Pilot's survivors thankful for determined historian

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Matt Proietti
  • Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
ARLINGTON, Va. (AFPN) --  Without the tenacity of an Air Force historian, the remains of a World War II era pilot who crashed in a remote region of Alaska in December 1943 may never have been discovered.

Information on the crash "was put away in a drawer and just left there," said John S. Hoskin of Gorham, Maine, brother of 2nd Lt. Harold E. Hoskin, who died at age 22 with other members of a B-24 Liberator crew. "He was in a position to do something if he wanted to, and he did."

Lieutenant Hoskin's remains were interred Sept. 7 at Arlington National Cemetery.

Prior to his 2006 assignment as historian at the 3rd Wing at Elemendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, Douglas Beckstead was a park historian for Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve on the Canadian border in central Alaska. The B-24 crash site is within its boundaries.

Mr. Beckstead first visited the site by chance in June 1994 when he flew over it in a helicopter and the pilot offered to stop.

"The condition of the site intrigued me because of its pristine nature," he said. "It looked almost exactly as it had in 1943."

He researched the incident and spoke by phone in July 1994 to 2nd Lt. Leon Crane of Philadelphia, the crash's only survivor, but the former pilot declined to discuss the event or his struggle in the Alaskan wilderness. Lieutenant Crane died in 2002.

"I later learned from his family and several longtime friends that he never spoke of the crash or his subsequent survival with anyone," Mr. Beckstead said.

The historian made a second trip to the crash site in 2004 and spotted three metallic items in the front of the aircraft, which was destroyed by fire. The metal pieces were later confirmed to be parts of parachute harness buckles. 

Mr. Beckstead sent soil samples and photos of the devices to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii, which researches reports of possible troop remains. 

Mr. Beckstead wrote to Mr. Hoskin, in 2004 and told him of his research. 

In 2006, he spent nine days helping investigators excavate the site. The team found human remains in an area that corresponded to the radio operator's position, where Lieutenant Crane said he last saw Lieutenant Hoskin alive.

Lab officials requested a DNA sample from Mr. Hoskin, which confirmed a match.

Mr. Beckstead was overwhelmed with emotion while addressing the Hoskin family members Sept. 6 at an Arlington funeral home and again Sept. 7 as he spoke during Lieutenant Hoskin's service. 

Mr. Beckstead is writing a book about the crash and its aftermath.

"I keep putting it off because I know that when I finish, it means it's over," he said.

Mr. Beckstead's effort drew praise from retired Col. Dick Anderegg, director of Air Force History and Museums Policies and Programs in Washington, D.C.

"It was a labor of respect for all men who served their nation," said Colonel Anderegg, a longtime military pilot and author of two books on Air Force history. "It would have been easy for him to say 'It's not on my plate' or 'I've got other things that are more important to do.' He has this great respect for those who served and he kept at it until all of the information was in." 

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