VP-47 Memorial
VP-47 Crew - In Memorium - VP-47 Crew
"Eternal Father Strong To Save"
The Navy Hymn
Sailor Aviators Version
Eternal Father, Strong to Save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its' own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.
Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
Through the great spaces in the sky.
Be with them always in the air,
In dark'ning storms or sunlight fair.
O, Hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air.
But when at length our course is run,
Our work for home and country done,
Of all the souls that flew and sailed,
Let not one life in thee be failed,
But hear from heaven our sailors cry,
And grant eternal life on high.
May all our departed shipmates rest in peace.
 Eternal Father by the U.S. Navy Band's Sea Chanters (668 kbytes - WAV file)
VP-47 Memorial information provided by Paul Schlagheck pjschlag@comcast.net.
Lt. Wallace R. Carter
Alameda, Cal.
Lt.(JG) Cecil F.Hackeny Jr.
Birmingham, Ala.
Lt. (JG) William B. Hedrick
Alameda, Cal.
Lt. (JG) Wallace H. Wertz
Newport, Pa.
Ens. John D. McCathy
Olean, N.Y.
Ens. Homer F. Trotter Jr.
San Bernardino, Cal.
Ens. Berje Weramian
Corpus Christi, TX.
Douglas C. Campbell
Electronics Technician 2/c
Boscobel, Wis.
Ira E. Crider
Telman 3/c
Tyler, TX.
Jerrold D. Edwards
Aviation Electronics Technician 3/c
Portland, Ore.
Ronald D. Graham
Aviation Structural Mechanic 2/c
Danora, Pa.
Donald D. Landon
Photographers Mate 3/c
James E. Landon
Aviation Ordnance Man 2/c
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Laurence E. Stone
Aviation Electronics Man 1/c
Alameda, Cal.
Walter R. Raab
Aviation Machinist Mate
Hawthorne, Cal
The following two are Marines:
Maj. James R. O'Moore
Corono Delmar
Cal.
 "...Major James R. O'Moore (SEE: In Memorial for VP-47 lost friends June 9th, 1954) was my cousin. His mother, Sara Hultquist, was my mother's sister. His loss broke her heart. He was her only child. A picture of him in his uniform hangs on my family wall. I was just a baby when he was killed, but I have a picture of him holding me when I was just about 6-months old. I consider myself to be the keeper of his memory, as all other family members are now gone also. Until today, I had just the family account of the plane crash, along with the letter his mother wrote to my mother, telling her about his death..." Contributed by Kathy Bruckner Thompson ltkbt86@yahoo.com [21JUN2015]
Capt. Theodore R. Moore
Warren, Pa.IWAKUNI, Japan, June 10 (UP)- Navy and Air Force planes dared threatening weather today to take off at dawn in an all-out search for an American plane missing south of Japan with 17 men aboard. U.S. Navy surface ships joined in the search and pattrol craft of the Japanese Coast Guard raced out of their Kyushu bases to lend thier efforts to the hunt for the missing Navy PBY amphibian. Navy headquarters said two Marine officers from the First Marine Air Wing, six navel officers and seven enlisted men from VP 47, the planes home base,and one navel officer and one enlisted man from Fleet Air Wing Six were aboard the missing craft, which was on a routine flight to Hongkong..." Contributed by Paul Schlagheck pjschlag@comcast.net [26OCT99]
WASHINGTON, June 10 (AP) The U.S. Navy announced today the names of 17 men who were aboard a Navy amphibian plane overdue on a flight between Japan and Okinawa. The plane was attached to the Navy Patrol Squadron at Iwakuni Air Base. Personal aboard the plane: Lt. Wallace R. Carter , Alameda,Cal.; Lt. (JG) Cecil F.Hackeny Jr. Birmingham, Ala.; Lt. (JG) William B. Hedrick, Alameda, Cal.; Lt. (JG) Wallace H. Wertz, Newport, Pa.; Ens. John D. McCathy, Olean, N.Y. Ens. Homer F. Trotter Jr., San Bernardino, Cal.; Ens. Berje Weramian , Corpus Christi, TX.; Douglas C. Campbell, Electronics Technician 2/c Boscobel, Wis.; Ira E. Crider, Telman 3/c Tyler, TX.; Jerrold D. Edwards, Aviation