Hot as Hell recovery operations from August 2008
Steve Chambers, nephew of Flight Officer Sheldon Chambers (crew of “Hot As Hell B-24 J), today received the letter from Ambassador Charles A. Ray, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/MIA Affairs, informing him that August 2008 (tentatively) is the date currently planned for beginning an excavation operation at the “Hot as Hell” crash site in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Rear Admiral Donna Crisp, Commander of JPAC will be taking the final timing decision.
As a group, the “Hot as Hell” families have put up an amazing campaign to recover the bodies of their relatives who died in the plane crash in world war two.
On 8th April, Lisa Phillips, President of the American humanitarian organization World War II Families for the Recovery of the Missing had welcomed the March 19 announcement by Rear Admiral Donna L. Crisp, the Commander of the US Defense Department s Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) that JPAC will conduct on-site surveys of World War II crash sites in India beginning this year.
Meanwhile, “Hot as Hell” families have taken up a campaign for official recognition and funding of the work of Clayton Kuhles, the discoverer of American crash sites in India. Matt Poole, the military historian who helped Clayton identify the wreckage Clayton sums it up reasons why Clayton’s work deserves funding.
“To emphasize Clayton’s unique skills as a mountaineer and in working with the local people might be positive points to raise. Clayton, as proven by his legacy in the remote and rugged terrain of India and Burma, has repeatedly met with success. His website photos and videos clearly illustrate his prowess in working with native people and, despite the geographic and cultural obstacles (including porters who don’t even own proper shoes for snow trekking), in reaching wreck sites where human remains are evident.
Add to that, perhaps, something along the lines of how it would be cheaper to pay Clayton than to fund a complicated JPAC search team. He knows what he’s doing, or, if faced with challenges, how to improvise and press on. He has never run into any difficulty in passing through government checkpoints. Experience, baby, coupled with a track record of success!
One more point to emphasize might be the honorable, selfless nature of his endeavors, all of which have been 100% self-funded. He has gone to great lengths to share his information with the US government and with next-of-kin, proving that his intent has always been humanitarian, not self-serving or profit-oriented.
The last thing that comes to mind right now is to mention that the many senior Indian officials who endorse the recovery missions with great enthusiasm are keenly aware of Clayton’s work. It is obvious that his stellar efforts have impressed these distinguished Indian political and military people. Further work by Clayton, then, could be seen as a logical continuation of his success story.”
However the US authorities are in no mood to fund Clayton citing problems of oversight that private contractors in this area pose. They also feel that reimbursing him for his expenses would spoil the “humanitarian” aspect of his work.
Stung by the replies from US authorities, “Hot as Hell” families are exploring other ways. Tommy Oxford, nephew of the Bombadier 1st Lt Robert E. Oxford (crew of “Hot As Hell B-24 J) has come up with the idea of donating “economic stimulus payment” from the U.S. Government. Say’s Tommy Oxford “to me this is “found” money needing a good place to be spent. I will send the amount I receive to Clayton Kuhles; I choose to stimulate and help him to go back to India to locate more lost aircraft. I would like to ask each of you to consider giving at least a portion of your stimulus check to Clayton as well. As a group we can help fund another trip for Clayton. Hopefully he will be able to find more aircraft and the relatives of the crew of those planes will have the same pleasure that we do of knowing that after 64 years their loved ones have been found.”
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