On April 9, 1944 an Army B-24D, #42-41128, on a training flight out of March Field, crash and burned just to the west of Mojave, California.  The ten young crew members onboard were all killed.  At the time of the crash it was thought that all of the crew's remains were recovered and sent home for a proper burial.  Soon it became apparent that two of the crew was still missing.  This statement was printed in a local paper soon after the crash.  Within a few weeks the investigation was complete, and what was left of the big bomber was removed and disposed of.  Most of the larger pieces were carted away. But a large amount of the smaller items were left at the scene, and were buried in the immense crater created when the aircraft hit the ground and exploded.

For the next few months I occasionally went back out to the site just to have another look.  Then the niece of the Radio Operator on this flight, Marcia Shealey from Charleston, South Carolina, read the short story on the web page I had created, and made contact with me.  She asked if I would get some sand from the crater so she could sprinkle it on her uncle's grave in Charleston.  She also asked if I would retrieve a piece of the radio equipment and send that to her, as well.  I normally do not remove or disturb a crash site in any way.  If I dig at a site at all, it's to find data tags to help identify the particular type of aircraft involved. But to me her request did not seem unreasonable. In a brief telephone conversation with her a day or so later, I could actually hear the emotion in her voice. So I agreed to both requests

However, several days later when I went back out to the site I found a fellow wreck chaser, David Schurhammer, was already on site and searching for anything related to Sgt. Michael Rudich, the Radio Operator and Shealey’s uncle. Dave had been digging for only a short time when he began to turn up human bones in the tailings of his sieve.  I was only interest in fulfilling Mrs. Shealey’s request for sand and a radio part. There were radio parts on the surface, and the desert is full of sand.  But the finding of human remains surprised both Dave and me. We wondered aloud what to do next.  Up to that point  he had recovered only  a few small bones.  Such a find is not uncommon at such a horrific crash site.   So I suggested that we just place them back in the ground, and let it go at that.  I didn't think it warranted a bigger search, and perhaps upsetting some next of kin somewhere in the world.  But I was wrong!

It wasn't long before several quart size bags of human bones had been  recovered.  This site was now no longer just a crash site.  It was a “war grave”. It was agreed to rebury the bones in a secure location, and then notify the County Coroner's office of the find.  This was done, and soon several representatives from several organizations were visiting the site to see what the next course of action should be.  On that visit many more human bones were found intermingled with the remains of the bomber that brought them to that point in the shallow sandy earth of the Mojave Desert.  In fact almost 30 percent of a human skeleton  was found.  At that point we decided it was time to make JPAC (Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command) aware of the situation.  JPAC, based at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, is charged with the recovery of as many missing in action service men and women as they can locate. They travel all over the world recovering these lost Americans who fought and died for our country.  Their main theater of operation is the South Pacific where they have recovered hundreds of lost G.I.s from the south sea islands of World War II. Vietnam and Europe are also hot spots of activity for the JPAC teams.

Within in a few weeks Mr. Bradley Sturm from JPAC visited the crash site, and promptly took procession of all the bones and artifacts found thus far. He further determined that the site was well worth excavation for any other human remains and personal artifacts left in the ground.

Each member of the team has a specific task within his own individual branch of service.  There was one medic, one explosive ordinance expert (EOD), one supply sergeant, one communication sergeant, one combat photographer, and one sergeant from the office of Mortuary Affairs.  Each person, according to their training, had a specific job to do, but all would assist in the digging when the time came.

Also in attendance were several volunteers from the local area.  They were: Walter Witherspoon, David Schurhammer, Pat Macha, Kelly Cowan from the Kern County Coroner's office, David B.Van Norman, Supervising Deputy Coroner Investigator for San Bernardino County, and of course myself, Don Jordan.  Other volunteers were expected to show up at various times during the week.

The first choir was to build and set up the equipment necessary to complete the job.  Most of the disposable equipment, such as lumber, nails, shovels, wheeledbarrows, and saws, were purchased locally and picked up from a local hardware store after the team arrived in the area.  I was told that much of this equipment would be left behind when the job was complete.  It is cheaper to purchase the needed equipment at each dig site, rather than ship the stuff all over the world.  Dr. Belcher stated that it was nice to be able to go to the local lumber yard and buy what they needed, as opposed to going out in the jungle and chopping bamboo to make the needed “A” frame.  In addition, he said that the weather was so much nicer here in the states.  He had been to sites in Vietnam, and was glad to be out of that oppressive heat and humidity.  Having served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam during the 1960s, I knew exactly what he meant! He also said that he was glad he didn't have to worry about snakes, scorpions, and other nasty jungle critters. I told him to think again.  The native, very active and aggressive, Mojave Green rattlesnakes are just now coming out of their dens, and they're not too happy about not eating for several months.