Electronics Technician 3/c Portland, Ore.; Ronald D. Graham Aviation Structural Mechanic 2/c Danora, Pa.; Donald D. Landon, Photographers Mate 3/c, and James E. Landon, Aviation Ordnance Man 2/c, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Laurence E. Stone, Aviation Electronics Man 1/c, Alameda, Cal.; Walter R. Raab, Aviation Machinist Mate, Hawthorne, Cal. The following two are Marines: Maj. James R. O'Moore, Corono Delmar, Cal.; Capt. Theodore R. Moore, Warren, Pa. There are a couple of errors in the artical. This is as it appears in the Stars & Stripes James LaFollett Omaha, Texas..." Contributed by Paul Schlagheck pjschlag@comcast.net [26OCT99]
TOKYO, July 11 (AP) Japanese volunteers who assisted in recovering the bodies of 17 Americans who were killed in a plane crash on Yaku Island received the thanks of the American government yesterday. In a letter to Rokusuke Kudo, chief of the forestery agency on the island, Vice Admiral W.M. Callaghan, Far East commander thanked the Japanese for aiding removing the bodies from the storm swept peak of the mountain island which juts 6,000 feet from the sea off southern Japan. Crashed Against Peak The Navy amphibious plane with 17 Marines and Naval personal aboard crashed against the side of the peak at the 5,500 foot level on June 9. Efforts to reach the site of the crash were delayed for more than a week due to bad weather and difficult mountain terrain. While the Navy struggled to reach the crashed plane via helicopters, ground parties of Japanese and U.S. service personnel attempted to reach the plane by land. When the death scene was finally reached the Japanese and Americans built crude bridges and primitive roads down the steep mountains to remove the bodies. At Ambo, a village at the foot of the peak the Japanese held traditional funeral services for the 17. Pacific Stars & Stripes, James LaFollett, Omaha, Tx, 10-19-99..."Contributed by Paul Schlagheck pjschlag@comcast.net [26OCT99]
"...Major James R. O'Moore (SEE: In Memorial for VP-47 lost friends June 9th, 1954) was my cousin. His mother, Sara Hultquist, was my mother's sister. His loss broke her heart. He was her only child. A picture of him in his uniform hangs on my family wall. I was just a baby when he was killed, but I have a picture of him holding me when I was just about 6-months old. I consider myself to be the keeper of his memory, as all other family members are now gone also. Until today, I had just the family account of the plane crash, along with the letter his mother wrote to my mother, telling her about his death..." Contributed by Kathy Bruckner Thompson ltkbt86@yahoo.com [21JUN2015]
"...56 years ago on June 9, 1954 we lost VP-47 BA-1 (my crew) of (SEE: In Memorial for VP-47 lost friends June 9th, 1954). I hope that over these years I have made a good life that the guys would be proud of. May they rest in peace..." Contributed by SCHLAGHECK, AT3 Paul pjschlag@comcast.net [10JUN2010]
  VP-47 "...Navy Bomber Seen on Peak - Publication Title: 13th Naval District Public Information Department Press Clippings, 1942-1960 - Content Source: NARA - Publication Number: P2012 - Date Range: Jan 1953-1955 - Reel Number: 0003..." WebSite: FootNote http://www.footnote.com/ [17AUG2008]
 VP-47 "...VP-47 - June 9, 1954...Publication Title: 13th Naval District Public Information Department Press Clippings, 1942-1960 - Content Source: NARA - Publication Number: P2012 - Date Range: Jan 1953-1955 - Reel Number: 0003 - WebSite: http://www.footnote.com/..." Forwarded by Stephen Miller f134kilmil@comcast.net [14AUG2008]
