MILWAUKEE — A military cargo plane that disappeared 60 years ago over the Bermuda Triangle continues to baffle the son of one of the pilots who was on board.
Mark Giuntoli was just 12 years old when his father, Louis Giuntoli, and nine other men vanished during what was supposed to be a routine flight from Milwaukee's 44OTH to Grand Turk Island on June 5, 1965.
"My dad was not a fly by, flying by his pants, type of pilot. He was an excellent pilot," Mark said.
The decorated World War II and Korean War veteran was flying a C-119 cargo plane that disappeared after a brief stop in Miami. The plane was delivering an airplane engine to a Grand Turk Island base when it vanished over the area known as the Bermuda Triangle.
Despite reports of a massive search effort, no debris field or signs of the plane or crew were found.
When asked what question he still wants answered after all these years, Mark's response was simple: "What happened?"
His mother, Dorothy Giuntoli, sought answers through correspondence with then-New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
"There's a letter in here from Robert Kennedy. She wrote to him, and he responded," Mark said.
The family had a special connection to the Kennedy family.
"My mom and dad loved John F Kennedy. They felt he was an upstanding guy, and maybe felt that, his brother would be the same," Mark said.
Kennedy promised to "look into this matter,." In a follow up letter from "We, the wives of the missing men," there was hope a visit by Kennedy to Milwaukee in 1966 would be an opportunity to talk to about "this very urgent and important matter."
But Kennedy writes, "he was unable to obtain any additional information."
In his response to the wives, Kennedy wrote: "I know it's very difficult for you and the other wives and mothers concerned in this to keep their courage and carry on in the face of so many disappointments. I want to express to all of you my admiration and respect."
Mark went decades not knowing what happened to his father, but eventually found peace when he experienced what he describes as a vision when his mother passed away.
At the military cemetery in Union Grove, his parents' headstone bears the words "Sky Dancers in Heaven."
"I happened to look up at the sky, and I saw my mom and dad. They were ballroom dancing up in the sky. My mom was beautiful," Mark said.
When asked if that gave him the peace he had been seeking, Mark responded: "Absolutely. 100% I knew at that point they wanted me, and God wanted me to see that they were safe, they were together, and that they were happy, and that that gave me so much peace of mind."
Mark's primary concern now is ensuring all 10 men on that plane are honored and remembered on the 60th year of their disappearance.
Major Louis Giuntoli
Lieutenant Lawrence F. Gares
Captain Richard J. Bassett
Master Sergeant Milton E. Adams
A1C Thomas P. Nugent
Chief Master Sergeant Frank Ellison
Master Sergeant Raoul P. Benedict
Tech Sergeant Norman Mimier
Sergeant Duane Brooks
A1C John Lazenry
This story was reported on-air by TMJ4 journalist Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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