Why Moscow apologized for shooting down a plane near this Alaskan island

Alaska Guardsmen Rescue Navy Crew After Soviet Shootdown

Soviet jets shot down a U. S. Navy plane over the Bering Strait on June 22, 1955.

The Neptune patrol aircraft burst into flames after cannon fire hit it, forcing a crash landing on St. Lawrence Island.

Sixteen Alaska National Guardsmen, all Siberian Yupik men from Gambell, rushed to help when they saw the crash. They took the hurt crew to their village in walrus-hide boats.

Thanks to these brave men, all eleven Navy crew lived. Moscow even said sorry and paid for half the damage.

The bronze plaque at John Apangalook Memorial High School tells this Cold War tale that few know about.

Navy Plane Takes Off From Kodiak During Cold War

A P2V-5 Neptune with 11 crew members left Kodiak Naval Station on June 22, 1955. Lieutenant Richard Fischer led the team on what seemed like a normal mission.

They needed to check lighthouses, buoys, and ice in the Bering Strait. The plane flew at 8,000 feet about 40 miles west of St. Lawrence Island. They helped supply ships heading through the Arctic Ocean for DEW Line building.

These Cold War flights were risky, as Soviets had shot down several American planes between 1950 and 1970.

Soviet Fighters Attack Without Warning

Two MiG-15 fighters suddenly showed up next to the Neptune. The Soviet pilots opened fire with their 23mm and 37mm guns at the American plane.

Lieutenant Fischer watched as bullets tore through his aircraft.

The attack hurt three crew members: Ensign David Assard got shrapnel in his hand and back, while AT3 Benko and AQ2 Lerg had similar wounds. The left engine caught fire from direct hits.

Fischer quickly dove into clouds just 100 feet below and turned toward American territory.

Damaged Plane Struggles Toward Safety

Fischer shut down the burning engine but flames kept spreading across the wing. Navigator Assard, despite his wounds, figured out their position with damaged gear.

Most electronics stopped working after a circuit breaker took a direct hit. The crew faced a tough choice: crash at sea or try for land.

Fischer knew half his men didn’t have survival suits and one life raft was destroyed, so he pushed toward land. The Neptune broke through clouds at 1,500 feet with St. Lawrence Island finally visible ahead.

Crash Landing Causes Fiery Explosion

Fischer made a belly landing on tundra about 8 miles south of Gambell village.

The rough ground tore into the plane during the crash, breaking open fuel tanks stored in the bomb bay. These tanks blew up into a huge fireball that covered much of the aircraft.

Six more crew members got severe burns from the blast and flames. The Soviet fighters kept circling overhead, watching the burning wreck on American soil.

Local Guardsmen Spot The Crash During Hunting

Staff Sergeant Clifford Iknokinok and three other First Scout Battalion members hunted seals nearby when they heard the troubled engine noise.

Private Bruce Boolowon, just 20 years old, collected eggs when he noticed the plane’s unhealthy sound passing overhead. The guardsmen saw black smoke rising from behind hills near their village.

They watched as Soviet fighters circled above the crash site.

All 16 guardsmen were Siberian Yupik men serving in the Alaska National Guard’s 297th Infantry Scout Battalion.

Yupik Guardsmen Rush To Help On Their Own

Iknokinok and the hunters headed straight to the crash despite Soviet planes still overhead. They needed more help and gear, so Iknokinok started back toward Gambell.

On his way, he met other First Scout Battalion members already coming to help. No commander told them to do this rescue mission.

The guardsmen acted on their own, crossing miles of open water in umiaks.

These local boats made from walrus hide or bearded seal skin with wooden frames carried them quickly to the crash site.

Rescuers Find Hurt Sailors As Enemy Planes Circle

The guardsmen found all 11 crew members alive but hurt: four with gunshot wounds, six with bad burns, and one mostly OK. Seven sailors had the worst injuries from burns and shrapnel.

The Soviet MiG fighters kept circling overhead during the entire rescue, making an already tense situation worse. The guardsmen loaded the hurt men into their umiaks for travel across the water.

This rescue happened just 40 miles from Soviet territory during one of the most dangerous times of the Cold War.

Gambell Villagers Turn Church Into Emergency Clinic

Guardsmen carried the hurt sailors on stretchers up from the beach to Gambell village. June Walunga, who lived there, remembered seeing them arrive with bandages on their arms and shoulders.

The whole community joined the effort to help the wounded at the Presbyterian church. A nurse in the village gave critical medical care for two days straight.

The people of Gambell worked knowing Soviet aircraft might come back at any moment.

Military Plane Takes Wounded To Anchorage For Care

A military transport plane landed about 12 hours after the crash to pick up the hurt crew. All 11 sailors flew to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage for medical care.

The seven most badly hurt crew members later moved to Oakland Naval Hospital in California for special treatment. Photos showed their faces covered with burns and hands swollen from injuries.

Thanks to the quick rescue and medical help from the Yupik guardsmen, all 11 crew members lived through the ordeal.

Cold War Fight Leads To Rare Soviet Sorry

President Eisenhower talked about the attack in a speech just one day after it happened. The Soviet Union did something unusual: they said sorry and admitted the attack was a mistake.

The American government asked for $724,947 to pay for the damaged plane. Soviet officials offered to pay half that amount, which the U.S. took.

Alaska newspapers covered the story for days as tensions between the big powers heated up once again.

Heroes Finally Get Their Medals After 68 Years

In November 1955, Master Sergeant Willis Walunga and Staff Sergeant Clifford Iknokinok received Honorary Naval Aviator designations in Washington. The other 14 guardsmen got thank you letters from the Navy.

Brigadier General John Noyes gave them letters of commendation, the only awards available for peacetime service back then.

On March 28, 2023, the Alaska National Guard awarded the Alaska Heroism Medal to Corporal Bruce Boolowon, now 87 and the last surviving rescuer.

Family members of the 15 deceased guardsmen received posthumous medals at a ceremony in Gambell with over 250 people attending.

Visiting St. Lawrence Island Sites, Alaska

You’ll need to contact Sivuqaq, Inc. at (907) 985-5826 before visiting Gambell to arrange your trip and get a land crossing permit ($50-$100 fee) to leave the village limits.

The community of 640 primarily Siberian Yupik people is 200 miles west of Nome on St. Lawrence Island’s northwest cape.

Bering Air flies there from Nome in 50 minutes.

This remote village was where Alaska National Guardsmen rescued Navy crewmen after their plane was shot down by Soviet fighters in 1955.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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