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

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)

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)

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)

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.