The Silent Heroes of the Cold War

On November 17, 1955, USAF Military Air Transport Service aircraft 9068 crashed on Mount Charleston, Nevada, killing all aboard. Lost in the crash was an air force crew, Lockheed and Hycon engineers, CIA personnel and scientists bound for Watertown, now known as Area 51 for test flying the CIA’s highly classified U2 reconnaissance plane.

Photos via the Silent Heroes FaceBook and website Silent Heroes of the C-54 plane crash: L-R: Paul E. Winham 24 – Co-pilot – USAF, Terence O’Donnell 22 – CIA, William Marr 37 – CIA, Rodney Kreimendahl 38 – Lockheed, Richard Hruda 37 – Lockheed, John Gaines – USAF 23, Fred Hanks 35 – USAF Ret. – Hycon, Harold Silent 59 – Hycon, James Bray 48 – CIA, George M. Pappas Jr. 27 – Pilot – USAF, Edwin Urolatis 27 – CIA, Clayton D. Farris 26 – Flight Mech. – USAF, James Brown 23 – US Army – CIA, Guy R. Fasolas – Flight Attendant – USAF

Link to the virtual cemetery prepared by Neil O’Connor

For their sacrifice of life that in the interest of national security was shrouded in secrecy for decades to come, the USAF crew members George M. Pappas, Jr., Paul E. Winham, Clayton D. Farris, Guy R. Fasolas, John H. Gaines, Hycon personnel Harold Silent, Fred Hanks, Lockheed personnel Rodney Kreimendahl, Richard Hruda, and CIA personnel James Bray, Terence O’Donnell, James William “Billy” Brown, Edwin Urolatis, and William Marr have earned enshrinement into the 2019 Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame.