Metal detectors beeped across a quiet, five-acre plot of forest and field on England's eastern Suffolk coast as dozens of American and British service members sifted clumpy, wet soil from a deep impact crater. The tiniest of remains of U.S. Air Force pilot Lt. John Fisher might be here. Exactly 80 years ago Sunday - August 4, 1944 - his B-17 bomber crashed while on a secret mission targeting Nazi rocket sites in Europe during World War II.
"It can make you feel emotional, you know? They've found some personal artifacts that are very endearing," said Garret Browning, a U.S. air repair specialist from Colorado with the U.S. 100th Maintenance Squadron, currently stationed in England.
Experienced in crash damage recovery, Browning is one of about 150 American and British active duty and retired military volunteers looking for a fallen fellow soldier. At 26 years old, Browning is already older than the pilot he was looking for.
"I could only imagine if I was in an airplane during that time, there's a lot going through your head and there's a lot of responsibility," he said.
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