(Continued from 11-28-08...) The second leg of our Irvine Ranch Conservancy tour took us to the site of Orange County’s worst air disaster..
At 1:35 a.m. on June 25, 1965, under fog and light drizzle, an Air Force C-135A transport jet, (see contemporary photo above), took off from MCAS El Toro. (The C-135 is the military equivalent of a Boeing 707.) The plane was en route from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey to Okinawa, with another scheduled stop at Hickam AFB in Hawaii. Aboard were 71 Marines on their way to Vietnam, along with 12 U.S. Air Force crew members.
.
At 1:46 a.m., about 4 miles from the control tower, the jet disappeared from radar. For reasons unknown, the pilot did not (or could not) make a planned left hand turn and flew directly into Loma Ridge. The plane was destroyed, killing all 83 people on board.
.
Navy sailor Steve Bedunah was scheduled to take the flight as far as Hawaii. However, a family emergency waylayed him. He arrived at El Toro just in time to see the plane heading down the runway. Seconds later, he saw a huge orange fireball. "I was supposed to be on that plane," he said in a 2005 O.C. Weekly interview, "I've spent 40 years trying to live that down."
Here you see Greg from KOCE-TV filming Mike Bornia, Chris Epting, and Maria Hall-Brown at the crash site. It was fitting (although unplanned) that we visited this site on Veteran’s Day. A group called Project Remembrance is planning to put a stone memorial here in the near future.
The jet was about 1,150 feet up and traveling at 300 mph when it impacted the hill, scattering wreckage and bodies across at least a mile. The bodies and all the large plane parts were recovered after the crash, but small bits of the jet are still strewn everywhere. Although mangled in the crash, many metal parts are still in remarkably good condition after 43 years of exposure to the elements. Just last year, a readable set of dog tags were found in the brush..
It turned out that our traveling companion Jim had once been part of a search/clean-up crew after a different MCAS El Toro crash on the Irvine Ranch. He had some very sobering tales to tell that I won't relate here.
.
(To be continued...)
16 comments:
They don't always get all the body parts, so anyone who visits any of these sites (and there are books and websites detailing the locations here in So Cal), just be advised of this fact.
During my years in the fire service, I was sent on quite a few crashes in the Santa Ana Mts. and foothills. Out of respect for Chris' site, I too will not go any further in my narrative.
I, too, was one of the young enlisted Marines that went up on the mountain that June morning.
The evening before, that MATS plane was parked in the area of H&MS-15 and many of the men leaving for the far east were hanging around that area....
I left work, noticed the men and the plane and thought no more of it.
The next morning as I drove towards base, I noticed several military helicopters hovering near the mountain top and wondered if there was some sort of manuvers going on.............
When I arrived at H&MS-15, I noticed the MATS plane was gone and soon heard about the crash...
My mind went back to the evening before and all those men...hanging around.......and the plane. All gone now.
They asked for men to fly up on helicopters to the site and help with the tasks that needed to be done.........I went up and I do not know why.
Once in the air, circling the site, we were too high to really get a view of what was about to change our lives, at least mine.
Once on the ground, we were immediately, formed away from the crash site.....facing El Toro off in the distance. We wwere told that no one survived and we were there to do a job. Walk...almost arms length apart....from the crest, down a small valley and up the other side. We had to observe, mark areas and once we made our sweep.....we went back and picked up our "men."
Once there, and we saw our first, many changed their minds and went back to base.....we were told, once the helicopters leave...we HAVE to stay and finish our task.
At first, I sortof wished I had not come to the mountain. I was not ready for the sight.....but once we started, I believe every man did what he was suppose to do......and did THE RIGHT THING. With respect....and a silent prayer....BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD.
I recall the media being at a distance....and a couple of negative comments....I won't go into in this posting...not from the Marines...but from some "officials" who were in the area........
There are certain scenes......BRANDED into my brain that I will never forget....by the end of the day we had gathered all the men, except one that I recall. He was found the next day. We slowly drove and rode in the USMC trucks down the mountain, full of live and fallen Marines.....and people drive by not knowing what was inside the trucks...
Once unloaded at one of the hangers......I was dismissed and I drove home.
My wife at that time....wanted to know WHY I was covered in blood.
I told her what had happened....
She told me to throw the uniform away.........I refused. I never did......I guess after our divorce she got rid of it. I thought about all the men that were apart of that uniform......it hurt, but I was PROUD of what we young Marines did that day.....to make sure we collected all of our men.
I would love to go back up there, walk that same hill side....BY THE GRACE OF GOD, but aging, health....I will probably never get to go back to the mountain.
I found on the internet, via California Death Indexes, all the men that died on June 25, 1965 in Orange Co........I wish I could contact every family....tell them what I saw.....and how respectful I thought we were, that day in June.
NOT AS STRONG, NOT AS LEAN - BUT STILL A MARINE.
I am SEMPER FI
Jim Keith
St. Louis,MO
www.plainlabelfamily.com
My dad worked on the Irvine Ranch for 31 years and I remember sometime during the 1970's riding with him in his rach truck along a wash in the hills and coming upon landing gear that included a giant tire. He then told me the sad story of that event. I don;t know if it is still out there.
