(24 Jun 2015) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus033566
50 MILES NORTHEAST OF ANCHORAGE...THIS REMOTE GLACIER IS SACRED GROUND TO A GROUP OF MILITARY FAMILIES.
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IN 1952, A US AIR FORCE TRANSPORT PLANE CRASHED INTO A MOUNTAIN, SCATTERING DEBRIS AND THE BODIES OF 52 SERVICEMEN ACROSS THE ICY LANDSCAPE.
(NATS)
STORMS PREVENTED RECOVERY EFFORTS AT THE TIME, AND THE GLACIER'S ICE ENTOMBED THE PLANE AND THE VICTIMS FOR SIX DECADES.
(NATS)
NOW, THE GLACIER IS GIVING UP THE PAST.
SOUNDBITE (English) Bryan Keese, Alaska Army National Guard:
"We were on a training mission and my crew chief, Sgt. Roman Bradford saw something on the glacier. It looked like a yellow fabric. So we went over to go see what it was and it turned out it was a life raft."
BRYAN KEESE AND HIS CREW WERE THE FIRST TO SPOT THE WRECKAGE IN 2012.
THE ICE CARRYING IT MORE THAN A DOZEN MILES FROM THE ORIGINAL CRASH SITE TOWARD THE EDGE OF LAKE GEORGE.
RECOVERY TEAMS ARE NOW WORKING TO FIND ALL THE REMAINS BEFORE THEY ARE SWEPT INTO THE LAKE, AND LOST TO HISTORY.
SOUNDBITE (English) Roy Adkins, Air Force Recovery Team:
"Definitely, every year we come out here there's more and more debris and in different areas. We've left on a Friday and came back on a Monday, and debris fields have shown up."
THE TERRAIN IS TREACHEROUS...CREWS CAN ONLY SEARCH IN THE SUMMER.
SOUNDBITE (English) Roy Adkins, Air Force Recovery Worker:
"This is over 60 plus years and basically the metal looks brand new when it's coming off of there."
SO FAR, THE REMAINS OF 17 VICTIMS HAVE BEEN RECOVERED, INCLUDING COLONEL NOEL HOBLIT WHO WAS BURIED AT ARLINGTON CEMETERY LAST MONTH.
MEANWHILE THE FAMILIES OF THE REMAINING 35 STILL AWAIT WORD FROM THIS SILENT FLOW OF ICE.
(NATS)
WALTER RATLIFF, ASSOCIATED PRESS
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