For 97-year-old Rockledge man Bob Willett, the decades-long search for his cousin Jimmie Browne feels like an open wound ― one that will only heal once the remains of the 21-year-old “Hump Pilot,“ who disappeared during World War II over China, are recovered and brought home.

For China’s Sun Chunlong, whose organization Shenzhen Longyue Charitable Foundation joined the search for Jimmie six years ago, the burden of locating Jimmie’s remains and getting him home has become personal.

Jimmie, flying for CNAC (China National Aviation Corporation in partnership with Pan Am), was delivering much-needed supplies in 1942 to the Chinese military in an area not yet under Japanese rule but suffering from the severe Japanese blockade of materials. The only way for supplies to reach China and avoid the Japanese military was to fly from Burma to China over the Himalayan Mountains. This treacherous route became known as ‘The Hump’ affording the pilots the moniker “Hump Pilots.’

It is believed that Jimmie’s plane crashed into the side of a mountain.

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This week, the 8,781 miles between Shenzhen and Rockledge was bridged when Chunlong paid Willett a visit.

“Bob (Willett) was the first foreigner to come and ask for help from me. I feel like it is now my responsibility to look for Jimmie,” Chunlong said, through interpreter Min Zhou. “This is for everyone, this is about humanity, that’s why it’s very important to bring every soldier home. For six years I have tried but haven’t finished the mission Bob expects us to do, that’s why I want to say ‘I’m sorry,” in person to Bob.”