Operation Highjump Hidden Antarctic War Veterans: Frozen in Time, but Not Forgotten
Posted on 09/20/2015 8:40:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Working at the request of the surviving families nearly 75 years after the crash, a specialized NSP team is planning an expedition to Antarctica to perform a site survey in order to locate the preserved frozen bodies of (3) US Navy air crewmen from a depth of up to 150 feet under the glacier’s surface.
Following the extremely hazardous survey expedition, NSP will work with the U.S. DoD to repatriate the men with proper honors. The men died when their converted reconnaissance patrol bomber, a U.S. Navy Martin Mariner PBM-5 flying boat codenamed George 1, grazed a ridgeline, then exploded and crashed on Antarctica's Thurston Island, 30 December 1946 during ‘Operation Highjump.’
This operation was part of famed Admiral Richard Byrd’s exploration of Antarctica, and his largest. It included 4700 sailors, 13 ships and 23 aircraft. Six men survived the horrific George 1 crash and were rescued after surviving on the ice for 13 days, as chronicled in newsreel and actual expedition film footage from the era.
(Excerpt) Read more at nspolar.us ...
I hope they take a rubber raft and some sunscreen. Its ALL melted. /sarc
bttt
Did it ever happen? This is from 6 years ago.
The video showed up as a “related” vid while I was listening to some documentaries people have YT’d, so I hunted down some details. The project has bounced through at least two earlier domain names in that period. Seems like a good thing to crowdsource, but I’ve never tried that kind of thing.
Interesting story! Thanks for posting.
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