Research Catalog

Title

Cold sun : the search for World War II airmen lost in a Tibetan glacier / William H. Jordan ; foreword by Mac Thornberry.

Author

Jordan, William H.

Publication

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, [2023]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xvi, 392 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps; 27 cm.

Summary

" In January 1944, a US Army Air Corps transport, en route to its home base in India, crashed into a snowfield in Tibet, killing all crew members. Because of the remote location and fierce winter weather, the aircraft was covered by heavy snowfall. The snowfield glaciated, completely hiding the aircraft until its accidental discovery by a Tibetan hunter in 1993. A nearby Chinese army garrison launched an immediate reconnaissance into the crash site and brought out remnants of the airplane and remains of the crew. They then notified the American Embassy in Beijing. Then-Colonel William H. Jordan, commander of the US Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, was assigned to investigate the crash site and to recover, identify, and repatriate the remains of the fallen US servicemen. Cold Sun: The Search for World War II Airmen Lost in a Tibetan Glacier is Jordan's recounting of the events surrounding the recovery, including the final, solemn duty of officially informing the lost crewmen's family members-by this time in middle age or older-of the fate of their loved ones. He weaves the mission of the aircraft and crew's fate through the prism of America's history of identifying and recovering their fallen warriors, the efforts over the years, and technological leaps needed to finally accomplish this grim, necessary mission. Inspiring and informative, based in the personal reflections of Jordan and the others involved, Cold Sun tells the gripping story of a tragic loss, a harrowing recovery effort, and the human efforts involved. "--

Series Statement

Williams-Ford Texas A&M University military history series

Uniform Title

Williams-Ford Texas A&M University military history series.

Alternative Title

• Search for World War II airmen lost in a Tibetan glacier
• World War II airmen lost in a Tibetan glacier
• Airmen lost in a Tibetan glacier

Subject

• United States. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency > History
• U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory
• 1900-1999
• World War, 1939-1945 > Repatriation of war dead > United States
• World War, 1939-1945 > Missing in action > United States
• Airplanes, Military > Accidents > Investigation > China > Bomi Xian
• Airplanes, Military > Accidents > Investigation > Himalaya Mountains
• World War, 1939-1945 > Search and rescue operations > China > Bomi Xian
• World War, 1939-1945 > Search and rescue operations > Himalaya Mountains
• Repatriation of war dead > United States > History > 20th century
• Missing in action > United States > Identification
• HISTORY / Military / Aviation & Space
• HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / General
• Airplanes, Military > Accidents > Investigation
• Missing in action
• Repatriation of war dead
• Search and rescue operations
• Bomi Xian (China) > History, Military
• China > Bomi Xian
• Himalaya Mountains
• United States

Genre/Form

• History.
• Military history.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 373-376) and index.

Contents

Foreword / the Honorable Mac Thornberry -- Preface: The Hunter, September 1993 / William H. Jordan -- Reflections: A Retrospective Overview -- Legacy: "Bring My Boy Home" -- Foreign Shores, Global Conflict -- On Their Shields -- Known but to God -- "Ain't Our Fight" -- Operators -- The Last "Peaceful" Season: A Pilot's Odyssey -- Crucible: Postwar Vietnam and the United States -- A Bloody Shirt -- Politics, Policy, and Follies -- Maturation: Antagonists -- Over the "Rockpile" -- Breaking a Logjam: Desert Storm and the Senate Select Committee -- CILHI: Search, Recover, Identify -- The Third Incarnation of the JPRC -- the JTF-FA -- Closed States, Closed Gates, and Deadly Pyres -- A Nation Ascendant, a Nation Eclipsed -- Contingent: Chinese Winter -- "Reckon That's about the Size of It, I Guess" -- Futile Hope, Quagmired Nation -- A Jorhat Crew's Cautionary Tale -- Refining of the Pilots -- Resurrection: Maelstrom -- Rough Road, Rough Garrison -- Glaciers and Snowfields -- Bringing Them to Life -- Sacred Searchers -- Epilogue: "This Is a Holy Place" -- Acknowledgments -- Notes.

Call Number

JFF 23-721

ISBN

• 9781648430916
• 1648430910
• 9781648430923 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

2022021563

OCLC

1322051688

Author

Jordan, William H., author.

Title

Cold sun : the search for World War II airmen lost in a Tibetan glacier / William H. Jordan ; foreword by Mac Thornberry.

Publisher

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, [2023]

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Williams-Ford Texas A&M University military history series

Williams-Ford Texas A&M University military history series.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 373-376) and index.

Chronological Term

1900-1999

Other Form:

Online version: Jordan, William H. Cold sun College Station : Texas A&M University Press, 2023 9781648430923 (DLC) 2022021564

Research Call Number

JFF 23-721