Alaska Native Scouts Feted 67 Years After Rescuing Navy Crew
Sixteen Alaska Native men were honored for rescuing the crew of a U.S. Navy plane shot down by Soviet fighter jets nearly 70 years ago.
Stay updated with breaking news from Roger Slwooko. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
Sixteen Alaska Native men were honored for rescuing the crew of a U.S. Navy plane shot down by Soviet fighter jets nearly 70 years ago.
GAMBELL, Alaska (AP) — Bruce Boolowon, then a lean 20-year-old, and a group of friends were hunting for murre eggs in a walrus skin boat on a remote Alaska island in the Bering Strait when they saw a crippled airplane flying low. “Something was wrong,” Boolowon, now 87, recalled of that day in 1955. “They […]
Bruce Boolowon, then a lean 20-year-old, and a group of friends were hunting for murre eggs in a walrus skin boat on a remote Alaska island in the Bering Strait when they saw a crippled airplane flying low.
“I’m glad we did our duty as a guardsman.”
In 1955, a U.S. Navy P2V-5 Neptune maritime patrol aircraft had been attacked at about 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) by two Soviet MiG-15 fighters roaring out of nearby Siberia.