The Lost Squadron Greenland Recovery Expedition

[raisingarizona]

Super cool Ripitz. Thanks for posting it up.

 

[tirolski]

Thank you Tski for the recommendation. The book looked familiar. Found it in my bookcase. I think I swiped it from my dad before he passed.
View attachment 11206

Lots of emotions reading this material. It was over 30 years since I was there. I wasn’t prepared to share the story.

A couple realizations, and the reason why writing things down is good practice.

I was there in 1990 not 1989.

The “airport” we flew into was Kulusuk not Ammassalik.

The plane we reached when I was there was the B-17 Big Stoop. The 50 caliber bullet I have was from the top turret machine gun.

I don’t think it was Norman Vaughn who rescued the pilots. He was brought in to retrieve the Norton bombsights with a dog sled afterwards. Hero.

When the pilots were flying towards Iceland over the Greenland Sea they received communication that the airport was closed due to bad weather. That is true and that’s why they had to turn around. When they radioed to ask to land on the desolate east coast they were told there was bad weather there too. That’s why they tried to keep going to the airfields to the south. They did not have the fuel to make it which forced the landing that they had to make together. What is not mentioned and what I heard was that the weather was actually fair on the east coast fields and that it was very possible German U-boats had intercepted their communication and had given them false information. Bastards! No one talks about that. Maybe I shouldn’t either.

These stories need to be told.

I struggled for years trying to tell them.

The day after I returned from the expedition was my first day back at school. One of my teachers asked what everyone had done that summer. She asked me why I was all sun burned. When I said I just got back from an expedition in Greenland everyone laughed. She said you can’t get a sunburn in Greenland! I laughed nervously and thought, what the fuck does she know?

Ironically, years later I was at a local air show. There was a booth about the Lost Squadron. I bought this piece of the P-38 ‘Glacier Girl’.
View attachment 11207

I told they guy manning the booth about how I had been up there to help dig up the planes. He laughed and said that’s not possible.

For the men that flew those planes towards the war anything was possible. For the men that dug one out years later it was the same. Now thanks to them I believe it myself.

"New" to the utube from NOVA.
"From the NOVA archives, the story of an abandoned B-29 bomber in Greenland brought back to life after more than 50 years is one of our most beloved documentaries."

 

[Ripitz]

"New" to the utube from NOVA.
"From the NOVA archives, the story of an abandoned B-29 bomber in Greenland brought back to life after more than 50 years is one of our most beloved documentaries."

WOW. I forgot all about the Kee Bird. What a wild adventure. That story is a real heartbreaker.

 

[tirolski]

WOW. I forgot all about the Kee Bird. What a wild adventure.

Yup.

That story is a real heartbreaker.

Yup. Dang.

Lotta work went into getting it rolling again.

 

[JK_PA]

"New" to the utube from NOVA.
"From the NOVA archives, the story of an abandoned B-29 bomber in Greenland brought back to life after more than 50 years is one of our most beloved documentaries."

Tirolski - Thanks for not only posting the Frozen in Time link but for also reviving this thread from 2021. I was not a member of the forum back then so I was not aware it existed. It makes me wonder what other nuggets can be found if I dig into the archives!

OK, here’s the story.

Ripitz - Thanks for sharing this amazing adventure of yours from back in the day. Much appreciated!

 

[Adirondack Johnny]

@Ripitz Did you know Jim from Pizzagalli? Older gentleman with a heavy southern accent? I worked on a job way back when at IBM East Fishkill. He was the PM or site super. Very cool story.

 

[Ripitz]

@Ripitz Did you know Jim from Pizzagalli? Older gentleman with a heavy southern accent? I worked on a job way back when at IBM East Fishkill. He was the PM or site super. Very cool story.

There were a few southern guys on the expedition but I don’t recall their names. Not sure if I ever met Jim. My dad might have known him, he was the facilities engineer for Poughkeepsie. I think he mostly worked with Angelo and Remo Pizzagali. We were invited to their “cabin” in Vermont after the expedition for a thank you and reunion party. From what I remember it was near Camel’s Hump.

I worked at the East Fishkill site for a while around ‘94. I managed the grounds maintenance and snow removal crew before moving to industrial hygiene. My office was in 300 at the environmental lab. I took air emission samples from the clean rooms and stacks for testing, so I’ve been in every corner, attic and rooftop of that crazy place. Were you there at that time?

 

[Adirondack Johnny]

....Were you there at that time?

Still chasing tail in High School lol! In '03 we did the windows in 300 Pavillion D and E I think it was. I actually did building maintenance at Watson after that, but got back into construction a year or so later. BTW, We live in the same town. I just love the ADK so I made that my screen name.