Green Hornets Rescue Child

 

 

 

 

ARCTIC KIE-WAYS

Vol 1 No. 17

14 Sept 1960

F. Hogan, Editor

 

A Tribute to 8 Men

 Last Sunday morning at 4:30 A.M., an emergency call came over the airwaves from a small settlement located near the North Pole, called Resolute bay. Asking anyone in Canada, Alaska or Greenland or Iceland to provide aid as a little 9 year old boy lie near death with a bullet lodged in his stomach. The little boy was called Jimmy # A-39-42, no name, just a number.

The 61st intercepted this call for aid and in thirty minutes, a crew of men, Captain Van Dyke, Lt. Yerkes, Lt. Haines, Lt. Kelly, Lt. Wright, Sgt. Tackett, AC/1c Love and T/Sgt. Mckinney were out of their beds and in their plane roaring down the runway headed for Resolute Bay, hoping that they could find it as the navigational aids are rendered helpless over the magnetic pole. They stopped at Thule and received more fuel and medical supplies and continued on their mission.

Lt. Wright and Lt. Kelly, the Navigators, using the sun as the constant heading, brought the plane into the settlement. Little Jimmy was loaded aboard with 2 Canadian Medical men and started back to Thule. Enroute, the boy became worse and the Doctor at Thule was called to the radio and gave instructions as to giving blood plasma. This was done and the boy was delivered to Thule. We are very happy to report that Jimmy is recovering & will soon be back with his family.

It makes you proud to have men such as these as your fellow American. If the truth was known, probably only a dozen persons at Thule and the 61st here at Sondrestrom are aware of this mission. Had the Russians performed this rescue, Khruscheve himself would have announced it from the rostrum at the UN, but our government doesn't brag about things such as this, big men never do, it's the small men that do all the bragging. The men who made this trip do not want any publicity, just the personal satisfaction that they helped save the life of a little 9 year old boy, is enough for them. Men, what you did was wonderful and lets hope that should any of your children need help, your fellow man will respond as you did.

 

I came across this article that was in the Peter Kiewit & Sons local newsletter (distributed to the company personnel in Sondrestrom/Ice Cap).

Article courtesy of Richard Wright, Green Hornet and Firebird Navigator.


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