Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- It was 1956 when the KB-29 refueling tanker crashed and exploded in flames on the side of Mount Baldy, killing eight men flying a Cold War training mission from Elmendorf Air Force Base.

It was 2006 when family members of the dead made an emotional pilgrimage to a memorial plaque installed on the plane's wing by area off-roading clubs.

And it was some time between July 8 and Monday that the plaque disappeared.

A group behind the plaque, the Alaska Extreme Four Wheelers club, says it's missing and apparently stolen.

Local off-roaders found the plane's wreckage several years ago, researched the crew's history, raised money for a plaque and mounted it to the tanker's wing with bolts.

Word of the memorial's disappearance surfaced Monday on the Alaska 4 X 4 Web forum and almost immediately kicked off outrage from disgusted posters.

"It's just been a real tragedy and people are really upset and angry and ticked off," said club member Brian Mitchell.

A reward now stands at $500, but that could go higher, club president Dan Lance said.

John Pylant was 2½ when his father -- the plane's radioman -- died in the crash. Now 54, and living in Ohio, Pylant said he was disappointed "not to say the least" when he got word Thursday that the plaque was gone.

"Nothing surprises me anymore. I just wonder if they got it for the metal or the memento or just to be jerks," Pylant said.

Baldy, the long shoulder of a mountain flanking Wasilla to the north, doesn't make getting to the crash site easy, especially in rain-slick conditions. A number of steep sections of trail become nearly impassible. Floating bogs appear higher on the ridge.

In 2006, with his daughter and relatives of another lost airman, Pylant spent 12 hours hiking from Wasilla to see the plaque. Not long before, Pylant had received the Purple Heart posthumously awarded his father.

The group got to the site, held each other, cried, and prayed.

The loss of a plaque can't diminish the power of that moment or the distinction of the place, he said. "It doesn't take away from the fact these men died in honor. "

Dedicated in 2004, the plaque names the men who died: 1st Lt. Thomas Patton; 1st Lt. Luther Lamm; 1st Lt. Lionel Reid, 2nd Lt. James D. Dillinger; Master Sgt. Otto D. McAdams; Staff Sgt. John B. Plyant Sr.; Tech Sgt. Thurman C. Rainer; and Airman 2nd Class William P. Hodgson.

"Please enjoy this site in their memory and leave relics for others to see and enjoy," it reads.

For more information, contact Mitchell at mtchllhall@aol.com or 907-317-0950.

Find Zaz Hollander online at adn.com/contact/zhollander or call 907-352-6711.

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