For many U.S. airmen, there was nothing cold about the Cold War. Between 1945-1977, 40 U.S. military aircraft were shot down -- with the loss of 177 airmen -- by Soviet forces or those of the East Bloc, ranging from Yugoslavia to North Korea. Due to their secretive nature, many of these recon flights -- and their confrontations with Soviet fighters -- were not publicized by the U.S. government.
On Sept. 2, 1958, an Air Force C-130, tail number
60528, strayed
into Soviet territory above Armenia. Within seconds, four Soviet MiGs attacked,
taking turns firing on the unarmed plane. Shortly thereafter, the C-130 crashed
and burned.
Of the 17-member crew aboard the aircraft, the Soviets returned the remains
of six men on Sept. 24, 1958. But only four were identified at the time.
In typical Cold War fashion, the Soviets not only denied knowledge of the
unaccounted for crewmembers, but also denied intercepting the C-130. In 1961,
the status of the missing 11 men was officially changed to deceased. (See
the Soviet secret memos:
Click Here. )
Since the formation of the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs in 1992,
the Russians have declassified documents pertaining to the incident. A report
dated Sept. 4, 1958, from the commanding Soviet general in Armenia, confirmed
the shoot down of
60528, described
the engagement and identified the four MiG pilots. The report also included
MiG gun-camera photography of the C-130 shortly before it crashed.
A forensic report verified six human remains. It also noted that other
remains could have been present, but the intensity of the ensuing fire prevented
identification. Besides reporting that no one was seen parachuting from the
plane, it concluded that no one could have survived the crash.
In April 1997, the remains of one of the two crewmen originally listed
as unknown, Airman 2nd Class Archie T. Bourg, Jr., were buried with full
military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. They, along with remains
of the other unidentified crewmember, had been returned by the Soviets in
1958 and buried in Arlington as unknowns. Bourg's sister, Lorna, had her
brother's remains exhumed and identified.
On Sept. 2 , 1997, the Air Force 694th Intelligence Group and the National
Security Agency (NSA) dedicated National Vigilance Park to memorialize all
Cold War-era aerial recon crewmen who died in the line of duty. The memorial
is located near the National Cryptologic Museum at Fort Meade, Md.
(In February 1996, NSA dedicated a memorial bearing 152 names of cryptologists
killed as a result of hostile action.)
Larry R. Tart, who served in the Air Force from 1955-77 and flew recon missions
for 10 years, was the catalyst for the memorial.
"I visited the museum in 1995 and noticed they didn't have an exhibit
devoted to reconnaissance flights," Tart recalled. "The director said he
didn't have any information on them."
The centerpiece of the new memorial is a replica of the C-130 -- bearing
tail number
60528. This
aircraft was chosen because it represents the Air Force's worst loss of life
from a single Cold War shoot down.
"The 11 Air Force Security Service members on that flight served in Detachment
1 of the 6911th Radio Group Mobile," said Tart, who was in the unit's successor,
the 6916th Security Squadron. "When I was an airborne mission supervisor,
we had a plaque on the wall dedicated to that crew. After I would finish
giving my pre-flight briefings, I would point to the plaque and remind them
of the need to be vigilant."