From the foregoing, it is quite apparent that this Danish Government official was deeply concerned about a possible violation of the 1951 agreement, as it related to their sovereignty over the Greenland bases and their relationship to the Soviets.

In the weeks that followed our return to Forbes we expected to at least receive a letter of acknowledgment of our flight. Nothing was forthcoming. We believed then and we believe now that all of the records and data were sanitized and soon destroyed. Search of the National Archives produced negative results.

We can readily arrive at the conclusion, that if records did not exist, and the Soviets or the Danish Government lodged a protest, citing the overflight, it would be expedient to deny the protest by saying that our Government did not have records or information that would indicate that an overflight of the Soviet Franz Josef Land territory had taken place.

In attempting to put our overflight of the Franz Josef Land Archipelago in perspective, with the information we acquired, including direct statements by a General Officer in authority to know, we concluded that our flight was the first, Presidentially approved overflight of Soviet denied territory during the early 1950's “Cold War.”

In the years following our overflight, for security reasons, there was never a discussion relative to the mission among ourselves or others. Our families knew nothing in respect to the mission. We did not know until March 2000 that the 1950's overflights had been declassified. Knowing this, I began research efforts to locate information and found that only four of our 12 crewmembers were still living. All are retired Air Force, they are:

We collectively produced a narrative based upon the experiences and recollections of the four of us, Form 5 records, and a copy of our long lost letter orders assigning us to a period of TDY.

In September 2002, through the assistance of the National Reconnaissance Office Historian, the 55th Strat Reconnaissance Wing historian, Air Force General Officers and their staffs, as well as many others who contributed recommendations and data relative to our mission, together with a concurring recommendation of a United States Congressman, the crew, after waiting 50 years, was awarded a much delayed Distinguished Flying Cross.

Note: Comments regarding the relationship between the Danish Government and the Soviets, as well as those related to the 1951 agreement between Denmark and the United States were extracted from the following publication:

A booklet prepared for the “Danish Institute of International Affairs,” dated 1997, titled “Greenland During the Cold War.” Danish and American Security Policy, 1945-68. Translated by Henry Meyers.

Roy E. Kaden
Lt. Col. USAF (Ret.)
(Revised 1 July 2003