The 80th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of the White Carpathians in Slavicin, Czech Republic, at the memorial of 28 of the 41 airmen who died on Aug. 29, 1944, during World War II
A retired pilot, Richmonder Tim Heath has flown more planes than he can count. One of his most memorable flights, however, was as a passenger on a trip to the Czech Republic. There, he connected with someone who died before he was born but nonetheless made a significant impact on his life: his uncle, 2nd Lt. Theo Heath, a World War II pilot who was killed in action.
“I pored through [his] training manuals and related information … which had been returned to his family with his personal belongings after he perished during World War II,” Tim says.
The New Hampshire farm where Tim grew up was located next to an airport, and he was fascinated by planes. Like his uncle, he became a pilot, first with the Navy and later as a commercial pilot for private and corporate jets, including at Richmond International Airport.
Last August, Tim, his three children and their spouses journeyed to the Czech Republic, where they discovered that the memory of their ancestor is very much alive.
(From left) Tim Heath of Richmond; Tristan Heath and his wife, Signe, of Copenhagen, Denmark; Marissa Heath Knotts and (at far right) her husband, James Knotts, of Wasilla, Alaska; Sasha Heath of Richmond
The town of Slavičín is near the White Carpathians, a mountain range bordering the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The community has for decades honored members of the Army’s 15th Air Force, 2nd Bomb Group, who were attacked by German forces on Aug. 29, 1944, in the Battle Over the White Carpathians; about 100 airmen were shot down, and 41 died, including Theo Heath. Last year marked the 80th anniversary of the battle.
“What these American airmen sacrificed for the freedom of the Czech people mattered,” says Air Force Lt. Col. Sasha Heath, one of Tim’s daughters. Sasha is also a pilot, first in the military and now with Delta airlines, a career decision she says was influenced by her father and great-uncle.
“A World War II air battle over Czechoslovakia may seem far away and far removed from our lives, yet we are all indebted to these airmen because they represent the steep price countless Americans have paid in the name of the freedoms we enjoy today. The American flag serves as a beacon of hope for nations all the world over,” Sasha says.
Her sister, Marissa Heath Knotts, adds, “The most moving part was seeing how many local Czech and Slovak people came out to support and pay homage to the brave Americans shot down that day.” Knotts served as a nurse in the Army and is now a civilian nurse anesthetist. “They truly remember the sacrifices made and want their children to remember and pay their respects as well.”
Roman Sušil, organizer of the commemoration, at the crash site monument in the Czech Republic
The commemoration ceremony is organized by an association, Air Battle Over the White Carpathians, 1944, and led by one of its members, Roman Sušil, 51, a native of Slavičín. When he was a boy, Sušil’s parents showed him a granite headstone at a church indicating where 28 of the fallen American airmen had been buried in a mass grave on Aug. 31, 1944 (the remains were exhumed in 1946 and returned to the airmen’s families). There were no names listed on the grave marker at the time. Sušil wondered why, and he wanted to know who the soldiers were.
The story of the battle was suppressed by the Soviets for decades, but after the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and the peaceful collapse of the communist regime, local researchers and historians were free to find the names of those who had been buried in Slavičín. After the names had been tracked down, Sušil began reaching out to their descendants, as well as survivors of the air battle. Today, social media is making it easier to locate families of the fallen; Sušil connected with the Heath family via a Facebook group he started for this purpose.
“Our task is to get in touch with all the families of those young flyboys who sacrificed their lives for our freedom and show them that we haven’t forgotten,” Sušil says. “Every year, the last weekend in August, we organize the commemorations to remind the younger generations that the freedom is not for free, and we must not forget it.”
Tim’s son, Tristan, says the occasion was especially meaningful because the family experienced it together. “It was important for me to be at the commemoration because I knew it meant a lot to my dad,” he says. “Ever since he learned about these annual ceremonies, he has been very excited to learn all the details he can from that time.”
A new headstone has been erected at the church in Slavičín, replacing the one that caught Sušil’s interest years ago. It bears the names of the 28 airmen who were buried there.
For Tim Heath, the commemoration ceremony was poignant and powerful, especially “when a respective Czech or Slovak soldier would step up to a monument, carefully place a wreath, step back, salute ... until each fallen airman had his own wreath.” A military band played the U.S., Czech and Slovak anthems, and a bugle ended the ceremony “with a somber and heart-rending tune,” he recalls.
Theo Heath’s remains were returned to his hometown of Newport, New Hampshire, and Tim has visited his uncle’s grave there, but he says Slavičín was a different experience. “When I visited his place of death and burial in the Czech Republic 80 years after his crash, I found that all along, his spirit and soul were there, not in New Hampshire. When the commemoration events take place, it feels like these young men passed away just yesterday and were adopted by their caring Czech family.”
Sasha feels gratitude for the Czech people. “Thousands of miles from their homes, in the green and now serene Carpathian Mountains, these fallen heroes are treated as family by the descendants of the Czech citizens they gave their lives to protect,” she says. “To know their sacrifices and their souls are tended to with respect and in such a beautiful landscape is of great comfort.”
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