San Jose resident Sandy Bellou remembers her mother crying whenever she spoke about her older brother, 2nd Lt. Robert McCollum, a 22-year-old U.S. Army Air Force bombardier whose body went missing after his plane crashed during a bombing run in Europe in June 1944.
“It was devastating for her,” said Bellou, 75, who was born six years after her uncle’s plane went down. “They had no other siblings.”
Bellou’s grandparents moved to San Jose from Tennessee in the 1960s to be near their grandchildren. They died without knowing whether their son died in the crash, was captured and held prisoner or just disappeared. But Sandy Bellou, along with her brother, Dale Bergman, and sister, Brenda Bergman, can now rest a bit easier with the knowledge that their uncle is finally back home.
A procession travels with the remains of Lt. Robert McCollum, a US Army Air Force officer, who died during World War II, at Oak Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)People watch with the American flag as the remains of Lt. Robert McCollum, a US Army Air Force officer, who died during World War II, are brought to Oak Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)A portrait of U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Robert T. McCollum. McCollum's plane crashed in the Baltic Sea near Denmark in June 1944, and his remains were repatriated to San Jose on April 24, 2025. (Courtesy William and Sandy Bellou)People watch with the American flag as the remains of Lt. Robert McCollum, a US Army Air Force officer, who died during World War II, are brought to Oak Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)People watch with American flags as the remains of Lt. Robert McCollum, a US Army Air Force officer, who died during World War II, are brought to Oak Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)2nd Lt. Robert T. McCollum stands in his uniform in this undated photograph. McCollum's plane crashed in the Baltic Sea near Denmark in June 1944, and his remains were repatriated to San Jose on April 24, 2025. (Courtesy William and Sandy Bellou)2nd Lt. Robert T. McCollum works on a typewriter in this undated photograph. McCollum's plane crashed in the Baltic Sea near Denmark in June 1944, and his remains were repatriated to San Jose on April 24, 2025. (Courtesy William and Sandy Bellou)Show Caption1 of 7A procession travels with the remains of Lt. Robert McCollum, a US Army Air Force officer, who died during World War II, at Oak Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)ExpandMcCollum’s remains arrived at San Jose Mineta International Airport on Thursday and were taken in a procession to Oak Hill Memorial Park. He will be buried May 3, not far from the graves of his parents and his sister, Ethel Mae Bergman, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. The honor service will include a 21-gun salute and bagpipers, and it’s possible there will also be a military flyover.
Last June, Bellou received a call from the military asking about her uncle and if she would submit a DNA sample that could be compared to his remains, should they ever be found. After determining it wasn’t a scam or a crank call, she agreed. Her siblings did too. What she didn’t know at the time was that there were already remains that had been discovered along with the plane’s wreckage by divers in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark in 2019.
McCollum, a second lieutenant, was part of a 10-man crew on a B-24J Liberator bomber that was headed toward a bombing mission in Politz, Germany, when the plane and another bomber in the formation collided. The pilot and co-pilot of McCollum’s plane managed to bail out and survived, but the rest of the crew went down with the plane.
After the wreckage was discovered, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), the University of Delaware and the Royal Danish Navy recovered human remains and other evidence. McCollum’s remains were positively identified in December 2024, and Bellou received a call from the Army about a week before Christmas.
“I was completely stunned. I can’t tell you how shocking that is to hear. Almost 81 years later, we have a match to your uncle. It was overwhelming really,” she said.
Bellou and her husband, William Bellou, are publishers of three community newspapers in San Jose, the Almaden Times, Evergreen Times and Willow Glen Times. Being on the other side of the news isn’t really in her comfort zone, she said, but she wanted to thank the nonprofit Honoring Our Fallen and the other groups and people that helped bring her uncle home. She also thought it was important to lend reassurance to other families still waiting to recover loved ones.
“There are thousands of people out there like that, and those people shouldn’t give up hope,” she said. “I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. With DNA technology always improving, I think they’re going to be discovering a lot more heroes.”
Bellou and her husband also have secured the plot next to her uncle’s for themselves. “After he was pulled out of the ocean, I didn’t want him to be buried by himself,” Sandy Bellou said. “He should be with family.”
OFF TO A RUNNING START: Carl Guardino is always on the move, zipping around the country in his role as a vice president for Tarana Wireless. But he’s always willing to pause to talk about the upcoming Stars & Strides Run, which will mark its fifth birthday when thousands of runners hit the streets of downtown San Jose on June 28.
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But you better move fast if you want to register before prices go up May 1. Get all the details at starsandstridesrun.com.
HOUSE HOPPING: The 41st annual Willow Glen Home Tour will showcase five gorgeous homes in the San Jose neighborhood on May 4 and 5. Jenny Ludwig, chair of the Willow Glen Home Tour, says the stylish casas on the tour have been renovated or entirely rebuilt to reflect modern trends while still reflecting the neighborhood’s well-known charm.
Tickets — $50 in advance or $55 the weekend of the event — are available online at willowglenhometour.com or at Dana’s Florist on Meridian Avenue and Bella James boutique on Lincoln Avenue.
IN VINO VERITAS: The Italian American Heritage Foundation in San Jose will delve into the intertwining history of wine and California on Tuesday night. The program will feature Pietro Pinna, a visiting lecturer from the University of Torino, Italy, who wrote a book on the subject, “La Valle del Vino.” Pinna will have a conversation with Evelyn Ferraro, an assistant professor of Italian Studies at Santa Clara University, during the 7 p.m. event. Tickets are $10 at the door of the IAHF Cultural Center at 425 N. Fourth Street.
One caveat for anyone into the subject matter: The discussion will be in English, but the book itself is in Italian (but it may be easier to read after a couple of glasses of chianti).
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