On April of 1969 as an 18 year old Aircraft Electrician I was assigned to Naval Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) Home based at Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan. On April 15th, 1969 one of our planes, a Lockheed Super Constellation (EC-121M) nose number PR-21 was shot down in International waters off the coast of North Korea. 30 Sailers and 1 Marine lost their lives.

All flights following this incident were staffed by volunteers only. Every flight left with a full crew! This left a deep and lasting impression.  This was a cold war incident, so the names never made the Vietnam Wall. There was no place to go to grieve their loss. Returning home I was able to get the full list of names through Representative David Minge’s office. Credit goes to Randy Maluchnik for knowing the Admiral to call to get the Cold War incident report.

On March 26, 1970 while stationed in DaNang, South Vietnam a Super Connie from our Squadron (VQ-1) crashed. We could see the smoke from our barracks. Word got out quickly that it was ours, I was 19 at the time. I knew most of the people on this plane, was good friends with many. The next day a detail was organized to search the crash area for body parts. I was not chosen.  The bodies were shipped to Atsugi, Japan and operations continued. No way to grieve. No time to grieve. These 23 men are on the Wall and I visit them whenever I can.

On March 2nd, 1971 another member of our squadron died in a non-hostile incident. The body was immediately shipped back to Japan and operations continued. He is on the Wall and I get to visit him whenever I can.

The point of the story is I get to visit 24 of my shipmates at the wall. But 31 have no central monument or plaque that I can go to and grieve. Then on Memorial day 2024 I ran into Syn Robertson from Revitalizing Veterans Dreams. She pulled the story out of me and gave me some comfort. About a month later she called and had something for me. She had the list of the 31 Heros of PR-21 and had looked up each and every one’s birthday and had that list and the Squadron Logo printed   on a large tumbler. Something physical that I could touch and gaze at, instead of just names on paper.

It has a prominent spot on my dresser. I see it several times a day. It brings long overdue closure. I still keep in touch with many surviving members of the Squadron, and now I get to mourn properly for those who lost there lives fighting for our Country.

Thank you Syn Robertson and Revitalizing Veterans dreams.