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Oct
10
Dear
Mr. & Mrs. Sadler -
Let
me introduce myself. I am the Radar Officer that was on
Ham's crew. Thru the chance of fate I wasn't on the flight
when Ham crashed, but I had lived with him for nearly
a year and we had become fast friends.
I
want to tell you about the crash and give you what information
I have. First I want to say that there is no doubt in
my mind but that he is dead. The crash was unavoidable
and there is no doubt he went down with the ship. One
man got out alive and he made the statement that there
wasn't any use in looking for the rest of them. Here is
what happened to the best of my knowledge.
One
engine was on fire when they crashed. The plane was pretty
well broken up in the crash because there was much wreckage
and much debris floating in the area even tho' the plane
itself wasn't seen and evidently sank immediately. Another
plane circled the area within a very few minutes after
the accident and a surface vessel was at the scene within
half an hour. They picked up one survivor and the body
of one other man. No one else was seen. There are no eye
witnesses except for the one survivor. He is still in
the hospital on Saipan and I haven't talked to him personally.
The
Pilot, Capt. L. H. Devine, was a very good pilot and if
anything could possibly have been done I'm sure he could
have done it.
The
crash occurred at 12:20 P.M. Wednesday Oct 3rd about 15
miles southwest of Tinian and 8 miles west of Aguijan.
All of his personal possessions have been taken care of
and you should have them in the near future.
If
you have any questions or if I can help you in any way
please don't hesitate to write me.
Sincerely,
Roland E. Cedarholm
1st Lt, A.C.
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