The White Falcon - 10.03.1967, Qupperneq 1

MEDICAL OFFICER PLEDGES SUPPORT—Senior Medical Officer
Captain Karl C. Weidemann (right) gives his Overseas Combined
Federal Campaign pledge card to Commander Alice Williams (Nurse
Corps), liaison officer for the station medical department. Keymen
for the department is Hospitalman Apprentice Ronald Easton (left)
and Chief Hospital Corpsman Dennis French. (WHITE FALCON
STAFF PHOTO)
Pilot Rescued From
Greenland Ice Cap
The civilian pilot of the downed
twin-engine Aero Commander that
was forced to land late on Mon-
day, Feb. 27, was rescued on
March 1.
George W. Grosfoehne of Rock-
ville, Md., a Washington suburb,
was rescued some 50 hours later
by a S-61 Helicopter, after a pre-
vious attempt was made by a ski-
equipped Hercules C-130. Tie
C-130, attached to the 17th Troop
Carrier, Detachment ONE, Sond-
restrom, Greenland, made a land-
ing near the crash site. Due to a
damaged ski suffered while land-
ing, the craft was unable to take
off.
The Danish operated helicopter
also removed the crew-members of
the C-130 from the crash site.
The World War II pilot was
removed to an Air Force radar
station some 55 miles away. At-
tempts to repair the damaged ski
of the C-130 were underway this
week.
Patrol Squadron TEN, sta-
tioned here, flew a mission to the
crash site late on Feb. 27. Com-
manding the ready duty P3B
Orion aircraft, Lieutenant Nor-
man R. Zanin and his 11 man
crew provided radio communica-
tions between the downed pilot
and other rescue aircraft in tht
area.
Grosfoehne asked his rescuers
to notify his family and his com-
pany that he was “okay and in
good spirits.”
Later reports said that his air-
craft was not seriously damaged
and he was uninjured, but was
possibly frostbitten.
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WHITE FALCON
Deadline
Mondays — 3 p. m.
LtCol. R. I. Jorgensen
Presented Air Force
Commendation Medal
Lieutenant Colonel Richard I.
Jorgensen, Iceland Defense Force
sub area petroleum officer, was
presented the Air Force Commen-
dation Medal with First Oak Leaf
Cluster last week by Rear Admi-
ral Frank B. Stone, commander,
Iceland Defense Force.
The award was presented to
Colonel Jorgensen as a result of
his meritorious service as Chief,
Food Service, Laundry and Dry
Cleaning Branch, Directorate of
Supply and Services, Deputy
Command, Ent AFB, Colo., dur-
ing the period from March 1, 1963
LtCol. Jorgensen
to Dec. 1. 1966.
Colonel Jorgensen entered the
Air Force as an Aviation Cadet
in November of 1943 and received
B-29 flight engineer training at
Amarillo and Hondo AFB’s, Tex.
Besides his present assignment
here at Keflavik, Colonel Jorgen-
sen, has seen overseas duty in
Alaska, Germany, Okinawa,
Greenland, and the Philippines
Islands.
The Colonel’s wife, Evelyn and
their three sons reside in Colo-
rado Springs, Colo. The Colonel
is Chairman of the Committee for
Boy Scout Troop 364 of the Trans-
Atlantic Council and lists among
his pastimes, golfing, hunting,
and fishing.
The Federal Division of Hous-
ing Research has issued and dis-
tributed 91,000 copies of a pam-
phlet on the technique of hamma-
ring a nail.
THE
WHITE
(BCDBTl
U. S. NAVAL STATION, KEFLAVIK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ICELAND
Volume VIII, Number 10 Friday, March 10, 1967
Air Force Pilot
Wins In Lonely
Game of Chance
One Is Vietnam Veteran
Three Narines Promoted In
Ceremonies Held March 3
A loud thump and the warning
glow of a landing gear trouble
light turned what had started
as a normal two hour training
flight for 57th Fighter Inter-
ceptor Squadron pilot, Captain
Maurice V. Van Dusen Jr., into
a lonely game of chance.
The Wichita, Kan., captain, was
guiding his F-102 home for a
landing at Keflavik. As he
Capt. Van Dusen
dropped the landing gear, a loud
thump drew his attention to the
warning indicator which signi-
fied that the left main landing
gear was not down and locked.
Then the hydraulic systems pres-
sure dropped to zero.
An emergency was declared
and another F-102 was requested
to join up and make a visual
check of the landing gear. The
wingman reported that all gear
was down but the hydraulic as-
tuator had over extended and the
side brace which holds the left
main gear down had separated
and was dangling from the strut.