The Mojave Green rattler is the most deadly rattlesnake in the United States, and the desert is full of them.  When threatened they will raise their upper body off the ground like a Cobra and literally chase their attacker away.  I once had an especially angry snake chase me fifty feet back up a trail and into my car, where I promptly left the area.  But as I was backing away it was repeatedly striking at my tires.  Trust me on this one!! You do not mess with a Mojave Green!  I recommended to the team that they check the area for snakes before beginning work each day.

On the days that I actually participated in the dig, I would arrive at the site early, and insure that the area was free of these unwanted Mojave Desert natives.  Each bush or object in the immediate area that could provide concealment was probed and inspected for snakes.  I even peered in and under the portable latrines that had been delivered to the site.

As the preparations continued, two wheelbarrows had to be removed from their boxes and assembled.  A large tent type awning was also put together and staked to the ground to provide some shade from the hot desert sun.  However, the strong local winds soon make it clear that the awning would not last more than a few hours at best.  Later that day it was in fact taken down because of wind damage. Luckily the temperature was only in the mid 80s, with the cool, but strong, wind coming from the northwest over the Tehachapi Mountains.

After all of the necessary equipment was prepared and installed in place, including the two portable toilets, they were ready to begin the surveying phase of the recovery.  To lay out the grid lines, Dr. Belcher set up a Digital Theodolite (Surveyor's Transit), which provided exact readings of azimuth, and elevation.  A hand held sighting rod was then used to mark the four corners of the search area.  Each leg was approximately fifty feet long, and then divided into ten foot lengths.  At ten foot intervals a small red stake was driven into the ground.  Once all four sides were staked at ten foot intervals, a length of small rope was stretched between each stake, essentially dividing the whole area into ten foot squares.  The squares would be excavated one at a time.

The “A” frame, which would be used to hold the sieve screens, was made of two-by-fours, and was anchored to the ground at all four corners.  Hanging by ropes from the center beam were five sieves consisting of handled boxes with a fine mesh screen on the bottom side. Soil and other debris from the excavation would be poured one bucket full at a time into each sieve.  Workers would then work the soil through the small screen searching for any signs of human remains, or personal affects from the ill-fated crew.

All of the preparations were completed around 1 o'clock in the afternoon.  The team had been on the road for a long time prior to arriving in Mojave, and some members were showing definite signs of fatigue and jet lag.  So it was decided to quit work for the day, and resume the search on Monday morning, May 8^th.  But before leaving the area, it was decided to test out the sieve boxes for a few minutes just to see what turned up.

            Dr. Belcher gave a short training class on what to look for in each bucket full of “dirt”, then four of us manned the sieves and the others began shoveling dirt and sand into buckets.  Each bucket in turn was dumped into one of our sieves, and the search began.  With the strong winds blowing from the northwest at about 15 knots, we soon learned which side of the sieve to stand on when dumping in the bucket full of very loose soil.  Every person standing on the downwind side of the sieve boxes was immediately covered in dust and dirt from head to toe.  We soon abandoned the downwind side of the box, and from that point on; only one person operated each sieve from the upwind side.

            But that proved to be troublesome as well.  As the strong wind blew around each person from the rear it formed a small wind eddy directly in front of that person.  This blew just as much dust and dirt back into our faces and eyes as was happening to the downwind person.  So when we return for work on Monday each person will be wearing protective eye goggles and a breathing mask to prevent us from getting dirt particles in our eyes, noses, and mouths.

            We only processed one small portion of one ten foot square before calling it quits for the day.  Dr. Belcher gave us a short briefing, and I provided the names and locations of some of the better restaurants in the area (both of them), as well as a few of the more interesting sights in the area, and then we departed.  Monday the real work will begin.

(To be continued as work progresses)

View some pictures from the site.

Additional pictures (June 4, 2006)

Return to story page.

   Don R. Jordan
www.donrjordan.com