One Comment Summed It Up Best:
“This wasn’t just a kid talking. It was the future whispering.”
Because sometimes, the things that move the world forward don’t arrive with fanfare…
They arrive with a smile.
A point.
A single, unexpected word.
Energy.
Technical Sergeant Max W. Lower – A Hero Returns Home 76 Years Later

Seventy-six years after he went missing in action during one of the most daring missions of World War II, Technical Sergeant Max Wendell Lower has finally returned home. A native of Lewiston, Utah, Lower was just 23 years old when he vanished during Operation Tidal Wave, the largest bombing raid ever launched against the heavily defended oil refineries of Ploiești, Romania.
In the summer of 1943, Lower served as a radio operator with the 345th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On August 1, 1943, his B-24 Liberator, named Old Baldy, came under intense anti-aircraft fire as part of the daring low-level raid designed to cripple the Axis oil supply. Amid the chaos of flak, explosions, and relentless enemy fire, the aircraft crashed, and Lower went missing. While 27 airmen were positively identified after the raid, his remains were not among them. Those who could not be identified were interred as “Unknowns” in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiești, Romania.