Bomber propeller at Channel Islands National Park/NPS

Seventy-five years after their plane crashed on San Miguel Island, 12 members of a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber squadron will be honored for the first time.

The event, “Salute to San Miguel Island’s Lost Liberator,” will be held at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum on July 5, from 4 p.m.-6 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Santa Cruz Island Foundation, Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation, and the museum. 

Their heavy bomber, a B-24 Liberator, was lost on July 5, 1943, after being dispatched from Salinas Army Air Base to search for the “Eddie Rickenbacker,” a B-24 bomber that had gone missing a day earlier from a nighttime training mission off the coast of Santa Barbara.  

Believed to be flying in foggy conditions at a 500-foot altitude, the search plane crashed into Green Mountain, a gently sloping 817-foot peak on San Miguel Island. The remains of the 12 airmen and the wreckage of the plane, which was scattered over an acre area, were not found until eight months later. 

The wreckage of the “Eddie Rickenbacker” was found inland, ten miles north of Santa Barbara, having crashed due to fuel shortage. The Rickenbacker crew parachuted prior to the crash, with eight members surviving. 

"Windy and exposed San Miguel Island, the westernmost of four northern Channel Islands, is often called the 'Graveyard of Ships,'" said Marla Daily, president of the Santa Cruz Island Foundation. “But on July 5, 1943, it also became the graveyard of 12 men who gave their lives in service to our country, who until now, had never been recognized. It is an honor to bring their stories to life 75 years later."

Flight crew of the 2nd Air Force, 34th Bomb Group, 7th Bomb Squadron being honored include pilot Vernon C. Stevens, command pilot Douglas Thornburg, copilot Floyd P. Hart, bombardier instructor Justin M. Marshall, navigator Bose Gorman, bombardier Noah H. Yost, engineer Bernard Littman, assistant engineer Ralph S. Masterson, radioman Lyle L. Frost, gunner Walter O. Eisenbarth, gunner Lee E. Salver, and Assistant radioman Henry L. Bair.

"It’s important to remember these 12 men who perished in 1943 are part of the history of the Channel Islands,”said John W . Blankenship, co-founding director of the Pierre Clayssens Veterans Foundation. “The mission of the Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation is to honor all those who served so they are never forgotten." 

Active and retired military personnel and community members are invited to attend the memorial tribute and the unveiling of a monument commissioned by the Santa Cruz Island Foundation. Bagpipe music will preview the ceremony starting at 3:30 p.m.