Wes Neep, passed away May 2, 2007, in Seattle, Washington. He was born in Seattle on July 24, 1912, and lived in Seattle until 1942, when he became a Personnel Sergeant for the U.S. Army, eventually being stationed at Military Police headquarters in Paris, France. He served as an administrator with the U.S. Army Provost Marshal in France until 1947, when he became a trainee identification specialist at the Central Identification Lab in Belgium.
From 1948 through 1951, Wes worked tirelessly in the World War II Repatriation of War Dead Program, handling special cases at cemeteries in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Holland. As a dental identification specialist with the U.S. Army Quartermaster Mortuary System, from 1955 through 1966 Wes worked in Europe on all significant military aircraft crashes and most major civilian crashes involving U.S. citizens. Wes then went to Vietnam and reorganized the U.S. Air Force's operational processing and identification program, assisting with identification of war dead until his retirement in 1972.
Wes's most famous case involved the April 1943 crash in the Libyan desert of a B-24D bomber, the Lady Be Good. From 1943 until 1958, its loss was a mystery. After it was spotted in 1958, Wes co-led a team of investigators which eventually located the remains of all but one of the crew members. The Lady Be Good story, and the struggles of its crew, were the subject of a 1960 feature article in Life magazine, numerous other articles, six books and a History Channel special, Ghost Plane of the Desert (first shown in February, 2000). Wes collected archival materials on the case for the rest of his life; these materials are being sent to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.
A graduate and long-time supporter of Roosevelt High School, Wes co-founded its Golden Grads Association and led the Association for many years. Wes was an avid jazz fan, and in recent years was a supporter of the Roosevelt High School jazz band and the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra. The new Roosevelt High School jazz band recording studio has been dedicated to the memory of Wes and his beloved wife, Odette, who preceded him in death.
At Wes's request there will be no formal memorial service. Donations in his memory can be made to the Roosevelt High School Golden Grads Association, P.O. Box 19442, Seattle, Washington 98109-1142.
