In November of 1955 an Air Force transport plane crashed on Mt. Charleston while on a mission to Area 51 to support the second test flight of the U-2 spyplane. All 14 souls were lost. They included Air Force, CIA and Lockheed personnel. The families of the decedents did not know what the mission was until 1998 when my online marketing director CJ Hays and his team filed for a FOIA request to obtain the accident records.

The team then reached out to the family members to share with them, the mission their loved ones were participating in. This journey led to a book, written by Ky Plaskin called “Silent Heroes Of The Cold War”. This started a second journey, to build a memorial for this ill-fated flight and for all those who lost their lives in secret.

This Memorial Day and future Memorial Days, the Silent Heroes committee hosts a day of remembrance at the memorial located at the Spring Mountain’s Visitor Center in Kyle Canyon 30 minutes from Las Vegas.

At 10 AM they will begin with a flag ceremony, followed by the laying of a wreath and from 11 AM to 3 PM, the committee including CJ will be giving talks on the history of the events leading up to the creation of the memorial today.