Long Lost Korean War Pilot to get Military Burial
Posted 3-6-2005 at 12:21 AM
On May 3, U.S. Air Force Capt. Troy Gordon Cope will be remembered in a funeral and burial with full military honors -- 52 years after he disappeared during a Korean War dogfight with a half-dozen MiG-15 fighter jets.
Unlike most funerals, this event has his family feeling elated, because, after a half-century of searching and wondering, they finally know what happened to him.
It was a mystery solved with the help of a bootheel, Soviet-era documents and an American businessman's visit to a remote corner of China.
"Gordy" Cope, as his family called him, was one of four brothers from Norfork, Arkansas. The four boys joined the Army Air Corps during World War II. Cope left the service after that war ended but rejoined when the Korean War broke out.
He was flying an F-86 Sabre jet on September 16, 1952, when he and his wingman clashed with six MiG-15s near the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China.
Cope quickly found himself out of ammunition, and his wingman said he lost visual and radio contact with Cope. He was never seen again.
What the American pilots didn't know then is that they were not up against North Korean pilots in the MiGs. Investigators have since learned Cope and his wingman were fighting more experienced Soviet pilots.
The Soviets' covert role in the Korean War helped fuel speculation within the U.S. government that they tried to capture U.S. pilots to exploit them for intelligence purposes. At the time, U.S. Air Force technology was a top priority of Soviet intelligence.
The military initially listed Cope as Missing in Action. But months later, without any evidence of what happened, the military listed him as Killed in Action. He was awarded a posthumous Purple Heart to go with the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal he earned in World War II.
Full Story @
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/03/missing.pilot/index.html
On May 3, U.S. Air Force Capt. Troy Gordon Cope will be remembered in a funeral and burial with full military honors -- 52 years after he disappeared during a Korean War dogfight with a half-dozen MiG-15 fighter jets.
Unlike most funerals, this event has his family feeling elated, because, after a half-century of searching and wondering, they finally know what happened to him.
It was a mystery solved with the help of a bootheel, Soviet-era documents and an American businessman's visit to a remote corner of China.
"Gordy" Cope, as his family called him, was one of four brothers from Norfork, Arkansas. The four boys joined the Army Air Corps during World War II. Cope left the service after that war ended but rejoined when the Korean War broke out.
He was flying an F-86 Sabre jet on September 16, 1952, when he and his wingman clashed with six MiG-15s near the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China.
Cope quickly found himself out of ammunition, and his wingman said he lost visual and radio contact with Cope. He was never seen again.
What the American pilots didn't know then is that they were not up against North Korean pilots in the MiGs. Investigators have since learned Cope and his wingman were fighting more experienced Soviet pilots.
The Soviets' covert role in the Korean War helped fuel speculation within the U.S. government that they tried to capture U.S. pilots to exploit them for intelligence purposes. At the time, U.S. Air Force technology was a top priority of Soviet intelligence.
The military initially listed Cope as Missing in Action. But months later, without any evidence of what happened, the military listed him as Killed in Action. He was awarded a posthumous Purple Heart to go with the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal he earned in World War II.
Full Story @
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/03/missing.pilot/index.html
