From the March, 1999 Coalition Newsleter
Cold War Losses
by Charlotte Mitnik
Between the years
1950 and 1970, approximately thirty-nine U.S. Aircraft were shot down in and
around the coast of the then Soviet Union. A total of 364 men was on board
those planes. 187 were recovered alive; 36 were recovered dead; a total of 8
died but were not recovered; and 123 men are missing, with fates still unknown.
In addition to the above mentioned losses, there is the KAL Flight 007, with
269 passengers, which went down on 9/1/83 in the same area. Its passengers must
be added to the total lives lost in an espionage campaign by the U.S. towards
Russia and China.
A top secret
document released in 1993 tells how this campaign was to take place. The
reasons: Nothing was known of the Russian and Chinese AA defenses. Information
was also needed on airfield conditions; strategic targets, and military stock
piles. They wanted charting information for beach studies. In short, these
flights were needed to gain essential intelligence for our military security.
The men who flew
these flights knew what their job was and how dangerous it was, but the missing
deserve to have their fate known, even though they signed on willingly. Why is
there such a mystery surrounding these incidents? Why doesn’t our government
admit what was going on? And why don’t the Russians admit they took the
survivors for information? Or is there more...so horrible that it cannot be
told? What is the secret after all these years?
In upcoming
newsletters we will tell you what we know about some of these flights. If you
are a family member of the crew of any of these flights and would like to
contribute information as you know it, please E-mail your story to the
Coalition at: