The only surviving member of a search-and-rescue party that responded to a crashed U.S. Navy plane on St. Lawrence Island in 1955 was officially recognized and celebrated this week.
Bruce Boolowon talks with Harriet Penayah at the conclusion of the ceremony in Gambell on Tuesday. Boolowon was a member of Alaska Army National Guard’s First Scouts who rescued Navy members whose plane was shot down and crashed on St. Lawrence Island in 1955.
Soviet MiG fighter jets swarmed a Kodiak-based P2V-5 Neptune during a routine maritime patrol over the Bering Sea on June 22, 1955, scoring hits with cannon fire that forced the plane down on St. Lawrence Island. , the Alaska National Guard was finally able, this week, to recognize Boolowon and the families of the original rescuers in Gambell for their exceptional act of courage and compassion.The 1955 incident was a tragic mistake, but without the prompt rescue by the Gambell guardsmen, some members of the injured crew would have probably died, according to one survivor’sdecades later, likely creating an international crisis between the world’s two rival superpowers.
At least two Soviet MiGs — accounts of how many exactly vary — appeared suddenly and strafed the Neptune with machine-gun fire that tore into the plane and set the left engine afire.Pilot Lt. Richard Fischer earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for successfully crash landing his Kodiak-based P2V-5 Neptune patrol bomber on St. Lawrence Island after it was struck by cannon fire from Soviet MiG fighter jets on June 22, 1955.
Villagers from Gambell rescued the crew of a Kodiak-based P2V-5 Neptune patrol bomber that crash landed on St. Lawrence Island after it was struck by cannon fire from Soviet MiG fighter jets on June 22, 1955. Alaska Military Youth Academy cadets Matthew Kallash, left, and Caleb Hall doze off on the flight to Gambell.
Gambell comes into view from a landing Alaska Air National Guard HC-130J aircraft on March 28, 2023. Donald Ungott, 9, receives a medal in honor of his grandfather, Donald Ungott, who was a member of the Alaska Army National Guard’s First Scouts who rescued Navy members in 1955. Bowen and his staff spent years trying to track down Navy records of the incident and cross reference information with National Guard files to confirm the individuals involved.
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