Remembering: Moses Lake community honors fallen servicemembers
1st Vice Cmdr. Rex Rogers of American Legion Joe R. Hooper Post 209 plays “Taps” for the Memorial Day service at the 87 Forgotten Heroes Memorial in Moses Lake.
Sam Fletcher/Columbia Basin Herald
Former Staff Sgt. Ralph Boyden leads the line of roses to place for each of the fallen servicemembers at the Memorial Day service at the 87 Forgotten Heroes Memorial in Moses Lake on Monday.
Ruezhan Rogers rings the Bell of Honor 87 times, one for each person listed on the 87 Forgotten Heroes Memorial, then seven more times for those who have responded, served, protected, defended, sacrificed, suffered and lost their life at the Memorial Day service in Moses Lake.
Vietnam Veteran Bernie Erickson poses before his military truck at the Memorial Day service at the 87 Forgotten Heroes Memorial in Moses Lake.
“When Memorial Day comes around, I think — I’m Vietnam era; I didn’t go to Vietnam — I think of my buddies that went there, and I think of all the soldiers who come after them, not by name, but as a group,” said 1st Vice Cmdr. Rex Rogers of American Legion Joe R. Hooper Post 209. “It’s one day that we can really thank them for their sacrifices.”
To a solo piano recording of “Amazing Grace” coming from Vietnam Veteran Bernie Erickson’s military truck, about 50 veterans, family and others gathered at the 87 Forgotten Heroes Memorial at the Port of Moses Lake on Monday morning.
Grant County Fire District 5 Commissioner Buck Naff sang the national anthem.
During the Korean War, 106 servicemembers of several military branches won a drawing to be recipients of a free trip home for the holidays. The flight — Air Force C-124A Globemaster, dubbed Operation Sleigh Ride — took off from the Port of Moses Lake early in the morning of Dec. 20, 1952.
Within seconds, mechanical problems forced the plane to lose altitude. It veered left and crashed near the end of the runway.
Through an opening at the back of the plane, 28 men flew out, escaped or were dragged to safety by fellow survivors who kept returning to the burning plane to rescue the others. In total, 87 men perished.
Larry Godden, general manager for Million Air Moses Lake, an aviation services provider, took to the pulpit for the opening prayer, thanking those who sacrificed their lives and to strengthen and protect military personnel and their families. Next, he recited Donald Trump’s speech from Memorial Day 2020.
Godden acknowledged Trump’s “mixed respect.”
“Politics are not about personalities, they’re about policy,” he said.
Godden then read off the names of all 87 servicemembers who perished that day in 1952, while Ruezhan Rogers rang a Bell of Honor for each of them. Led by Ralph Boyden, a staff sergeant and one of the first on scene of the crash, a line of attendees formed to place roses for each of the fallen soldiers.
Afterward, seven more tolls rang out, honoring those who have responded, served, protected, defended, sacrificed and suffered. The seventh, and final toll, was for those who lost their lives doing so.
American Legion Joe R. Hooper Post 209 Adjutant Jim Beck performed the 21 Gun Salute, and Rogers played “Taps.”
Godden closed the service with a story, a song and a prayer.
The person who alerted Boyden of the crash was Airman O.C. Smith, who went on to be a famous R&B, jazz and soul musician, Godden said. He played his hit song, “Little Green Apples.”
Finally, he thanked Mike Bellgardt, the airport electrician who studied the tragedy and formed a committee composed of the Moses Lake Lions Activities Foundation, Columbia Basin Job Corps and the Port of Moses Lake to build the 87 Forgotten Heroes Memorial in 2012.
It was all done with donations, Rogers said, and it wasn’t cheap.
“This community is extremely generous,” he said.
