In a monumental display of military
power . The Western alliance has
initiated its largest ever operation
code named Strong Express . This
operation underscores nato's capability
in safeguarding America's eastern
seaboard and securing the vulnerable
northern flank in Norway above the
Arctic circle . I got my orders on the
23rd of August of 72 we embarked on the
US S LP H 12 and we left that afternoon ,
we crossed the Arctic circle the sixth
of September . Once the uh war game
started , I mean throughout all this ,
there was like 65,000 men . NATO
reckoned that Norway didn't have a
strong enough force to stop an invasion
from Russia .
This is a NATO war game . We actually
had Russian ships all over this area .
The name of the island in the old
Nordic language . Is it uh on the
island ? On the
seventh , we went into Ando , they flew
us off in 50 threes and took us to our
campsite . I
was alone that day , I was looking down
on the terrain . I could see some
components made of aluminum and
fiberglass . After I got back to the
ship on Saturday and Sunday , we
started hearing about a helicopter
crash suddenly between two small
boulders or rocks . I saw this golden
ring .
I learned that the crash occurred in
1972 and I was hunting there
in , in 1993 you know , nearly 20 years
afterwards
I picked it up and it was ingrained the
United States Naval Academy .
So then , ok , this is an American who
has probably lost his life here . And ,
and inside , I turn the ring , I looked
inside and there was an inscription
saying Henry and Pilger .
Ok . So that's the guy who
we died here . The name started coming
out , but I only heard those three
names , you know , major skinner ,
Captain Rosner Lance Corporal Rodriguez .
I did not know the the marine pilot
name or the marine copilots name .
I brought a ring home with me . My
immediate thought was , you know , this
ring belongs to probably the , the the
family or the the pilot .
I got a phone call from Commander
Nadolski who was a military attache to
the embassy . And he said he had heard
of heard about a ring and he , he would
appreciate , you know that we , I sent
the ring to them so they can forward it
to the pilot's family . And he said ,
and I have the same ring , same ring on
my finger because I went to the same
academy . So this is very special for
me . He said , I put the
the ring and the letter in an envelope
and send it to the American Embassy .
And a couple of months later , I , I
rang them to ask , did you , was there
any program , did you find any , uh ,
did you find the family that the ring
belonged to ? And they said no , his ,
his , we know that he , he had a wife
but she has moved in because he's 20
years since the accident happened , but
she has moved and we don't know her new
address . We have no information that
he had any Children .
A little over two years ago , I met a
guy who worked in my hospital as a as a
medic . He was also a photographer .
And when I met him two years ago , you
know , I said uh hi ho . Do , do you
remember the ring ? I found on the
pictures that he said , yeah , do you
have any uh any copies of those photos ?
So , yeah , sure . I think it is in my
archives . Two days later , I got an
email from him . He had gone on the
internet and , and , and found the his
classmates eulogy that they had written
about Henry and Pilger . And we also
mentioned , you know , the members of
his family . So then I thought , well ,
now I have something to , to work on
trying to find that locate the family .
I got an email from this uh accident
authority saying that uh we can inform
you that the family has received the
ring some time ago and Henry and
Pilger had one daughter .
I was just 15 months old when my father
was killed . So I didn't have much of a
relationship or a memory of him . In
fact , I grew up not knowing too much
about him when I received the ring . Um ,
all those years ago , it , it sort of
laid dormant . Her mother never told
her about the return of the reign . It
sat for 22 years up on the mountain in
before it was delivered back to my
family . And there I had it for 30
years when she was 49 or
50 years old . She went up to the attic
to look through some memorabilia from
the early life . And she found this
brown envelope and inside it was the
ring plus a letter from a man in
Norway when I was looking for Hans and
Hans was looking for me at the same
time . Uh , a journalist reached out
and um , connected us . She came
this , uh American lady in pink cover
boots . She thanked me for ,
for all I have done . But it wasn't
until the Norwegians came to me with
the idea of putting a plaque up in the
area of the crash site . A friend of
mine had rang me and said , should we
make a memory plaque on the crash site ?
Because the helicopter crash is part of
the history of the island . We go
hunting there . And so it could be nice
to honor the pilots . And then we , we
learn from the crash reports and we
learned that there were five people who
died in that crash .
So my son Huey , what he experienced
taking that plaque up there , I think
gives him a sense of service
and struggle and the sacrifice that
not only the marines make all service
members . I think he feels very honored .
A year ago , we had a memorial up there ,
you know , and we got in touch with the
Norwegian coastal rangers , which are
are the brother in arms to the US
Marines because it would be fitting if
they came up there and took part in
that celebration . So , so they came up
there , you know , with the , with
flags , the reason flag an American
flag . So it was really touching ,
I feel so honored that
this group of people , this city has
embraced this story and take it upon
themselves to create this beautiful
memorial site . Those men were
someone's father , brother , son ,
uncle , friend . And now
there is a place to
memorialize and visit a homage .
It's sad that a tragedy has brought the
two of us together in this particular
instance . But I'm so pleased to be
here and to know this now Norwegian
family who has done a tremendous
service for me and the rest of the next
of kin's . It's important to remember
these , these marines and uh I never
forgot them . Never would . Marines .
Don't forget the marines . We're a
brotherhood . We're a family and it's
gonna be my high honor to pay my
respects . I think she was
happy and for me to be able to
contribute to that was a great
satisfaction . And especially because I ,
all these years , I've been wondering
what happened to Henry and Pilger and
Ringing and his family . I think
most people appreciate that . We have
NATO as a backing .
They're very appreciative of the United
States backing them without a doubt .
And the uncertainty back in the Cold
War because that 72 is still the Cold
War that we're also appreciative of
them . We need it back to where
we were in 72 . We realized that we
can't defend this long country
on our own . So we depend on , on
allied forces ,
Henry and died in an
effort to defend Norway in a way
which I think is remarkable .