[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 15, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING THE 68TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATION OF THE BAKERS CREEK AIR 
                 CRASH IN AUSTRALIA DURING WORLD WAR II

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                        HON. TODD RUSSELL PLATTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 15, 2011

  Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the Bakers Creek 
Memorial ceremony being held today at the Selfridge Gate to Arlington 
National Cemetery at Fort Myer, Virginia.
  Sixty-eight years ago today, a Boeing B-17C bomber flying with forty-
one soldiers and airmen from Bakers Creek, Australia to New Guinea 
crashed upon takeoff, killing forty individuals. Due to the Army's 
subsequent classification of the event, the victims' families were not 
informed about the details of their loved ones' peril until recently. 
Thanks to the persistence of the Bakers Creek Memorial Association and 
the victims' families, the events of Bakers Creek are not only known 
today, but are honored by a monument in Arlington.
  I am proud to have joined the effort to bring the Bakers Creek 
monument from the Australian Embassy to a permanent home on American 
soil. Pennsylvanians have a strong connection to this monument, as six 
of the forty victims of the tragic plane crash called Pennsylvania 
home. Many of my Congressional colleagues from Pennsylvania, and both 
Senators, actively supported the effort to move this monument to its 
rightful home in Arlington. The Pennsylvania State Legislature also 
passed a resolution designating June 14th as Bakers Creek Memorial Day.
  The distinguished speaker at today's ceremony at Selfridge Gate, the 
Honorable L. Jerry Hansen, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the 
Army for Installations and Environment, graciously accepted the 
monument two years ago on behalf of the Secretary of the Army. The 
Department of the Army pledged to protect and honor the monument at 
Fort Myer, as a permanent tribute to the brave soldiers and airmen who 
perished at Bakers Creek, as well as their families.
  I am pleased to thank Army Secretary John McHugh and Fort Myer 
Garrison Commander, Col. Carl R. Coffman, for arranging this 
appropriate and dignified memorial ceremony--with high standards of 
military honor. I am confident that this ceremony will be repeated each 
year on the anniversary date of the tragic crash.
  I extend my deepest sympathies to the family members of the heroic 
American warriors who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our 
nation during World War II. But for their selfless and courageous 
service, the freedoms we enjoy today would not be. I and all Americans 
are forever indebted to these true heroes.

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