[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 8904]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           IN MEMORY OF STAFF SERGEANT ROBERT DALE VAN FOSSEN

  (Mr. CRAWFORD asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. CRAWFORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in memory of Staff Sergeant 
Robert Dale Van Fossen of the Army National Guard and celebrate his 
return home after more than half a century.
  In November 1952, Staff Sergeant Van Fossen boarded an aircraft and 
took off from McChord Air Base in Tacoma, Washington, to Elmendorf Air 
Force Base in Alaska. In midflight, the plane disappeared in bad 
weather near Middleton Island in the Gulf of Alaska. Although some 
wreckage was found, no remains were recovered, and the Department of 
Defense notified the victims' families that they would have no remains 
to bury.
  Van Fossen's parents held a memorial service for their son in 
Greenbrier at the Macedonia Baptist Church. Though all hope seemed 
lost, the Van Fossen family kept trying to solve the mystery.
  For many years, they made efforts to learn about the crash. His 
sister Wilma Jean shared stories about it with her son Kevin Caid, and 
Kevin Caid began to seek as much information as he could regarding his 
late uncle.
  In June 2012, on a training mission, a Black Hawk Army National Guard 
unit discovered the wreckage only 12 miles away from the original crash 
site of the C-124. After closer inspection of the spot, it was 
determined it was indeed the missing plane from 1952.
  Finally, in March 2016, Staff Sergeant Robert Dale Van Fossen's 
remains were confirmed found in Alaska. Along with the news of his 
remains being found, the family was informed that he would be returning 
home.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to say that Staff Sergeant Robert Dale Van 
Fossen finally returned home last month and is now at last buried next 
to his sister Wilma Jean Caid at the Cleburne County Memorial Gardens.

                          ____________________