Thunderstorms slash through the Himalayan mountains on Sept. 17, 1944, as a U.S. Air Force cargo plane lifts off from Chanyi, China, bound for Misamari, India.

Thunder rumbles, jagged shards of lightning crackle through the cloudy sky and strong winds drive a heavy rainfall. Ice coats the plane as it flies over the mountain range known as "the Hump."The plane, piloted by Robert W. Tinsley of Pennsylvania, with Charles M. Adams of Camden, N.J., as co-pilot and Andrew E. Rajnic, a young Coaldale lad, serving as radio operator, never arrives at Misamari.The telegram that so efficiently informs the family of the crash of Andrew's plane arrives one afternoon when Andrew's stepbrother, Bill Hook, then a sophomore at Coaldale High School, is home alone. He accepts it, thinking it is a birthday message from his older brother Joe in New York. Hook's birthday is Sept. 17."I opened the telegram, but it was the bad news. I didn't know what to do with it, so I took it to another brother who lived in Coaldale, Frank," Hook recalls.Frank reads the telegram, which offers scant details, other than that the plane went down, and in what area, and that the dense jungle makes it impossible to reach."That was about the extent of what we knew," Hook says.They take the telegram back home to break the news, as gently as they can to their mother, Theresa Rajnic Huk (Hook).Four months later, on Jan. 24, 1945, a military search and rescue squadron discovers the wreckage, 11,000 feet up on a snowy mountain in a remote area of India. The deep snow and rugged terrain makes it impossible, the Army tells the grieving family.On April 19, 1945, less than one month before the Allies celebrated their victory and the end of World War II, the Army declares the crew dead.Andrew, all of 28 years old, is but one of more than 1,000 military men who die "flying the Hump," a hazardous, 530- mile-long supply route over the Himalayan mountains.For Rajnic's family, the Allies' victory is bittersweet; the war is over, but they have lost Andrew, a bright young man with a keen sense of humor and a kind character. Worse, the close-knit family cannot reconcile their grief: With no body, they cannot have a funeral.One recent day, Hook, himself a Korean War veteran, sits in the kitchen of his immaculate Lansford home, talking about Andrew as he gently pulls old photographs and documents from large envelopes.Andrew was a "natural comedian, a born clown," he says, smiling a little at the memories of his stepbrother's antics. One time Andrew came home to find his brother Steve taking an afternoon nap. "Andy got all of Mom's flowers and laid them out in front, just like he was a deceased person. She walked into the room and she would have liked to have killed him," Hook says.Andrew who worked as a chemist, assayer and metallurgist, never married. On April 11, 1942, he traveled to Harrisburg to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Force. Andrew was stationed in India when, according to military records, he volunteered to "fly the Hump," Hook says.FINDING ANDREWThe effort to recover Andrew's remains began with an e-mail that "came out of the blue," Hook says.It began with an e-mail message from Gary Zaetz of Cary, N.C., who researches the relatives of soldiers missing in action. In April, Zaetz sent a message to Hook's niece, Monica Lewellis, who lives in Allentown, about the find.Lewellis' husband, The Rev. Bill Lewellis, spoke with Zaetz, then contacted Hook's nephew, John Rajnic, in New York City. John then e-mailed Hook's daughter, Geri Vavra of Coaldale, who showed Hook the message."That's when I got into action and started calling all these people," Hook says.Among those he contacted was the U.S. Army Casualty Office, which asked for a sample of Hook's DNA to match with any remains that might eventually be recovered from the crash site. If Andrew's remains are found, the group will pay for a military funeral, Hook says.Hook spoke with Zaetz on June 5, then with Arizona businessman and adventurer Clayton Kuhles, who treks to the crash sites of World War II planes lost in Asia and in "the Hump." When Kuhles told Hook he was at the crash site in November 2009, "I was aghast," Hook says. "My first question was, what did you find?"The impact of the crash "must have been so bad," Hook says, "that when they crashed into the mountain, the only thing that was visible was the tail." Kuhles, who photographs and documents the sites, copied the numbers from the tail, but he could not do anything at the site itself because the area is thick jungle."According to him, it would be almost like an archaeological excavation that would take months," Hook says. "You just can't go in there with heavy equipment and dig things out. It would have to be done piece by piece, by