Hal Downes was a radar operator in the back of an Air Force bomber which went down during a mission over North Korea in 1952
PORTSMOUTH, N. H. — Rick Downes was 3 years old when his father Hal went off to the Korean War. He’s been missing ever since.
“I call it the wound that never heals,” Downes said. “After a while you get used to having it and it finds a place within you, and you go on, you live life.”
He was too young to remember his father, so all he has is a home movie of a 26-year-old with everything to live for.
“You just can’t help but look at him and see that he had it together. He had the woman he wanted, he had the family he wanted,” Downes said.
Hal Downes was a radar operator in the back of an Air Force bomber which went down during a mission over North Korea. The pilot and navigator were able to bail out, but they didn’t know what happened to Rick’s father.
“The navigator said the plane went down over — finally crashed over a hill and he heard the ammunition going off, and that’s all.
