2nd Lt. William Mingenbach

2nd Lt. William Mingenbach  was an F-89 pilot with the 433rd Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Truax Field, who was serving on temporary assignment at Kinross Air Force Base with Lt. Moncla and Lt. Wilson. Him and his radar observer were on alert duty with Moncla and Wilson when the scramble horn blasted for the alert which Moncla and Wilson responded to.

After Moncla and Wilson took off that night, Mingenbach and his radar observer went for dinner. When he returned ffrom dinner, he requested a CAP mission (Civil Aviation Patrol). Once he was airborne, he was informed that Moncla and Wilson's F-89 was missing and he was guided to the area of last contact. During his flight, he continuously attempted to make radio contact with Moncla and Wilson. About 40 minutes after radar and radio contact was lost with Moncla and Wilson's plane, Mingenbach and his radar observer heard  an unexplained short radio transmission which both airmen believed to be the voice of Lt. Moncla, which tehy recognized by his slow and calm, southern drawl. The transmission sounded to them like an accidental transmission, which Lt. Mingenbach stated contained the words "we had better..."

After completing his service with the Air Force, he became an architect. Him and his wife moved to New Mexico where he designed buildings which incorporated solar heating technology.

I have spoken to William Mingenbach and told him some of my unexplained memories that I seem to have that might relate to Lt. Moncla's experiences. I mentioned to him one memory I have of Moncla being in the ready room with Lt. Mingenbach. Moncla was seated on a chair by a counter on which sat a radio. Moncla was listening to the song, "Santa Baby", sung by Eartha Kitt. It was new on the charts, and he had his ear close to the speaker as he wanted to hear the words. I recall that Lt. Mingenbach was seated at a table and he wasn't much impressed with the song. He didn't recall the incident, but he did say that there was a radio in the ready room. I told him that I could remember he had straight brown hair, which he said was true.

I also told him a little about some of the experiences I could recall from Moncla's time in captivity. I told him I could remember that Lt. Moncla had kept a sort of diary. He had used a log book that I thought he had with him on the plane. Lt. Mingenbach told me that there was a log book kept under the pilot's seat in the cockpit which was used to record things like mechanical problems. He said it had an aluminum cover and was about 9 in. by 9 in or so.

I also told him that I could remember that when we had heard that it was Schmidt and Collins who were killed in the F-89 crash in Madison, that he had commented to Moncla that Schmidt and Moncla had been friends, and that Moncla had just sort of shrugged it off, not wanting to show any emotion. He couldn't remember this.

He talked a little about Lt. Wilson, and it was clear that he held him in high regard. It was strange hearing someone talk about Wilson, as Mingenbach is the first person I have met who knew Wilson, and when he talked about him, I really felt like he was describing the man I recall meeting when I was three years old who took me up the hill which overlooked Lake Superior.