On Nov. 22, 1952, a C-124 Globemaster took off from McChord Air Force Base, Washington, en route to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. It never got there. Now, almost 62 years later, the remains of 17 service members killed during the C-124’s crash have been recovered and identified.
In 2012 an Alaska National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk spotted wreckage during a training mission over Alaska’s Colony Glacier. Three days later a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and Joint Task Force team arrived to inspect the site, and the mystery of the missing C-124 finally ended, the Air Force Times reported Wednesday.
The Defense Department says that 35 crew members have yet to be found, although future recovery efforts will be made, the Air Force Times reported. Identifying 17 crew members was made possible by work done by the Armed Forces DNA Laboratory.
The remains of the recovered service members will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors. They are:
Air Force:
• Col. Noel Hoblit
• Col. Eugene Smith
• Capt. Robert Turnbull
• 1st Lt. Donald Sheda
• 1st Lt. William Turner
• Tech. Sgt. Engolf Hagen
• Staff Sgt. James Ray
• Senior Airman Marion Hooton
• Airman 1st Class Carroll Dyer
• Airman 1st Class Thomas Lyons
• Airman 1st Class Thomas Thigpen
• Airman Howard Martin
Army:
• Lt. Col. Lawrence Singleton
• Pvt. James Green Jr.
• Pvt. Leonard Kittle
Marine Corps:
• Maj. Earl Stearns
Navy:
• Cmdr. Albert Seeboth
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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