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MILITARY

Coast Guard Academy honors daring World War II pilot killed on Greenland rescue mission

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    In this 1942 photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard, Lt. John A. Pritchard, Jr., and Petty Officer 1st Class Benjamin Bottoms prepare for a flight over the Greenland icebergs where they had successfully rescued two U.S. Army fliers. Pritchard and Bottoms died in an attempt to rescue a third man left stranded by the crash of a B-17 on an ice cap in 1942 when their single-engine plane went down in whiteout conditions. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn, will formally honor Pritchard, a 1938 graduate, on Friday, Nov. 7, 2014, when he will be inducted into its Hall of Heroes. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard) (The Associated Press)

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    This undated photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard shows Lt. John A. Pritchard's official portrait. Pritchard was trying to save a man left stranded by the crash of a B-17 on Greenland’s ice cap in 1942 when his own single-engine plane went down in whiteout conditions. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn, will formally honor Pritchard, a 1938 graduate, on Friday, Nov. 7, 2014, when he will be inducted into its Hall of Heroes. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard) (The Associated Press)

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    In this 1942 photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard, Lt. John A. Pritchard, Jr., left, waits as his plane is readied aboard a Coast Guard cutter. Pritchard was trying to save a man left stranded by the crash of a B-17 on Greenland’s ice cap in 1942 when his own single-engine plane went down in whiteout conditions. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn, will formally honor Pritchard, a 1938 graduate, on Friday, Nov. 7, 2014, when he will be inducted into its Hall of Heroes. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard) (The Associated Press)

HARTFORD, Conn. – The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is honoring an alumnus who died on a daring rescue mission in Greenland during World War II.

Lt. John Pritchard, a pilot, was trying to save a man left stranded on the tundra by the crash of a B-17 when his own single-engine Grumman Duck plane went down in whiteout conditions in November 1942. A total of three service members died in the wreck.

The U.S. military has stepped up efforts to recover the plane that is now entombed in a glacier, including a mission to Greenland this summer by the Joint Personnel POW/MIA Accounting Command.

The academy in New London is inducting Pritchard into its Hall of Heroes on Friday afternoon. Pritchard was a member of the class of 1938.

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