The 52 service members who died in a Nov. 22, 1952, plane crash on Mount Gannett, Alaska, were never forgotten — but for more than 60 years, their loved ones had no remains to grieve over or bury.
That changed after an Alaska National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk crew conducting routine training in 2012 spotted aircraft wreckage on Colony Glacier. Recovery operations confirmed it was debris from the Air Force C-124 that crashed six decades earlier with 42 airmen, eight soldiers, one Marine and one sailor on board.
Every summer since, service members have searched the area in an effort to find the remains of the crash victims, identify them and bring them home.
The mission, Operation Colony Glacier, continued this June, with a team of military and civilian personnel working to uphold the nation's sacred pledge to leave no service member behind.
The icy terrain, unpredictable weather and constantly changing nature of the glacier require careful planning for the operation and special training and expertise for its participants.
In addition to possible remains, they search for flight equipment and personal effects.
In 2014, the Defense Department announced 17 of the lost service members had been identified and would be returned to their families for burial with full military honors. By June 2017, the number of those identified was 37.
As of June of last year, the operation's 10th anniversary, 44 of the 52 service members had been recovered and identified.
After team members inventory the items found each year, military honor guard members conduct an honorable carry and honorable departure for the remains, which are escorted to Dover Air Force Base, Del., for identification.