More unknown CAP History

[Smithsonia]

In the Winter of 1948-49 a series of terrible blizzards blanketed the Hopi and Navajo Indian Reservations of the 4 Corners area (where Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet) One of the great moments in CAP history is from the relief effort of the time. The Army and Air Force, Red Cross, and numerous state agencies all pitched in. Among those unsung heroes of the day were CAP Wings from all four states.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,780088,00.html

Cattle were fed, people too, emergency communications rigged, 4 wheel drives and planes mustered to weather the torrent, open routes, rescue the stranded, provide aid and comfort, and relieve the besieged - the Patrol did great duty during this event. CAP flew hundreds of sorties. But we've never taken a bow for it.

This unsung moment of our proud heritage is little known although thousands were saved. Be proud of our history and recall our forgotten moments, our lost missions, well done. I'll post more stories of this epic mortal man versus mother nature battle in a few weeks. Stay tuned.

[ol'fido]

I love this kind of stuff. We need more of this sort of history on a national website. I have been checking out the photos and materials available on the Library of Congress website. Why isn't more of this available?

[Smithsonia]

Blizzard relief has happened through out our history. In 2006 the Colorado Wing was very active and received a Unit Citation. SEE STORY BELOW. However nothing compares to the dire circumstances of the Navajos and Hopis in '48/'49. By the way in small Tribal towns to this day,
they recall this effort and make it part of their Christmas time Celebration.

Of course disaster relief is part of our calling. Sometime that call is a little more frantic than at other times.

Snowy Colorado, Kansas Still Digging Out
Jan 1 09:05 PM US/Eastern
By JON SARCHE
Associated Press Writer
DENVER (AP) - Pilots in a dozen planes flew over parts of Colorado and Kansas on Monday to look for snowbound travelers following a blizzard that dumped nearly 3 feet of snow and piled some of it in drifts 15 feet high.

As the aircraft soared above the frozen landscape, utility crews struggled to restore electrical service to tens of thousands of homes and businesses that lost power.

The storm, which struck on Thursday, dwindled to a line of heavy rain Monday along the East Coast, but a few roads in southeastern Colorado and western Kansas were still choked by snow.

"Life and safety are still the No. 1 priorities. We need to get the roads open so people can get out and deal with the situation," said Dick Vnuk, chief of operations for the Colorado Division of Emergency Management.

The huge storm was blamed for at least 12 deaths in four states. It was the region's second blizzard in as many weeks.

The Civil Air Patrol sent six planes into the air Monday over Colorado's Kit Carson County, where there had been reports of people snowbound along Interstate 70, even though that highway reopened Sunday.

Several of the planes were equipped with infrared heat-sensing equipment to help spot stranded livestock. Authorities were considering using C-130 cargo planes and snowmobiles to get hay to snowbound animals. They wanted to avoid a repeat of a 1997 blizzard that killed up to 30,000 head of livestock at a cost of $28 million.

In Kansas, six other planes conducted a similar search for snowbound travelers.

Some roads in southeast Colorado were choked by snow drifts that measured 10 feet high. Fifteen-foot drifts were piled up in western Kansas.

Sections of a few Kansas state highways were still closed Monday. "We're chipping away at it," said Ron Kaufman, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Transportation. Sunshine and warmer temperatures helped, he said.

There was no way into or out of the western Kansas town of Sharon Springs on Monday, but the community of 835 people did not lose electricity, said Bill Hassett, manager of the town power plant.

"We're snowed under," Hassett said. "We're just in the process of digging out. We had total 36 inches of snow. Thank God we kept the lights on."

However, about 60,000 homes and businesses elsewhere in western Kansas were still in the dark, and utility officials said it could take more than a week to restore service.

Kansas National Guard troops had been out delivering generators, fuel and supplies to assisted living centers and shelters.

By Monday, utility crews in the Oklahoma Panhandle had restored power to several towns blacked out by the storm, but up to 4,500 customers still had no electricity, mostly in rural areas.

Ten traffic deaths were blamed on the storm in Colorado, Texas and Minnesota. A tornado spawned by the same weather system killed one person in Texas, and a Kansas man was reported dead in a rural home where a generator apparently was in use during the blackout.

[Smithsonia]

Another note on the Navajo and Hopi relief effort. Simultaneously the Berlin Air Lift was going on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Blockade

The Air Force Lift capacity was maxed out. So CAP was called in to fill the gap. We delivered bales of hay one at a time in 65 and 85 hp taildraggers. We dropped food and sustaining supplies to people and even trains stranded by the deep snow. One Santa Fe passenger train took 35 different sorties of food and medical supplies. Every drop was about 50 lbs each. Fortunately CAP was there. But then, that's always been our job.

[BillB]

This brings us back to a National Oral History Project. Do audio or video interviews with members from the early days of CAP right up through the 2000's. Find out what memorable monents they recall from CAP's past that they participated in. Florida for example might have members talk about being sub-chasers, what their squadron did during Andrew, problems and insights into CAP's past. To bad National doesn't seem interested in ways to preserve CAP's history.

[JC004]

If I were in charge of CAP ("IIWICOCAP" - maybe I'll start using that), this would be a big thing that'd I'd be putting members on.  Stuff like the This Day in CAP History blog.  It's important, it's fun, it's interesting.  It gives members a sense of pride and continuing on with a proud tradition.  We can learn things.  Even some historical publications are still useful, like the old 190-1, commanders' handbook, and others (I still want to do a project of creating a revised handbook for commanders).

[Smithsonia]

This same remarkable '49 winter storm plowed through the Southwest and Rockies, then into the upper Midwest. The CAP, Red Cross, and 5th Army responded and this is their story: http://www.scribd.com/doc/33444950/1949-CAP-Operation-Snowbound-Report

[alamrcn]

Border, Coastal, Desert, Fire, Forest... And now Blizzard? Please do NOT sign me up for Blizzard Patrol!!!!

[ol'fido]

Gee, Ace, seems like you would scoff at blizzards up there in Minnesota, ya, don't you know.

[shorning]

Gee, Ace, seems like you would scoff at blizzards up there in Minnesota, ya, don't you know.

Yeah...but he's a southern MN boy...not nearly as rugged as those of us from the frozen tundra...heck, where I'm from even the mosquitos were parkas in the winter...

[Major Lord]

I have heard a rumor that CAP provided "Alabama Code Talkers" during the war, to keep the Japanese from intercepting our radio communications, but the project collapsed when they were told that they could not wear anything on their uniforms to identify their secret status, and none of them could even understand each other....

Major Lord

[BillB]

Major Lord.  You are 100% correct. The Alabama Talkers were gathered together after their failure as a code unit. The were gathered in a large meadow along the Alabama River west of the State Capitol in Montgomery. They remain there to this day and still can't communicate with each other or anyone else. That meadow is now called Maxwell AFB, and the Alabama Talkers are often seen on South Hansall Street there

[Major Lord]

Excellent! Please fill in the first part of this joke_____________________________________________________Get offa me Pa, yer crushn' my smokes!

Major Lord

[alamrcn]

Oh, Bill.... That was TOO AWESOME! LMAO!