Resurrection Parish in Chicago laid one of its own to rest July 14. That’s when Resurrection pastor, Father Paul Kalchik, celebrated a funeral Mass for the man who presumably died more than 60 years earlier. Capt. Joseph Olbinski went missing on May 23, 1944, when the cargo plane he was piloting did not reach its intended drop zone at Myitkyina in the Himalaya Mountains in what was then Burma, according to Lt. Col. Christopher Aycock, the casualty assistance office assigned to the case early this year. The plane, a C-47A with a maximum altitude of 26,000 feet, took off from Dinjan, India, to deliver supplies and three soldiers to a unit on the ground; despite 66 hours of searching, the U.S. military found no sign of the plane or its crew for decades. Dog tag found in 2001 Then, in 2001, a man living in what is now Myanmar approached a Catholic priest and told him he knew where to find the remains of an American plane. He brought along the dog tag of Capt. Joseph Olbinski as proof. The ID tag listed Olbinski’s name and serial number, along with the notation “C” for “Catholic.” Aycock, who is stationed at Fort Sheridan in Moraine, Ill., visited the parish July 7 to tell Olbinski’s story to members of the youth group and other parishioners. While Aycock is not Catholic, he pulled out his own Bible and read the passage from Jn 15:13 — “There is no greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends” — to explain how Olbinski’s faith played into his life, and death. What we know From the historical record, Aycock said, he knows some things about Olbinski: He was proud of his faith, because he chose to have it noted on his ID tag; he was a good officer and a good pilot, because he was a captain five years after he enlisted; he was well-liked and respected, because the Army Air Corps did not have time to spend 66 hours looking for every missing plane. Also, he was brave. The plane he was flying had a maximum altitude well below the height of the Himalayas. He took off on a day when the weather was bad because he knew there were soldiers on the ground that had no access to food, ammunition or supplies if he did not bring them. “This is someone who came from this neighborhood and made something of his short life,” Aycock said. “It was crazy. He took off and he flew and he tried to do the right thing.” After Olbinski’s tag was turned over, it took several years for the remains of the crew to be found and returned to the United States. In the meantime, the Army began to look for family members for Olbinski. Baptismal records show he was baptized at St. Veronica Parish in Chicago shortly after his birth on March 28, 1916. St. Veronica is one of two parishes that merged in 1991 to form Resurrection Parish. One left in family His father had died before Olbinski joined the Army in 1939; his mother died long before the remains of his plane were found. One brother also was a World War II pilot; he was shot down on his first mission over Germany; he died last year, Aycock said. His sister died several years ago. A second brother, Eddie Olbinski, was the youngest of the four siblings. He now lives in Marengo and attended the burial of all the remains from the plane at Arlington National Cemetery July 15. He had asked that a funeral Mass be celebrated.