THE WALL OF FACES

Navigator LtCol Anderson died in the crash due to engine failure on take-off from their home base at Takhli RTAFB with LtCol James Ricketts and 1Lt Joseph Orlowski aboard EB-66B Destroyer tail #53-0498 on 8 Apr 69, while serving with the 42nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron of the 355th TFW.

A Remembrance profile has been started at:
http://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=Profile&type=Person&ID=79476

It is said a man hasn't died as long as he is remembered. This prayer is a way for families, friends and fellow veterans to remember our fallen brothers and sisters. Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning hush, I am the swift, uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight, I am the stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there, I did not die

Edwin is buried at Golden Gate Nat Cem.

Edwin P. Anderson was a navigator assigned to the 42nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron at Takhli RTAFB in Thailand.

The 42nd TEWS flew the Douglas EB-66E Destroyer, a medium bomber that had been converted to an electronic warfare platform. -- a stand-off jammer whose mission was to protect the strike aircraft by jamming the North Vietnamese radars.

The unarmed, twin engine jet had a crew of three -- pilot, navigator, and electronic warfare officer (EWO). On April 8, 1969 Anderson was scheduled to fly with James Ellsworth Ricketts, Jr., the pilot (and squadron commander),and Joseph M. Orlowski, the Electronic Warfare Officer.

But with a full load of electronic gear the B-66 was woefully under powered, and couldn't take off on one engine. That day, one of the engines failed during take off and the plane crashed in a rice paddy at the end of the runway, killing all three men. I was walking across the base at the time, and I can still see the dark column of smoke rising out in front of me and off to my left.

Although Jim and Joe were my friends, I hardly knew Anderson, and for years it bothered me that I could remember what he looked like, but I couldn't remember his name. The first time I went to the Wall, I thought I'd be able to find his name right there with Joe's and Jim's. But somebody screwed up the dates, Joe's name is on one panel, and Jim's name is two panel's away, as if the government hadn't gotten the word that they'd all died in the same airplane. I was dumbfounded. I wanted to know his name so badly that I didn't know what to do next. I just stood there staring at The Wall with a stunned look on my face. Then a guide at the memorial came over and asked if he could help. How do you explain to somebody that you can't remember a guy's name? All I could remember was that the navigator was an FNG and a Lieutenant Colonel. The guide told me he thought it might be Edwin P. Anderson. And then I remembered -- Andy Anderson. We called him Andy Anderson. His name is three lines above Joe's.

If I should die, and leave you here awhile, be not like others, sore undone, who keep long vigils by the silent dust, and weep...for MY sake, turn again to life, and smile....Nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do something to comfort other hearts than thine...Complete these dear, unfinished tasks of mine...and I, perchance, may therein comfort you.