Almost six and a half decades after taineering expedition in Nepal, he twice and dengue fever once, not to
the disappearance of Hot as Hell, Gary made a side trip to southeast Asia in mention numerous infected leech
Zaetz, a software specialist in Cary, part to look for wrecks and found his bites. But still he goes back.
N.C., was surfi ng the Internet looking fi rst, a C-47, on a mountain in Burma “Bringing closure to surviving
for information about his uncle Irwin (also known as Myanmar), directly family members by locating and
when Irwin’s name popped up on a on the border with India. documenting these wrecks is very
Web site (
www.miarecoveries.org) “I did some research and met important to me,” he says. “It makes
dedicated to planes lost over the some World War II fl iers who had [the trips] worthwhile.”
Hump. To Gary’s astonishment, there fl own in that area of Asia, and they Gary was one of those grateful fam-
was a photo of the wreckage of Hot educated me on the tremendous loss ily members. He made contact with
as Hell, partially buried in snow 9,400 of aircraft,” Kuhles says. “My inter- Kuhles regarding the discovery of Hot
feet atop a desolate, nameless moun- est evolved into a desire to not only as Hell and then set about fi nding fam-
tain in the Arunachal Pradesh region learn more about it but also to fi nd ily members of the plane’s seven other
of India. these wrecks because there had been crew members. He turned to genea-
The photo was taken Dec. 7, 2006, no concerted, organized effort since logical Web sites to track down blood
by Clayton Kuhles. Kuhles is a busi- the end of World War II.” relatives of the missing airmen and
nessperson from Prescott, Ariz., Kuhles returned to the region in located someone related to each.
whose idea of fun is climbing inhos- 2002, and over the years has mounted Possessing defi nitive proof of Hot
pitable mountains. On that day, racing 10 expeditions to Burma and India, as Hell’s location, Gary assumed that
against rapidly approaching darkness sometimes two in one year. “I’ve made JPAC quickly would schedule a mis-
and hampered by fresh snow, Kuhles it my focus, and I’m constantly fi nding sion to recover the crew’s remains.
decided to examine one last pile of more wrecks,” he observes. “There But the offi ce, based at Hickam AFB,
aircraft wreckage while hiking back seems to be an unending supply.” Hawaii, did not react immediately.
to high camp. Luck was with him: To date, Kuhles has uncovered According to Gary, JPAC and its pol-
He fl ipped over an aluminum panel 14 crash sites and positively identi- icy and control overseer, the Defense
to fi nd Hot as Hell’s aircraft model fi ed eight planes through serial or Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel
number and construction number construction numbers. He relies on a Offi ce, offered him and the other
stenciled in black — numbers that network of contacts to locate the sites family members a number of reasons
matched a hand-painted number and recruits porters and hunters from for the delay, among them that the
found earlier inside a wing com- local villages to take him to them. He wreck was located in a “dangerous
partment. When he returned home, photographs the wreckage and jots region” and the U.S. did not have a
Kuhles posted photos and a report of down pertinent details. If human re- recovery agreement with India.
the Hot as Hell crash site and waited mains are visible on the ground and Gary and the other family mem-
for someone to contact him. in jeopardy of being lost or destroyed, bers did some checking on their own,
Kuhles’ interest in World War he bags them and sends them to JPAC researching open sources and talking
II-era plane wrecks springs from a along with his site report. with Indian military offi cials and a
long-time fascination with military Kuhles pays for these missions out former foreign minister.
history. In 2001, following a moun- of his own pocket. He also has suf- “All of them said, ‘This is news to
fered physically for his ef- us,’ ” Gary reports. “They told us, ‘We
Today, wreckage is all that’s left of the ill- forts, contracting dysentery are more than happy for the American
fated Hot as Hell.
PHOTOS: COURTESY
WWW.MIARECOVERIES.ORG SEPTEMBER 2009 MILITARY OFFICER 97
SSept_hump.indd
97ept_hump.indd 97 88/4/09 8:55 PM/4/09 8:55 PM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132