Monday After supper in the early evening of April 2, Verne’s wife received a telegram from the War Department. It was the day after Easter. The telegram stated that Verne had been missing in action since March 14. It had been almost three weeks since his B-17 had been hit by another over Germany. She was living with her parents while she waited for his return.
Verne’s father-in-law drove to the local Colorado and Southern Railway depot, the location of the town’s telegraph office. The sun with its twilight shadows had already gone down over the Rocky Mountains. There, he sent a telegram to Verne’s mother.
The telegram went out a 8:21 p.m. It was 7:21 p.m. in Los Angeles where Verne’s mother lived. It had been a nice day in Los Angeles, but now the sun was beginning to set there too.
Wayne's Journal 