Captain Van Dusen knew that
if the gear collapsed on landing
the aircraft would probably slide
off the runway and suffer severe
damage. Although crash and fire
equipment were standing by, Cap-
tain Van Dusen decided against
requesting the foaming of the
runway due to the strong winds.
He selected runway 12 for bis
landing so he could use the strong
left crosswind on that runway to
his advantage.
A normal approach was flown
but the plane was intentionally
landed in a slight crab fashion to
force the left main gear outboard
against the external pylon fuel
tank. The landing was perfect
and the fighter stopped 4,500
feet from its touchdown point.
The Keflavik Squares will hold
their regular Sunday square
dancing March 12 at 2:30 in the
Captain Sparks Rod & Gun Club.
All those interested in square dan-
cing or taking lessons (free), are
welcome to attend the Sunday
afternoon session.
Three Marines attached to the
Marine Barracks Keflavik were
promoted in ceremonies Friday,
March 3. Commanding the Ma-
rines here, Lieutenant Colo-
nel David J. Hytrek, con-
gratulated the men and told
them that the need for non-com-
missioned officers in the Marine
Corps today is greater than ever
and encouraged them to keep up
the good work and work hard
toward their next step on the pro-
motion ladder. Promoted to Lance
Corporal were Steven A. Young
and Joseph L. Nocera. A Viet-
nam veteran, Elvin C. Mitchell,
was promoted to Corporal.
Twenty-one year old Young en-
listed into the Corps in January
1965. Assigned to guard duty
here, the newly promoted Lance
Corporal graduated from Hunting-
ton Beach Union High School, Hun-
tington Beach, Calif., in 1962. Fol-
lowing his graduation he entered
Orange Coast Junior College also
at Huntington Beach. The Cali-
fornia youth arrived two months
ago for duty here. His parents
Lewis and Virginia Tarter reside
at Huntington Beach.
Planning to return to college
upon his discharge from the
Marine Corps, Lance Corporal
Nocera attended Rockland Com-
munity College, Suffern, N. Y.
Prior to earning his Associate
Degree, the 22-year-old youth
graduated from Suffern High
School. His interest in foreign
languages has inspired him to
continue his education at an up-
state New York college. The
marine resided with his parents,
Joseph and Lena Nocera of
Suffern, prior to entering the
service.
Corporal Mitchell of Keyes, Calif.,
joined the Marine outfit shortly
after graduation from Turlock
High School at Keyes. This young
Marine was ordered to Vietnam
after serving five months in
Hawaii. While in Vietnam, the
20-year-old youth served with the
artillery unit of Battery “I”,
Third Battalion, 12th Marines,
1st Marine Brigade. While at-
tached to this unit, he was part
of an eight man gun crew that
operated the 105-howitzer can-
non, shelling 42-pound shells
against the Viet Cong. Also
during his Vietnam tour, he
served with the Mortar Battery,
2nd Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rd
Marine Division, working a 107
howitzer cannon, providing artil-
lery coverage for the men on the
front lines.
The war veteran operated in the
Phu Bai area in South Vietnam.
Working 30 miles south of the
North Vietnam border and 360
miles north of Saigon, the artil-
lery man earned three war rib-
bons, including the Navy Unit
Commendation Medal. Young Mit-
chell was cited “For outstanding
heroism in action against enemy
Viet Cong Forces during the as-
sault and seizure of the Van Tuong
Penninsula, Vietnam from August
18 to 23 1965.” His 150-man unit
was part of a landing team that
destroyed an enemy force of 2,000
Viet Cong. The citation reads on
saying, “Continuing their attack
during the ensueing days, the
force fought its way forward,
through a maze of caves, tunnels
and fortified localities and over
rugged jungle terrain to secure the
penninsula.”
After serving from April to
December, 1965, Mitchell’s unit
was transferred to Okinawa. Ser-
ving there until April of last
year, the young veteran was
transferred to the Caribbean area
following a brief training period
at Camp LeJeune, N. C. Prior to
being ordered to Iceland, Mitchell
served again at Camp LeJeune.
His parents Elvin and Mary
Mitchell reside at Keyes.
“WORK HARD”—Those were the words of Lieutenant Colonel David
J. Hytrek in promotion ceremonies held at the Marine Barracks Kefla-
vik last Friday. Promoted to Corporal was Elvin C. Mitchell (left) and
to Lance Corporal were Joseph L. Nocera (center) and Steven A.
Young. (WHITE FALCON STAFF PHOTO)