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Epilogue by Marie S. Schmidt Of course even before this plaque was ordered, David was required to secure permission from the U.S. Forest Service to mount the plaque somewhere near the crash site. David had selected a site close to the newly constructed roadway, but the Forestry folks felt that it should be high off the ground to discourage vandalism. When the location of the site was agreed upon, David arranged for a ceremony dedicating the plaque and donating it and the book of the History of the B-26 Aircraft #40-1475 to the Forest Service. The event was scheduled for August 12, 1995. For this ceremony David sent invitations to all of the people with whom we had contact and correspondence over the previous three years. With sheer delight we first received acknowledgment from the sister of Vernon Engelbrecht, Leona Seivers, from Ft. Wayne, ID. She came with a friend from her church. A nephew of Jack Shirley, also named Jack Shirley, came from New York. The older brother of William Chinn, Albert, now retired from the Air Force, came from Ohio and was joined by two cousins from Palo Alto, CA. Two brothers of Jack Shirley came, Bill from Georgia, and Dan from Florida. Several stayed at the Fairfield Inn here in Placentia and we all caravanned the seventy or so miles to Keller Peak for the 11am ceremony. David had arranged for chairs under a canopy on the Forestry helicopter pad near the top of the mountain. David Blake distributed programs to the 75 in attendance. Recorded military music filled Big Bear Valley as guests arrived. David also provided a tape of Whitney Houston singing the National Anthem. David Blake, now twelve years old, led the group in the salute to the flag. David Schmidt made a presentation of a model of the plaque and the incomplete but laminated pages of the documentary book to Bob Wood, of the United States Forest Service, who offered a warm acceptance speech. William Blake, now 16, was called on to tell what he knew about the B-26 Martin Marauders which saw yeoman service in the Pacific Theater of Operations as well as in Europe during WWII. The older brothers of the victims then narrated memories of their lost family member. All agreed that it was a welcome closure to a sad event of so long ago. After the brief speeches in the warm August sun, David invited the group to drive or hike further up the mountain, where behind red, white, and blue bunting the plaque was mounted on a monolith. When all were assembled, young David Blake pulled the cord, exposing to all this permanent memorial to these flyers. After a brief ceremony at the plaque site, the brothers of the victims hiked through the underbrush to reach the remnants of the crash to see the giant engines which carried their brothers to their deaths. Some picked up nuts and bolts and bits of wreckage as souvenirs as had hundreds of hikers over the past fifty-five years. Meantime, David had a group of friends at the Snow Valley parking lot preparing a picnic feast and he directed the guests to follow the pre-marked signs. Snow Valley had been the location of the military recovery unit which camped there for the two long weeks in January of 1942, until the wreckage was found and the bodies of the victims recovered. We later heard from Joyce Boystead, the daughter of a fellow who drove the ambulance as the bodies were recovered. Her mother was the lady who selflessly manned the soup kitchen for the rescue crew in that bitter cold January of 1942. . When our group reached Snow Valley that day, we had a wonderful afternoon of camaraderie as these folks found that their common loss had made them lifelong friends. When the day faded into evening, all assembled went their separate ways. We have continued correspondence with most of them. Once the plaque was in place, I again sent a report to the home town newspapers of each of the doomed airmen, with a notification that their townsman was now memorialized on the mountain. At the same time, recognition of the event was recorded in the local weekly newspapers which serve the mountain communities, The Mountain News, and The Big Bear Voice. Until this time, two years after the search for the families began, we had no information about the family of Frank Kobal, the pilot. However, his hometown newspaper, The Doings, in Hinsdale, IL, published the announcement that I sent to it about the plaque sometime in 1995. It was with absolute delight that in April 1996, I received a letter from Vicky Lindstrom, the sister of the pilot, who makes her home in Santa Paula, CA. A friend of hers from Hinsdale had sent her the clipping from the Hinsdale Doings. Vicky Lindstrom, now in her eighties, contacted Shirley Stitt from the Hinsdale Historical Society, who had our names and addresses from previous phone contact. Her warm letter of appreciation is a treasure. She and her daughter may make a trip to see the memorial. She also wrote a gracious letter to each of the Blake boys. . Up to this time we also had no word from any of the family of the co-pilot, who was from a prominent family in Waterbury, Connecticut. The copy which I sent in November of 1994 was omitted in favor of the political news of the local and national elections. Since I had been so fortunate with the Hinsdale Historical Society in relation to information on Lt. Frank Kobal, I decided to try an historical unit in Waterbury, the Mattatuck Museum. On the phone, I explained my plight to Vee Carrington, Manager of Membership Services. I sent her a brief copy of David's search, and my follow-up. She was most kind to forward my quest for information about the co-pilot, known there as "Ben" Maloney, to an attorney who shared that name. She expected that he was a relative. Waterbury, it seems, has all sorts of local dedications honoring the Maloneys, an honored and generous family. Attorney Pat Maloney was delighted to receive the material. In a phone conversation, he told me that Ben had a brother and sister, but that branch of the family is deceased. He was pleased to have received the story of his older cousin, and agreed that one day, he and his young family will visit the site. He related that another relative of his is interested in family events and it is possible that we will soon hear from her. When I talked to cousin Ellen Torrence of Thompston, CT, she agreed to look up newspaper clippings which were published in the paper owned and edited by her uncle, at the time of "Ben's" accident. She will also send a copy of a portrait of Ben which she treasures. We have also heard from a Colorado cousin of Vernon Engelbrecht, Skip Engelbrecht, and from Juli, a Georgia cousin of Jack Shirley. Their trips to California have occurred during times when the treacherous mountain road is closed, but all have an interest in visiting the site. We are proud to welcome them. As this project reached a conclusion, we found an advertisement in a military magazine from artist R.T. Foster, from Oklahoma City. He cleverly paints recreations of accidents and includes in the paintings of the crashes, sketches of the victims. With pictures of the flyers provided by David, which were gathered from newspaper clippings, Foster accepted the commission to paint the scene. Below the crashed wreck in the painting is a list of the victims, and the legend "The Spirits of Keller Peak, in memory of the crew of B-26 Marauder 40-1475, 33rd Bomber Squadron, crashed December 31, 1941, Keller Peak, California". In the clouds above the wrecked plane are sketches of the crew in appropriate uniforms.
David has made a large copy available for the new Ranger station under construction at the base of Keller Peak, and has generously provided one or more for each of the surviving family members. All this is a result of a Sunday afternoon hike to the lookout tower on Keller Peak in the fall of 1991... -- Marie Schmidt, Placentia, CA, May 1996
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