hand."Recently, Hook received a packet from the federal government containing information on Andrew's dental records, and the effects that were returned to their mother a Rosary, a toothbrush, a pipe.As efforts continue to recover Andrew's remains, his name, marked by a star, can be seen in the Walk of Honor in Coaldale's Veterans Memorial Garden, and is also listed on one of black granite walls. Theresa Rajnic Huk's name is listed in the Gold Star Mother's Memorial.FRUSTRATIONTheresa Huk died in 1965, to the end longing for closure. Four of her children have also passed. Now, Hook, at 80 and the only surviving member of Rajnic's immediate family, has taken on the task of trying to convince the United States government to bring his stepbrother home."Now that they know exactly where the site is ... we know where Andy is, and yet the government is not doing anything about it," Hook says. "There are thousands of missing (military personnel), and they don't know where they are," Hook says. "We know where Andrew is. With today's helicopters ... they could do it all from the air. That's the part that really disturbs me. I'm the last of kin. Everybody's gone. I'm going to be 81. I'd like to see him returned and put to his proper rest."Typically calm, Hook grows tense with anger as he talks about the government's failure to bring home its war dead."It's a shame our government spends money to build tunnels that go nowhere, build highways that aren't completed, and we waste money. There's no end to it. And yet they will not spend the money to help recover the remains of service people who die overseas, he says.He has written to House Speaker Keith McCall for help.McCall on June 17 wrote to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates: "Today I write to seek your assistance in helping one of our veterans of World War II, who sacrificed his life for his country and whose remains have yet to be brought home, to be afforded appropriate military honors and a proper burial."It is understood that World War II was possibly the deadliest conflict in United States history. Surely recovering the remains of one soldier, a private, who was one of three men in an aircraft that went down may not appear to be the highest priority for the United States government. However, out of respect for the soldier and out of respect for the diligence and patriotism (not to mention patience) of this family, who have waited for more than 60 years to give their family member a proper burial, I respectfully ask that every consideration be given to sending the appropriate team to the 1944 crash site and the remains of Pvt. Rajnic and the pilot and co-pilot of the flight be located, returned to the United States and afforded proper military honors. In doing so, we honor the memory of every soldier who, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, gave the last full measure of devotion to their country," McCall wrote.He says he will do all he can to expedite Rajnic's return home."I wanted to do everything possible to help Mr. Hook give his stepbrother the hero's burial he deserves, so I reached out to the Defense Department and urged them to follow up on Mr. Hook's request. Every one of our fallen veterans deserves to be laid to rest with honors, and, even after all these years, Mr. Hook's family deserves the peace of mind. I'm ready to offer more assistance if it would be required to help cut the red tape," McCall says.Kuhles, who has been to Rajnic's crash site, shares Hook's anger. Kuhles targets the government's Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command, or JPAC."JPAC has bungled their mandate and wasted a huge amount of U.S. taxpayer money. JPAC should be strictly limited to DNA testing of recovered remains, and the repatriation of those remains to the families or to a national cemetery. All field work should be contracted to the private sector," Kuhles says. "A private contractor could excavate and recover the sites much faster and at a huge financial savings to the U.S. taxpayers. I know for an absolute fact that with the money JPAC has spent on the yet uncompleted 'Hot as Hell' site recovery in northeast India, I could have organized and led a professional archaeology team to fully recover that site and at least three more sites by now."Their waste of time and money is totally unconscionable. I believe they invest much time and effort devising excuses why they can't recover a particular site in a timely manner. It really bothers me that JPAC displays no sense of urgency at recovering these sites despite the advanced age of many of the surviving family members (who are in their) late 80s and mid-90s," he says.JPAC did not respond to repeated telephone calls and email messages from the TIMES NEWS seeking comment.