Iceland and Airmen Michael Mangone

I'm jumping quite a bit ahead here, all the way to the end of Austin's military career.  But I had the opportunity yesterday to speak with Reed Thomas who served in Iceland at the most remote and hostile US radar site during the Cold War:  H-4 as part of the 934th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron.  He also runs the website which keeps that little known bit of history alive:  http://www.usradarsitesiceland.org/.

Reed was good friends with Michael Mangone (Mike) who also served on H-4 and H-1 from 1960-61 and was until recently, the Memorabilia Chairman of the site/memorial foundation. 

The story of Airmen Mangone and my grandfather was one of the few stories that were ever really told in any detail.  My grandfather was never a braggard and was an extremely humble individual, who told me a couple months before his passing when asked about his experience during the war, 'I didn't do anything special.'  Like so many stories, this one had become extremely skewed and off by the time it reached me so I was excited to finally after twenty years to hear what really played out that day.  I believe the last version I heard was that he had rescued a Navy SeaBee and had to land on a volcanic beach in a large C-130. 

Below is what really transpired.

There were four radar sites in Iceland which were initially set up during WW2 by the British and eventually taken over and added to by the United States as the threat of Soviet aggression towards the US intensified with the Cold War. 
Two of the US bases were located towards the bottom of Iceland (H-1 and H-2) with the other two (H-3 and H-4) located much further to the north close to the pole.  Major Austin Simmons was in command of H-1 from 1960-1961. 
As was mentioned, H-4 was the most remote of the four radar sites and also the most inhospitable.  As Reed Thomas put it, it was not uncommon for the wind to topple a deuce-and-a-half and max out their equipment which could only read wind speeds up to 135mph.  The base was located near a mountain in which a road just wide enough to accomodate 'a deuce-and-a-half and the width of a sheet of paper', as Reed put it, ran seven miles to the top where the radar dome was located. 
Flying in and out of the H-4 was a feat in and of itself.  The runway was only 800 ft long and the approach as Austin recalled in the 2004 interview, was extremely difficult as there was very little to guage your elevation in relation to the ground and pilots risked 'pancaking' their planes into the snow and ice.  Needless to say there were very few pilots who had the skill or the courage to fly up there, even under the best conditions and preperation.
Due to its inhospitable location, H-4 only lasted a handful of years as it and the rest of the base required constant upkeep.  As Reed put it, 'It took us four years to build it and took the weather four years to tear it down.'
Mike was put to the task of disassemblying the radar at the top of H-4 prior to it's closure.  After their workday on July 30, 1961, he and two others were descending the seven mile road back to base when the deuce-and-a-half lost its brakes.  Two of the men successfully jumped from the truck while Mike became entangled and ended up having the two and a half ton truck roll on top of him, breaking multiple bones and inflicting a lot of injury to his entire body.
The call went out that they had a severly injured Airman and Major Simmons, the H-1 base commander, took the initiative and responded.  Grabbing the Priest as he thought they would need to issue last rights, they both boarded the L-20 (a small single engined plane) and took off for H-4 and Michael Mangone.  It is important to note that the Air Force had SA-16 rescue planes at their disposal, just not the pilots trained well enough for a mission like this.

The Canadian built DeHavilland U6-A 'Beaver' or L-20

While in flight those who were still stationed at H-4 took to the task of pulling the heavy truck off of Mike and had to employ the use of a wrecker to do so. 

As Reed put it, 'The flight up was dangerous and the flight back just the same.'  According to the historian Fridthor Kr. Eydal who writes about the Icelandic Air Defense, planes landed and left the same day.  There was no place to store a plane up there over night or even to tie it down.  Given the verocity of the wind, it could flip a plane easier than that of the heavier, boxy military trucks.

Major Simmons received a commendation for the rescue on August 3, 1961 in which the second paragraph stated, 'Your unhesitating and unselfish response to the need for assistance, combined with your excellent knowledge of the terrain enroute and in the vicinity of H-4 was of invaluable assistance to Captain Lenhart and was a major contribution in the safe accomplishment of a flight made under very difficult weather conditions for a single engined aircraft.' ~Col. O B Steely

In the end, Mike survived and corresponded frequently with my grandfather.  As Reed put it, 'It was rare for an enlisted man to have a close bond to a superior officer.  Maybe he would respect him, but rarely would there be a close bond.  Mike had a very close bond to your grandfather.' 

Michael Mangone passed a couple weeks before Austin did on March 11, 2010 due to a heart attack.  I'm certain they're both having a cup of coffee together right now.

Letter dated 11/30/2002 from Michael Mangone to Austin with accompanying photo of Mike while up in Iceland.

The letter reads,

Sir;

Enclosed are some orders, and other items I liberated from boxes that were stored in an old truck on my property.  Hope you have fond memories of your time at the 932.

Thanks again for the plane ride to the hosp.  Hope you can make it to the reunion in April.  It would be great to get a picture of you and I standing by the L20 they have restored.

Thanks again

Micheal Mangone

Certificate that was given to those leaving Iceland by their commanders.  This one was given to Michael Mangone and signed by Maj. Austin Simmons.  It was a bit of a joke that played on the harsh conditions these men faced up there.