349th Air Mobility Wing members attend Mt. Lassen Military Memorial Dedication

  • Published
  • By Ellen Hatfield, 349th Air Mobility Wing
  • 349 AMW
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Two reservists from the 349th Air Mobility Wing, Travis Air Force Base, attended the Aug. 25 dedication of a memorial remembering eight service men killed in a Dec. 26, 1951 crash on the ridge of Crescent Crater, Mt. Lassen National Park, Calif. Maj. Jason Vallot and 1st Lt. Yvette Queen, 349th Medical Squadron, and U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Timothy Frantz joined about 31 family members of the those lost that day, for the service and dedication at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center in the park. Jaclyn (Moe) Morrison, daughter of the co-pilot lost that day, Capt. Vernon Moe, spent two years working on making the memorial reality, supported by the Park Service.

“I’ll see you again, provided that old bucket of bolts holds together.” These were the last words of Captain Vernon E. Moe to his pregnant bride, Dorothy.

The “old bucket of bolts” was the VC-47A transport plane he was to co-pilot alongside his close friend, pilot Capt. John F. O’Dell, from Vacaville, Calif. Moe, from Vallejo, was reluctant to fly the plane, but agreed to go along for O’Dell. Both were assigned to the 1733rd Air Transport Squadron out of Travis AFB, along with flight engineer, Corporal Jesse W. Keller. Leaving on Christmas day, they were on a three-day administrative assignment, delivering two passengers to Great Falls AFB, Mont., and then flying to Fairchild AFB in Spokane, Wash., to remain overnight. They picked up five military personnel needing transport to Travis: Cpl. Angel G. Garcia, Cpl. Lewis N. Petersen, Sergeant Yoshito Mikami, Staff Sgt. Russell H. Peterson and Capt. Thomas E. McCartney, who was to visit his hospitalized father in San Francisco. Significant winter storms threatened the West Coast. O’Dell filed an Instrument Flight Plan, and Military Air Transport Service call sign 8142 departed Fairchild AFB about noon Dec. 26. The last ground radio contact for MATS 1842 was over Klamath Falls, Ore., at 4:17 p.m.

The flight encountered severe deteriorating weather and crosswinds much higher than forecast. Reports from the time state the crew was probably disoriented and blown off course east of their designated route in a treacherous area for flight. Unable to receive reliable radio signals, MATS 1842 crashed on the ridge of Crescent Crater. The snow storms continued, and the plane was quickly buried. Two watches found much later in the wreckage stopped at 5:15 p.m. and 5:28 p.m.

Because the snow continued, Air Force recovery operations ceased until conditions improved. May 30, 1952, tourists hiking in the area noticed the sun glinting off something. They alerted the Park Service, who contacted the Air Force. They later determined it had slammed into the ground and burst into flames. The remains of the eight men were recovered, and the U.S. Army burned and buried MATS 1842 at the site. Jaclyn Moe was born Aug. 7, 1952, about eight months after the loss of the father she would never know. Her father and his friend, O’Dell, had served their country honorably and with courage, during World War II and the Korean War. As she grew up hearing stories and anecdotes about her father, she became determined that he, and those in uniform who perished with him, would not be forgotten. Because of her perseverance, this dedication will keep their memories alive.