In May of 2009 I had the pleasure and honor of being invited to the 65th anniversary of the crash of 42-30762 by Leonard Rogers and his family. Mr. Rogers was the tailgunner on the flight in April of 1944. The trip was originally planned for the exact date of the crash, but there was still too much snow on the ground.
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I would like to thank Mr. Rogers and his family for allowing me to tag along with them for the hike to the crash site. I would also like to thank Bob Wild, Porcupine Mountains State Park Naturalist, for helping guide us to the site.



Myself, Mr. Rogers, and Dave at Lake of the Clouds overlook



Leonard and nephew, Paul


The hike was very muddy and swampy at the start in the low lying areas with the first hatch of blackflies, but it was cloudy, breezy and about 65 degrees.....great day for a hike!




Starting the trek in. We met Barb(in the back) in the hotel lobby and she wanted to join us....we were glad to have her along!



Taking a break, halfway up



Arriving at the crash site was completely different than my first time, none of the foliage and greenery had  come in yet, and there was alot more debris visible. Farther up the mountain, we found what I believe to be wing debris far from the main wrecksite. Neither myself or Len had seen this wreckage before (in light of this discovery, I am going to have change my flightpath map....stay tuned for updates!). We also found the tailgunners seat that Len had sat on. While I had found the petrified leather seat cover on a previous trip, Len had never seen it before.




Len at a "new" area of debris, believed to be from a wing




Len holding the tailgunner's seat that he last sat on in 1944





The hike back down the mountain. Len says he is coming back in 5 years to do it again! I hope he does. I hope when I am 85 years old that I can make the hike!