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Over 70 years OVERDUE!
What an honor and a privilege it was for Honoring Our Fallen to be there today as Captain Jerome Henry Goebel made his final journey home. 🇺🇸
On November 22, 1952, Captain Goebel was one of 52 servicemen aboard a U.S. Air Force C-124 Globemaster II flying from McChord Air Force Base to Elmendorf in Alaska. In the darkness, high winds pushed the plane off course, and it struck Mount Gannet in the Chugach Mountains, just 50 miles short of its destination. Storms buried the wreckage beneath the snow, and the search was called off.
For decades, these men lay entombed in the ice of Colony Glacier. Then, in 2012, an Alaska National Guard crew spotted wreckage emerging from the melting ice. Every summer since, recovery teams have returned to that mountain, refusing to leave anyone behind. And today, after more than 70 years, Captain Goebel is home.
As our team stood with his family at San Diego International Airport, we watched his daughter, who was just a toddler when her daddy was killed, weep with joy and with sorrow. Sorrow that she never got to know her father, but deep gratitude that he is finally home. His son, who was only a newborn when he lost his dad, stood beside her, thankful as well. There are no words for a moment like that. Only tears, and a quiet thank-You to God for bringing him back to the people who never stopped loving him.
Thank you to the San Diego Police Department, San Diego International Airport, American Airlines, Airport Operations, the Patriot Guard Riders, and everyone who came out to support this family and honor this hero on his journey home.
Welcome home, Captain Goebel. Rest easy, sir. Your family has you now. 🙏
#HonoringOurFallen #NeverForgotten #NeverForget #WelcomeHome #OperationColonyGlacier #NoOneLeftBehind