Survival and Rescue
This plaque is located at the site of a plan crash in the backcountry of Idaho. The plane is still there and you can hike in to see it.
SURVIVAL AND RESCUE
The B-23 Dragon Bomber, low on fuel and hampered by heavy icing, crash-landed at Loon Lake on January 29, 1943. After a skillful landing by pilot Lieutenant (Lt.) Robert Ore and the eigh airmen - Lt.s Kelly, Orr, and Schermerhorn; Seargeants Hoover, Freeborg, Pruitt, Loewen; and Corporal Beaudry - built a lean-to and a fire in the waist-deep snow, rationed their emergency food, and worked to stay alive as snow continued to call.
On the fourth day after the crash, Pruitt, Schermerhorn, and Freeborg set out down the Secesh River to find help. After six days, they found a Forest Service map on the wall of a log cabin near Zena Creek, which helped the men identify their location and their route to McCall. Frequent avalanches were observed as they followed telephone lines through knee-deep snow up a V-shaped valley and over Lick Creek Summit. After 13 days, they found an old CCC camp building where they left the injured Pruitt. Freeborg and Schermerhorn continued the last five miles to the Lake Fork Guard Station, where they found a phone and called McCall. These airmen had walked 35-40 miles through deep snow in 15 days.
At Loon Lake, the five men lived on woodpeckers, a squirrel, and a few chocolate rations. 16 days after the crash, backcountry pilot Penn Stohr spotted the airplane and 5 crew members while on a routine supply flight to Warren. The next day, Penn made two hazardous landings to fly out the 5 airmen. The city of McCall closed schools and stores, and greeted the survivors.
Submitted by: Erin M.