Us Official Photographs

PT-19 Crash Burma

Captain Green Jungle Rescue, 19 March to 4 April 1945. A PT-19 on a search and rescue mission which crashed three minutes flying time from Shingbwiyang Air Field, Burma. Before the injured pilot (Captain James L. Green) could be evacuated from the hillside into which he crashed, rescue and medical parties had to pack trail for a day and a half to reach the scene of the accident. Carrying the injured pilot out over these tortuous trails was impossible, so a Detachment of Combat Engineers and a special ATC rescue crew were called in to help. Equipment, medical supplies and food had to be air dropped for two weeks while these detachments, together with a volunteer group from the 2d Troop Carrier Squadron, 443rd Group of the 10th Air Force, blasted and carved out a tiny level patch in the dense jungle narrow hilltop so that a helicopter could be flown in to evacuate the pilot. Pfc. J. Jefferson of Detroit, Mich., and Pfc. E. Williams of Ashville, N.C. both of 45th Eng. Reg. Gen. Services Group, operating gasoline powered buzz saw (dropped via parachute) in making the Helicopter Rescue strip.