Colonel Ford Larimore Fair 0-17029 Command Pilot

Colonel Hudson Hutton Upham 0-19467 Command Pilot

Major Lawrence Lofton Cobb, Jr. 0-24736 Co-Pilot

2^nd Lt. Alfredo Doroteo Ramirez 0-2082524 Navigator

M/Sgt. John E. Gilbert 6990531 Engineer

S/Sgt. William Allec Hilton 38515193 Assistant Engineer

S/Sgt. Zoltan Joseph Dobovich 33835227 Radio Operator

T/Sgt. William Seldon Cassell 34896920 Assistant Radio Operator

The pilots and co-pilot on this ill-fated flight who are named in the official Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) (link to MACR title pag under Documentation) were assigned to the European Air Transport Service (EATS) in Weisbaden, Germany.  2^nd Lt. Ramirez and the enlisted men were experienced airmen assigned to the 61^st Troop Carrier Group (TCG) in Eschborn, Germany.

The EATS, with the resources of the 61^st TCG, organized and provided planes, crews and flights in support of troop movement, diplomatic missions and civilian travel in Europe after the end of the war in May of 1945.

The purpose of this mission is still unknown (identified only as “Special Mission”).

The exact route of the flight is still unknown, although from Naples most probably ran fairly direct from about Pisa to the point of impact. If the plane had been slightly to the East, of even only slightly higher, it would have escaped its tragic destiny among the glaciers of Mont Blanc.

The men on this plane may or may not have been together before this flight but they are now joined together for eternity as the wreckage of their aircraft was buried in the glacier and their remains were buried in common ground.