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All the United States Nevada Mount Charleston Silent Heroes of the Cold War National Memorial

Silent Heroes of the Cold War National Memorial

A memorial to the unknown and unheralded men and women of the Cold War military and intelligence services.

Mount Charleston, Nevada

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The memorial is the first on Forest Service land   USDA / US Forest Service
The USAF 9068 propellor, surrounded by 14 stones   Baoma bobo / Atlas Obscura User
USAF 9068 plaque and propellor   Baoma bobo / Atlas Obscura User
The boulder holds the propellor   USDA / US Forest Service
The 14 stones represent 4 crew members and 10 passengers on board   USDA / US Forest Service
Silent Heroes of the Cold War Memorial   Baoma bobo / Atlas Obscura User
Reverse side of the Cold War Memorial   Baoma bobo / Atlas Obscura User
Silent Heroes of the Cold War memorial plaque   USDA / US Forest Service
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About

In the early days of the Cold War, Mt. Charleston, Nevada was the site of a tragic plane crash that took the lives of fourteen men. They remained unknown and unnamed for over forty years. What happened to the plane, and how we’ve come to learn about it, was the catalyst for the creation of the Silent Heroes of the Cold War National Memorial.

The military transport plane crashed on its way from Burbank, California to a place called Watertown, at Groom Lake, Nevada – better known as Area 51. The flight went down in a secluded mountain area of Mt. Charleston, where pieces of the wreckage sat, unmarked and unidentified, for 43 years. It wasn’t until 1998 that a long-awaited military declassification, and some super-sleuthing by a local hiker and Boy Scout leader from nearby Las Vegas, revealed the identities of those on board.

It was an early November morning in 1955 when USAF flight 9068 took off from Burbank, with four crew members and ten passengers. The ten consisted of scientists and intelligence personnel, part of a secret spy plane project known as “U-2”.  They never made it to Area 51, the US military’s off-limits testing grounds in the remote Nevada desert. Why and how, exactly, the plane crashed is still unknown.

It was Steve Ririe, that hiker from Las Vegas, who made it his mission to figure out what the old wreckage in the mountains was all about. With some declassification, some research into Air Force records, and some National Archives digging, Ririe not only figured out what the plane was, but the identities of the 14 men. From that discovery began a movement to create the memorial to all the men and women who worked, served, and lost their lives during the Cold War, all done in secret.

The memorial at Mt. Charleston, where the evidence of the crash was scattered across the mountainside, is the first national memorial in Nevada. And it’s the only one of its kind, anywhere, to the clandestine veterans of the Cold War era.

Related Tags

Memorials Cold War Monuments Aircraft Spies Area 51 Military

Know Before You Go

The Silent Heroes Memorial is part of the Spring Mountain Visitor’s Gateway campus. Mt. Charleston is about 40 miles from downtown Las Vegas – follow Rt-95 north, and turn left onto Rt-157. The entrance is about 20 miles after the turn. The Memorial itself is behind the Visitor's Gateway building, and is open daily from 9:00 - 5:00 PM.

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Added By

Baoma bobo

Edited By

KatyDuke

  • KatyDuke

Published

July 29, 2016

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Sources
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMl0543W778
  • http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3843648.pdf
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_51
  • https://easytrip.ai/
Silent Heroes of the Cold War National Memorial
2525 Kyle Canyon Road
Mount Charleston, Nevada
United States
36.269965, -115.594027
Visit Website
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