After spending the last 37 years entombed in a glacier, two
Airmen were finally laid to rest in Arlington National
Cemetery.
Col. Wilfred B. Crutchfield and Lt. Col. Ivan E. O’Dell
received full military honors at their Dec. 7 burial ceremony, with
several family members in attendance.
“I appreciate that the Air Force never forgets its
own,” said Hayden Crutchfield, the colonel’s youngest
son. “We’re so grateful to the Air Force for taking the
time and effort to go and retrieve them. This gives an appropriate
level of honor for the sacrifice they made.”
The Airmen were flying home to McChord Air Force Base, Wash., in
their T-33 Shooting Star when they crashed into Mount Rainier April
15, 1968, some 10,800 feet above sea level. The wreckage and
remains were embedded in a glacier, preventing a recovery team from
reaching them.
Over time, parts of the glacier melted as it moved down the
mountain. In September 2004, a scientist found wreckage debris. Two
weeks later, teams from the National Park Service and the Air Force
services mortuary found and recovered remains of the missing
men.
“I never stopped believing they would find them,”
said Colonel O’Dell’s widow, Marjorie. “My
children were astonished when we got the phone call.”
The colonels both led very successful Air Force careers. Colonel
Crutchfield flew in three wars. Colonel O’Dell received the
Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Star for his aerial
achievements.
“Dad loved being a fighter pilot,” said Mr.
Crutchfield, who was 9 years old when his father died. “He
was larger than life. He’d come home in his wool uniform and
I’d jump in his arms. I still remember what it smelled
like.”
The families were impressed with the horse-drawn caisson, band
and members of the Air Force honor guard participating in the
funeral service.
The ceremony says something about how the military takes care of
its own and honors not only the fallen, but their families as well,
said Rev. Kendall Crutchfield, the colonel’s eldest son. He
also said the funeral is a way to gain some closure to losing his
father.
“We didn’t really get to say good-bye,”
Reverend Crutchfield said.
“Now we know where he is and can always come to visit him.
I’d never been to Arlington Cemetery, and to have my father
buried here, well you don’t get better than that.” [ANN
Salutes Senior Airman J.G. Buzanowski, AFPN]