Curtiss C-46A-20-CU Commando SERIAL NUMBER 41-24688 MACR 3282 (MSN 26609)

lost Mar 27, 1944 over the eastern Himalayas in Tibet.

Wreckage discovered on the Ruoguo Glacier in Nyingchi, Tibet by a local hunter in Sep 1993.

Remains of five crewmen were recovered and returned, but much of the wreckage remained.

In Aug 2015 the wreckage debris was moved from Tibet to Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China to be sent to Jianchuan Museum.

Curtiss C-46A-20-CU Commando SERIAL NUMBER 41-24688 MACR 3282 India-China Wing, Air Transport Command

EVANS HERBERT William O-740778 1ST LT

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/638559705/herbert-w-evans

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/529956378/herbert-w-evans

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001J4tHLEAZ

HANLON JOHN Wilford 38269554 CPL john wallace hanlon - alternate name

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/90402457/john-w-hanlon

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/638508659/john-w-hanlon

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/529960879/john-w-hanlon

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001J4tM6EAJ

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154158686/john-wilford-hanlon

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14226215/john-wilford-hanlon

RUGERS GERARD LAMBERT 39180415 PFC

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/638658283/gerard-l-rugers

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/90830617/gerard-l-rugers-jr

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/529972545/gerard-l-rugers-jr

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001JAeKSEA1

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14226230/gerald-l.-rugers

WIGHT DOUGLAS Robert O-793471 CAPT

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001JAeRJEA1

On July 18, 2005, the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO, now DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class Gerard L. Rugers Jr., missing from World War II.

Private First Class Rugers entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Washington and served in the India-China Wing, Air Transport Command. On March 27, 1944, he was the radio operator aboard a C-46 Commando (serial number 41-24688) that took off from Kunming, China with four crew members on a supply mission to Sookerating, India. The Commando flew “The Hump," a notoriously dangerous route over the Himalayas. During the flight, a crew member requested a bearing, which indicated that the aircraft was lost. The aircraft never reached its destination and was later found to have crashed into Meiduobai Mountain in a remote area of Tibet, killing PFC Rugers and the other three crew members. In 2001, Chinese Government officials notified the U.S. government that they found the wreckage. In 2002, a joint U.S./Chinese team excavated the crash site and recovered material evidence and human remains, and using modern forensic techniques, Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) scientists and Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory specialists identified PFC Rugers' remains.

Private First Class Rugers is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Gerard L Rugers, Jr