| The following is the story
of one of Shemya's 404th Bomb Squadron's greatest
tragedies. A B-24 with the 404th's CO, Lt. Col. John
Lawson on board, approached Shemya on June 16th,
1946 in a routine flight back from the
mainland of Alaska. The B-24 and its crew ran into a
dreaded but typical heavy fog as it approached
Shemya. The fog was so thick, it prevented the B-24
from landing. Instead, they circled the island as
long as they could, waiting for the fog to break. No
luck. . .the fog didn't lift, and the B-24 ran out
of fuel. With no options left, the crew bailed out
of the aircraft. Lt. Col. Lawson was killed, along
with Lt. Phillip Oltuskey, 1st Lt. Hilger, Staff
Sgt. Throop, and Pfc Elebee. Surviving the crash
were Lt. Augustine, Sgt. Croan, and Cpl. Earls. The
pictures are of the funeral services held at
Shemya's Hillside Cemetery and of the service at
Shemya's Base Chapel on the 16th of July, 1946. What
makes this event even more tragic is that it
happened when the war was over!
Our thanks goes to William Blake (a former
resident of Shemya in 1946 while assigned to the
404th Bomb Squadron (H) and contributor of many of
the photos seen on the Shemya WWII pages) for this
information and for the photos as well. Bill
currently lives in Medford, MA.
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