On January 12, 1962, twelve good men and fellow crewmates perished on the Kronborg Glacier on the east coast of Greenland. They were the flight crew of LA-9 (BUNO: 131521) aircraft of Patrol Squadron Five (VP-5), U.S.Navy, flying a routine ice patrol out of NAS Keflavik, Iceland (SEE: In Memorial for lost friends...12JAN62).
The crash site and their remains were not discovered until August, 1966, when an expedition of 4 geologists from Oxford University, U.K. were traversing the glacier on foot. A recovery mission was mounted by the Navy in September, 1966, utilizing the Icebreaker USS Atka and helicopters. "Several identifiable remains were recovered," and the aircraft wreck destroyed.
For whatever reasons, some crew remains were left at the crash site. Now, 35 years later, geologists exploring the area have again reported that in the summer months, human remains of these servicemen lie exposed on the glacier. This information is confirmed by the Missing Persons Group, Bureau of Naval Personnel, USN, as being accurate.
There is an upcoming POW/MIA Casualty Conference (November 14-16, 2001 and not open to the public), and the LA-9 issue is on the agenda. The Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI) is willing to schedule the recovery of these remains, but the Military Services and Department of Defense support is needed to make it happen and to justify an increase to CILHI's budget to accommodate operational losses (non-hostile) in addition to combat losses (hostile). Public awareness and Congressional support is essential, particularly at this time.
Write your congressional representatives to demand that the Department of Defense and U.S. Navy bring these sailor's remains home for proper burial! |
Eternal Father by the U.S. Navy Band's Sea Chanters (668 kbytes - WAV file) 
VPNAVY gets a "