I had been out late the night before, helping a friend do car repairs. I got home after the crash, but the fires had been put out, so I saw nothing as I drove to my quarters in Trabuco Housing.
I will never forget that morning when I reported to work at the Station Hospital. I was sent immediately to the mountain. I recall seeing a piece of the wing stuck into the ground like a giant had been playing with it and had stabbed it into the the earth like a kid might a pocket knife.
It shined like a mirror in the sun, with "USAF" running up one flat side in big blue letters.
I thought then it would be a fitting marker, but of course the accident investigatiion team took it away to reassemble the wreckage.
I remember the next day, when we all lined up and walked slowly along the line of the crash, looking for the last missing man. We did not find him until some of us went farther than before, by about a quarter of a mile. We finally found him in a narrow crevice.
As I was a Corpsman, I also worked at the temporary morgue, helping with identification process.
It was without a doubt one of the most shocking things I had seen, and as a Corpsman, I had seen a lot. But the overriding feeling I had was a desire to "get it right," to do my best for those Marines and Airmen who could no longer help themselves. Like everyone else, I wanted to take care of them and return them to their families with as much dignity and respect as could be given them; the dead and the grieving.
Semper Fi,
Carl H. Lock
HMCM(FMF) USN (Ret.)
From Jim Keith in St. Louis to CARL LOCK, I would appreciate you making contact with me regarding the June 25, 1965 air crash at El Toro. I have been looking for some Marines or anyone that worked that ground effort for those men that day. I have questions that maybe you can fill in MY missing blanks.
You can contact me via email at jimthedadkeith AT hotmail.com and/or visit our family page at www dot plainlabelfamily dot com. If you are in contact with anyone else from that incident, please pass this along to them as well. Thanks so much.......and for your service helping us jarheads. Jim
45 years ago today. Thanks to you all for bringing my brother (Pfc Russell Babcock) home to us.
Dear Lou and all the families of JUNE 25, 1965. I have heard from a number of you now, and with this day being So important in all out lives, I REALLY dreamed / wished that I could be there and travel to the site. Now at 66, so mnay of those men ARE now my age....I hope God blessed you, your families and all the other men up there with me this day 45 years ago. I am SEMPER FI, Jim Keith, St. Louis
I have worked on Loma Ridge for the last 3 years, and heard about this horrific crash shortly after starting my job there. Now every year on June 25, I go out at 0135 and say a prayer for the souls still there that I did not have the privilege of meeting, and hope for their peaceful rest, wherever they may be. To the families and loved ones still with us, as long as I am there, your soldiers will not be forgotten.
Hi Terri,
You see often what I hope to see again some day. I'm 66 now, I was 22 when I was up on that ridge.
I have Googled, Map Quest all the availble satalite images I could of the actual site.....and it is so hard to tell.
It looks like the site might be JUST off that new road that crosses that ridge area...
What I do recall was standing on edge of the ridge facing MCAS El Toro when we first arrived....then later, we swept from south to the north side...and we could see the lake, I guess Irvine Lake at the park in East Orange....we walked down from the south down a small valley and up towards the north.
If you get a chance some day...and you feel like you want to....if you have a digital camera, I would love a panarama view of the south ridge around to the north...the area of the site if that is possible. IF it is against the Conservatory rules....PLEASE DISREGARD. Some day, maybe I can come out there and see for myself.
Lord willing.
My repects for what you do.
Jim Keith, St. Louis
I have just stumbled on this. I want to say thank you to all who worked on the recovery efforts. My father was the flight engineer. I was only 7 when he died. I have spent my life wondering. My father was Msgt. Billy H. Meredith
William Meredith,
West Hartford, CT
does anyone have all the names of all the Marines and Crew who died thar day
My brother James Harold Brock was a Marine on that flight
j.brock at adelphia dot net
My father, Lance Corp. Alfred Eugene Peterson, was one of the Marines on that plane. He and my mom were only married 19 days and I am a result of their honeymoon. I am connecting with any family members and trying to find out the status on a memorial for the site. I know so many of you are working to get their names on the Vietnam Wall....thank you. You may contact me at lisa_hollingsworth@pacbell.net. Also, thank you to the many men who were so careful to bring our loved ones home.
Sincerely, Lisa Hollingsworth
My. Brother Anthony. Nelson. Was on the plane also. I was 9 yrs old.I've been trying for yrs. To put my brothers name on the wall the men that died on the plane gave there lives for our country too! But they say only men who died. In vietnam. Not right! To this.day I can't hear taps without crying. I also would like to know how I can go to crash site on June 25. Thank-you.
Jeff,
The Marine Corps has a Historical Branch in D.C. and they will probably be able to locate the passenger manifest. You can locate them at the Marine Corps wensite. Here's the link: http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Home_Page.htm
Good Luck,
Carl
Today is the 47 year anniversary of the tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of so many servicemen on June 25 1965. We still remember and miss you dad(Sgt. Jackson Moses Sinyard Jr.).
Bryan Sinyard
bksinyard@gmail.com
Post a Comment