TIGHAR
Amelia Earhart Search Forum => The Islands: Expeditions, Facts, Castaway, Finds and Environs => Topic started by: Kevin Weeks on June 17, 2010, 11:12:12 AM
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I was wondering if someone could tell me if there has been any attempt to contact the coasties that were stationed on gardner's loran station?? Seems that there has been alot of incidences of coast guard artifacts found on the site they are digging that could possibly benefit from their input?
(http://www.loran-history.info/Gardner_Island/Gardner%20Crew.JPG)
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We've talked all of the surviving members of Unit 92 that we have been able to find. Their recollections and photos have been very helpful.
Of the men pictured, we've interviewed the CO, Charlie Sopko (now deceased), Dick Evans, Herb Moffit, and Ernie Zehms. We've also talked to Leroy Nielsen and Glen Geisinger who arrived in December 1945 when most of the first group were cycled out.
Ric
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We've talked all of the surviving members of Unit 92 that we have been able to find. Their recollections and photos have been very helpful.
Of the men pictured, we've interviewed the CO, Charlie Sopko (now deceased), Dick Evans, Herb Moffit, and Ernie Zehms. We've also talked to Leroy Nielsen and Glen Geisinger who arrived in December 1945 when most of the first group were cycled out.
Ric
no stone left unturned, I'm not surprised in the least!
What did they have to say about the number of excursions from the station?? being war time I would imagine that they would have a patrol that ran around the island??
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While Sopko was in charge, no informal excursions from the station were permitted (but that doesn't mean they didn't happen). No routine patrols. The island was well out of the combat zone. There were occasional organized visits to the village on the opposite end of the atoll and sometimes villagers were invited to the station to watch movies. Life on "The Rock" was tedious and boring and consisted mainly of monitoring the Loran transmitter to assure that it was properly calibrated -i.e. staring at a wave on a cathode ray tube for a four-hour watch.
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yes, obviously they did happen with all shells found! I can only imagine with 25 bored young coasties something was done to blow off steam. I remember reading accounts of other WWII troops stationed on occupied islands that would sneak into town to their "girlfriends" house after lights out.
there was also construction workers there to build the station. I wonder if they did anything.
is there a detailed map with all of the items marked on it?? kind of a reference to see what happened where?? Something that includes the burial site of the norwhich crew, the campsite, the coast guard station, the village and the 7 site along with anything else i may be missing. something to get an overall feel of how where and what has been used in the island.
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The burial site of the Norwich City crew is unknown, as is the location of the survivor's campsite. Both are presumed to be somewhere not far from the ship.
You'll find the other features on the map at http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/MapsandPhotos/maps/Nikumap.html
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I assume you've seen the picture of the campsite though?? I found it yesterday before I actually joined the forum.
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yes, obviously they did happen with all shells found! I can only imagine with 25 bored young coasties something was done to blow off steam.
I've often wondered why specifically there and not somewhere else - further up the coast or closer to the Loran site? On the other hand that seemed to have been a prime piece of real estate -didn't Gallager reserve that parcel of land for a summer cottage? Still what about the site would say to a coastie "this is a good site for target practice" ?
T