SCRANTON, Pa. — Memorial services were held Monday in tandem -- one in west Scranton and the other in a small town in central Germany.
That's where Staff Sgt. Joseph Prokop, a Scranton native, was killed 75 years ago Monday.
The last time Ann Spearmint was at Cathedral Cemetery in Scranton for a military memorial service, she was Ann Prokop and only 17.
It was 1949, World War II had ended, and the remains of her big brother Joe were finally being laid to rest.
The Prokop family had been told Joe, a staff sergeant with the Army Air Corps, was shot down over Hanau, Germany, and was killed in the crash. But, Ann said she always knew there had to be more to the story.
"I knew, I knew there was something, I knew he wasn't in that plane. Something happened, and I didn't know what, I figured a prisoner, but I never gave up," she said.
Ann learned only three years ago that Staff Sgt. Prokop survived that crash only to be executed by the Gestapo because one of his fellow soldiers, Sgt. Charles Goldstein, was Jewish.
The ceremony in Scranton Monday was held in concert with another in the German town where they were killed.
Members of VFW Post 25 in Scranton helped put the local ceremony together.
"Today for the anniversary of their murders they wanted to do something special, so we jumped on board and helped out Post 25 to get it done," added Dave Eisele, Director of Lackawanna County's Office of Veterans' Affairs.
The German Consulate from New York, Christian Resing, was there to pay tribute to Prokop and apologize for his country's past.
"Only a few people are still living from that time. Therefore, it's important also to inform the younger generation about the cruelty of wars and that we should stay to be friends and live together peacefully," Resing said.
Ann Spearmint told Newswatch 16 it's the unfortunate price of war, but she feels her brother is finally at peace.
"They weren't around in the days when that happened, so you can't blame them. I just want to thank them for having service over there, too," she said.