"...The USS Corson AVP-37 was assigned the task of going to the scene and undertake the recovery of the 17 bodies at the scene (crew and Marines aboard). The ship's M.O. and I, a corpsman HM2, were dropped by a chopper a mile or so from the scene. After that the weather closed in with rain, fog, and high winds. We spent about 4 days locating and bagging the remains. As we couldn't get lifted out, we hiked miles to a small lumbering camp and finally got a ride down the mountain on a little railway car. No engine, just gravity and a 2x4 used as a brake. The ship's Captain arranged with the lumber company to send people to the scene and get the bodies back down. Several days later, they arrived back on a string of lumber cars and we again went ashore to re-bag as they were in pretty shabby condition. The whole village turned out for a Shinto ceremony to honor the dead. This was a very moving experience with the bodies covered with the colors on a railway siding. The photo's were taken by the ship's photographer (believe it was John Pinkard). SEE: In Memorial for lost friends June 9th, 1954..." Contributed by Daryl Roalson HM2 LSuperior1@aol.com [21JAN2001]
 Mishap Photo's "...Photos 1&2 were taken where the train that brought them down from the mountain stopped so that the bags, which were in bad shape, could be re-bagged. I am towards the rear in the white hat bending over. The officer at left in the rear is Dr. Goulding, the MO from the USS Corson. He and I had the task of extricating the bodies on the mountain top and bagging them. No. 2 shows how the lumber camp workers tied the bags to poles to haul them several miles to a small village on the mountain. The rail line started there to bring them down..."
 Mishap Photo's "...Photos 1&2 were taken where the train that brought them down from the mountain stopped so that the bags, which were in bad shape, could be re-bagged. I am towards the rear in the white hat bending over. The officer at left in the rear is Dr. Goulding, the MO from the USS Corson. He and I had the task of extricating the bodies on the mountain top and bagging them. No. 2 shows how the lumber camp workers tied the bags to poles to haul them several miles to a small village on the mountain. The rail line started there to bring them down..."
 Mishap Photo's "...Photo 3 shows part of the crowd from Ambo village that turned out in the rain to attend the Shinto ceremony for the dead. To the far right is Dr. Goulding..."
 Mishap Photo's "...Photo 4 shows the bodies arranged on the small rail cars and covered with the flags ready to be pulled into the village. Again, about half way back and on the left is me checking things out..."
 Mishap Photo's "...Photo 5 shows all of the remains and more of the crowd..."
 Mishap Photo's "...Photo 6 shows our ship's officers on the right. The little railway engine that hauled the train down. The Shinto priest is in the center facing the altar and the bodies are directly behind..."
 Mishap Photo's "...Photo 7 shows one of our crew in the rearming boat securing the bodies for transport out to a small carrier that came to assist us. They took the remains to a military morgue in Japan to identify them and prepare them for the trip home..."
"...I was one of the survivors of the 6/9/54 crash of 1 Boat into Yaka Shima Island South of Japan. The crash on Yaku Shima Island was totalled with all 18 killed...ten of my regular crew and 8 passengers. The plane was 1-Boat and I think the last digits were 4779. It was a PBM-5 with APS-31 radar..." Contributed by Paul Schlagheck pjschlag@comcast.net
"...I should have been on BA-1 that crashed into Yaku Shima Island on June 9, l954 killing all on board. The plane was enroute to Hong Kong for a week of R&R. The reason I wasn't on it is that I didn't have enough money for a week of R&R so I backed out at the last minute. I was on the first PBM (84775) that found the wreckage. If it had been 200 feet to the right or left or higher it would have missed this Island. Sad day for all..." Contributed by C. O. Graversen CGraversen@AOL.COM [04FEB2000]
"VP-47 Mishap Summary Page"
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