[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 10 (Friday, January 25, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E67]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO ``HOT AS HELL''

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. GEORGE HOLDING

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 25, 2013

  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, on January 25, 1944 a B-24 assigned to the 
Air Force's 425th Bombardment Squadron set out on a resupply mission to 
Chabua, India from Kunming, China as part of the Pacific campaign in 
World War II. Tragically this plane named ``Hot as Hell''--and its 
crew--never reached their final destination.
  I rise to honor the 69th anniversary of the fatal crash that took the 
lives of the eight crew members proudly serving in the United States 
Air Force. Extreme weather conditions caused the formation that day to 
separate and eventually led to the downing of five B-24's--two of which 
were not immediately recovered.
  For years the families of those brave servicemen remained without 
answers and closure. In the post-war years, the Army conducted search 
operations in an attempt to locate the downed aircraft but failed to 
discover any signs of the aircraft. Eventually, all the members of the 
crew--1st Lt. William A. Swanson, F/O Sheldon L. Chambers, 1st Lt. 
Irwin Zaetz, 1st Lt. Robert E. Oxford, SSgt. Harry B. Queen, SSgt. 
Charles D. Ginn, Sgt. Alfred H. Gerrans, Jr., and Sgt. James A. 
Hinson--had their names inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at the 
Manila American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines.
  In 2006, over sixty years after the fact, the families of those 
airmen received some closure. Arizona native Clayton Kuhles, who has 
dedicated part of his life to locating and recovering missing-in-action 
US airmen from World War II in China, Burma, and India, successfully 
located the aircraft that went down in the mountains of northeast 
India. This incredible discovery is one example of the work Mr. Kuhles 
continues to do on behalf of those families and friends who lost loved 
ones defending our nation.

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