Talkeetna man receives award 46 years after mountain rescue

TALKEETNA - On Feb. 5, 1954, an Air Force C-47 cargo aircraft came apart in midair with 16 people on board. The plane was en route to Ladd Field near Fairbanks from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage.

There were scattered snow squalls, high winds, and icing conditions. Ten people died when the 33,000-pound plane came apart. Six parachuted to the ground near Kesugi Ridge, approximately 30 miles north of Talkeetna.

Cliff Hudson, a Talkeetna bush pilot who began flying in 1948, helped rescue the survivors. Two of them, Rupert Pratt and Ed Fox, flew to Alaska to speak at a ceremony held for Hudson on July 7 at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge. Lt. Gen. Thomas Case presented Hudson with the Exceptional Service Award, the civilian equivalent of the militarys Distinguished Service Medal.

I thank you, Cliff, for 40-some years of life, Pratt said last Friday. Because of you I was married and raised a family.

Pratt read a letter his son, Jonathan, had written to Hudson.

I suppose most people dont have the time or inclination to think through the effects of all their actions, it said. I wasnt born until 18 years later, but because of you I was able to live and raise a family. The letter describes Pratts family and the lives of the children and grandchildren he helped raise after he was rescued.

Hudsons involvement with the rescue began when the Air Force sent out a message to local pilots, detailing the location and nature of the crash. Less than an hour after he got the message, Hudson was out in his Aeronica Chief. He spotted Bobby Sallis, Eli LaDuke, and Huey Montgomery next to the wreckage. He spotted Ed Fox, Ed Olson, and Rupert Pratt minutes later on Kesugi Ridge when they shot off a flare.

The weather wasnt that bad, Hudson said, it was halfway marginal, but that flare [Fox, Olson, and Pratt] shot off nearly hit my wing tip.

Pratt, Fox, and Olson had been dragged a mile away from the wreckage when the wind caught their parachutes. They had landed on Kesugi Ridge in 4-1/2 feet of snow and spent their first night out huddled behind a rock, covered with a parachute, in minus-35-degree temperatures and 40 mph winds. Hudson knew where they were but the weather was too bad for him to reach them.

If you look at a topographical map of the area there is 100 square miles of nothing. You feel pretty small, Fox said.

In the morning Pratt, Fox, and Olson saw what they thought was the Alaska Railroad crossing the Gold Creek Bridge. The bridge was too distant for them to be sure, but they began walking anyway.

We were running pretty much on adrenaline, Fox said. We stopped and looked around. There was no aircraft. There was nothing.

When Hudson spotted the trail coming off the ridge he flew back to Curry and flew out again with Don Sheldon. Hudsons plane did not have a radio and Sheldons did. Sheldon left Hudson a mile below the group on the ridge and flew back to Curry for a doctor. Hudson had two pairs of snowshoes and a hatchet. He built a fire, then brought Fox, Olson, and Pratt down on the extra pair of snowshoes, one at a time.

Hudson came walking up to us on a pair of snowshoes and said, It looks like you boys could use some help, Fox said. His face right then was the most beautiful Ive ever seen.

I had all three of the boys they were boys then down [near the fire] by the time Don got back with a doctor, Hudson said, and there wasnt a thing wrong with them.

The second night out, around the fire, was more comfortable than the first. In the morning the weather cleared enough for an Air Force rescue helicopter to come in and retrieve the survivors. Hudson acted as a guide directing the helicopter to both sets of survivors and the wreckage.

You go most places and you can make a mistake, Fox said. In Alaska its just not like that. If you make a mistake you are dead. At 22 my life was almost over. That had a great impact on me.

Planning for the award began two years ago when several survivors visited a memorial to the crash at Mile 146 of the Parks Highway and saw no mention of Hudson. This bothered Pratt and Fox, and Pratt wrote a letter to U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski. Murkowski contacted the Alaskan Command section of the Air Force, and Gen. Case presented the award.

This is the celebration of a great American and a great Alaskan, Case said last Friday. Because of Cliff Hudson, six Americans are alive and lived on that wouldnt have. We salute you for that from the bottom of our hearts.

I never expected any of this, Hudson said. I just wanted to help.Ed Fox, Cliff Hudson, and Rupert Pratt stand together 46 years after the C-47 crash that claimed the lives of 10 Air Force men. Hudson helped rescue six survivors, including Fox and Pratt. The two men flew to Alaska to be part of a ceremony awarding Hudson the Exceptional Service Award.Below, Lt. Gen. Thomas Case presented Cliff Hudson with the Exceptional Service Award on July 7 at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge in Talkeetna.Photos by CLARE BALDWIN/Frontiersman.