The C-141B, serial number 65-0245, stands sentinel at the boneyard, from the flight carrying the Vietnam Unknown from Travis Air Force Base in California, to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on May 25, 1984. Courtesy: Mark Miller
At Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier honors those lost in action without a name.
This Veterans Day—November 11—will mark 100 years since the first burial there from World War I.
Because the smallest details shed light on the past, the Society of the Honor Guard for the TUS is searching for the crewmembers that transported unknown soldiers from the Pacific theater in World War II and Vietnam: the pilots that flew from Clark Air Base in the Philippines on a C-124 to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii between April 27 and 29, 1958, and the crew of the C-141B from Travis Air Force Base in California to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on May 25, 1984, including chief pilot Capt. Patrick Basset.
More links to the past are coming to light from FLYING’s inclusion of this call to action in the November issue.
If any more of their stories can be found before the anniversary, a small but vital chapter in their histories may be preserved. Know any stories? Email: markmiller@tombguard.org.
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