At 1:06 am on March 23rd. 1951, a C-124 Globemaster II of the United States Air Force, bound from Maine to the United Kingdom, sent a routine message to oceanic control in Ireland, providing a revised estimated time of arrival. The Plane, with 53 people aboard, never reached its destination. The fate of the plane and men has become one of the enduring mysteries of the United States Air Force.
By September of 1944, the Western Allies had broken out of the Normandy beachehead, and suddenly and quickly moved across northern France . By September 7th, the 90th division was stretched across the northern sector on Patton’s Third Army’s left, advancing slowly northeast. As they did so the German defenders made a risky attack in an effort to spoil the allied advance, cutting through Allied lines in a surprise action at the small town of Mairy-Mannville.