Message posted by gary on August 01, 2001 at 17:14:20 PST:

From the minutes of the Nevada Legislature, March 15, 2001:

Assemblywoman Buckley moved that the following remarks be entered in the Journal.

Assemblyman Brown:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. SJR 9 urges Congress to declare the Mt. Charleston crash site as a National Monument to the “Silent Heroes of the Cold War.” It’s an emergency measure because we’re attempting to transmit to the Nevada Congressional delegation in a timely fashion. There’s hope to secure some federal funding to establish and erect the monument on the mountain. This would also honor those who gave their lives for our national security during the Cold War.

It is a pleasure for me to make a few comments regarding SJR 9. My family has a little bit of personal history or connection with this and we also have known Steve Ririe for some time and it’s a pleasure to have him here. Our esteemed Senator from District 6 in Clark County prepared a Powerpoint presentation and has permitted me to use the photographs, a copy of which has been placed on your desks. I would just like to roll through them quickly and explain the genesis of this and inform you of some of the compelling human interest stories behind this.

This really came about through the secret development of the U2 spy plane back in the early 1950’s, the proliferation of the nuclear arsenal of Russia was beginning. We learned of that and felt that for United States security interests we needed to be able to monitor that development. From that came the development of the U2 spy plane. In the early 1950’s, flights from “Skunk Works” in Burbank, California began whereby the military secretly shuttled scientists and technicians and members of the CIA from “Skunk Works” up to Area 51, which, at that time, was codenamed “Watertown.” On November 17th, 1955, a C-53 left Burbank, California. It carried nine passengers, and five crewmembers. They, again, were headed to Watertown, Nevada, on what was called a business trip.

These flights were to be by sight and instrument only due to the secrecy of the matter. The flight pattern brought them up from southern California. This was a new flight path. They intended to save ten minutes. They would fly west of the Spring Mountain Range, west of Mt. Charleston. However, that morning they had a tailwind blowing from the southwest to the northeast. When they arrived at Goodsprings, they changed their course, and at that time, the tailwind became a crosswind and began blowing them eastward. They entered a snowstorm at the time, and of course, flying by sight and instrument is complicated when flying in a snowstorm. They were not able to view the mountains and were unaware they had blown to the east of Mt. Charleston. In an effort to maintain safety, they thought to move further west of the mountain range, so they turned west and, unbeknownst to them, were flying straight into the mountain. They entered the box canyon of Kyle Canyon and flew upward and found themselves trapped in the canyon and immediately began to execute a spiral climb in order to get out. As you are aware, they did not make it. They impacted 50 feet from the ridge, which is just a short distance from the top of Mt. Charleston.

It was quite a tragedy. If anyone has climbed to the site, there is a sobering feeling that you experience to be there. You can see the ridge, which is the crash site of the plane, and the impact site. The plane immediately broke up on impact. It was not anticipated there was any suffering by these individuals—either unconsciousness or death probably resulted immediately. The crash site could be seen by the military, on and off, throughout the day after. The military dropped some snowshoe teams in there and a snow jeep, but that was rendered totally ineffective. The military contacted the Clark County Sheriff’s Posse, who had a horse posse, to go up to the mountain. This is where it becomes a little personal for me. My grandfather is Merle Franer, and he was a member of that posse. It took about 24 hours to get to the site. They went without food and sleep. Upon return, my grandfather was briefed and told this was classified information, that the public would be told it was just a business flight to Indian Springs. The only thing he could say was that it was the most difficult 24 hours he ever experienced in his life.

There is a photograph of the mountain ridge, with my grandfather and Vernon Bunker, who is a former legislator, up there on what is known as the East-West Ridge, which is close to the crash site. They were familiar with the mountain and were able to make that difficult and treacherous trip up the mountain. There was so much snow at times they could not remain in their saddles. They had to get off their animals and hold on to the tails and were literally dragged through the snow.

Merle Franer, interestingly enough, helped form the first scout troop in Las Vegas and the Boulder Dam Area Council. That becomes important, because many, many scouts, most of them in southern Nevada, have made the trip—the climb up Mt. Charleston. Many scouts and many families have made their way up the mountain and have been profoundly affected when they arrived at the crash site.

Steve Ririe is a scoutmaster, he is sitting to the right of me. He made this trip with some of his scouts and was profoundly influenced by it. He thought about the families of these men who had perished on the mountain and wondered what they knew about this. It’s a tragedy that many died in their youth. They were committed to the United States and the national protection. Part of the other tragedy is that many of these family members did not know the circumstances of their father’s or their son’s or their brother’s death. Actually, many of them had the understanding that there was significant flight error or negligence or even gross negligence. It’s commendable to Mr. Ririe, who took the initiative to go out and find descendants of these deceased military and scientists, and apprise them of the true facts surrounding the crash. For many of them, it has been a healing balm to them to know that there was a snowstorm, with severe conditions, and that there wasn’t gross negligence on behalf of the pilots. We express our appreciation to Mr. Ririe for having undertaken that effort and bringing solace to many of those who have suffered.

The monument is meant to honor those who suffered through the Cold War. For whatever reason. There were many covert operations. People died. It wasn’t necessarily a war of bullets and bombs, but it was a silent and cold war. And there are many who died, many families who suffered from that. They are who this monument is intended to honor. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Roll call on Senate Joint Resolution No. 9:

Yeas—38.

Nays—None.

Excused—Berman, Humke, Marvel, Nolan—4.

Senate Joint Resolution No. 9 having received a constitutional majority, Mr. Speaker declared it passed.

Resolution ordered transmitted to the Senate.

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