early Saturday morning, bound for Cincinnati, Ohio. That's where he'll meet up with John Klette to take part in a big Memorial Day parade.(Photo: KING)

A local World War II veteran is on his way across the country to reunite with a fellow airman. And here's the kicker: They were in the same plane during a mission over Austria in 1944, but they never met.

Ninety-five-year-old Arthur B. Unruh left Sea-Tac Airport early Saturday morning, bound for Cincinnati, Ohio. That's where he'll meet up with John Klette to take part in a big Memorial Day parade.

Unruh was a "waist gunner" on a raid over Austria. Klette was the co-pilot. They never met because they were in different sections of the plane: Unruh in the middle, Klette in the cockpit.

"He and I flew in my 50th bombing mission," said Unruh. "He just turned 100. He's a lawyer, has his offices in Kentucky. And he and I are going to be doing a parade program at two different cemeteries; then we're going to ride in the big parade."

Unruh says his squadron ran into a fleet of Nazi planes and the battle was fierce.

"In the first eight minutes of that flight, five or our planes went down. We lost 50 men," said Unruh. "We were the only ones in our squadron that came back."

Both Unruh and Klette were awarded the Silver Star for that mission. The Silver Star is the third highest award given by the Armed Forces.

Ninety-five-year-old Arthur B. Unruh left Sea-Tac Airport early Saturday morning, bound for Cincinnati, Ohio. That's where he'll meet up with John Klette to take part in a big Memorial Day parade.(Photo: KING)

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