In Memory of Thomas D. Childs, Captain, US Air Force
Captain Child's Boeing B-52F Stratofortress (tail number 70173, call sign Meal 88) disappeared from radar contact at approximately 2304CST/0504Z on 28 Feb 1968 during a low-level training mission over the Gulf of Mexico. Because the aircraft and its crew of eight* were never recovered, the US Air Force crash investigation team's official finding was as follows: "The primary cause of B-52F 57-173 aircraft accident is undetermined due to lack of information and tangible evidence available as the aircraft is downed in an unknown location."
Captain Childs, a highly experienced instructor radar navigator assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing, 20th Bomb Squadron, Crew S-63 at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, was aboard the missing aircraft to evaluate the performance of 9th Bomb Squadron crew E-07. A decorated combat veteran, he flew missions supporting Operation Arc Light during the Vietnam War.
Captain Childs' hometown was Muncie, Indiana and he was a graduate of Ball State University. He left behind a wife (Karin) and daughter (Tiffany).
MORS AB AlTO
* The other lost aircrew members were: Maj Frank M. Salavarria; Maj Philip F. Strine (EP); Capt Charles W. Roberts (RN); Capt Michael L. Carroll (NN) ; Capt John T. Pantilla (EWO); 1Lt William T. Causey (CP); and MSgt Kermit C. Casey (AG)
Virtual Cemetery: USAF B-52F Stratofortress 70173, 28 Feb 1968
"Spaces between transmissions normally vacant during the day were cluttered with nightime radio sounds, foreign conversations and mysterious beeps. I was listening to the tape that contained the final transmissions of Meal 88 to the Matagorda RBS site--our only clue to the missing aircraft's fate."
-- McGill, E. (2012). Jet Age Man, SAC B-47 and B-52 Operations in the Early Cold War. West Midlands, England: Helion & Company
Captain Child's Boeing B-52F Stratofortress (tail number 70173, call sign Meal 88) disappeared from radar contact at approximately 2304CST/0504Z on 28 Feb 1968 during a low-level training mission over the Gulf of Mexico. Because the aircraft and its crew of eight* were never recovered, the US Air Force crash investigation team's official finding was as follows: "The primary cause of B-52F 57-173 aircraft accident is undetermined due to lack of information and tangible evidence available as the aircraft is downed in an unknown location."
Captain Childs, a highly experienced instructor radar navigator assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing, 20th Bomb Squadron, Crew S-63 at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, was aboard the missing aircraft to evaluate the performance of 9th Bomb Squadron crew E-07. A decorated combat veteran, he flew missions supporting Operation Arc Light during the Vietnam War.
Captain Childs' hometown was Muncie, Indiana and he was a graduate of Ball State University. He left behind a wife (Karin) and daughter (Tiffany).
MORS AB AlTO
* The other lost aircrew members were: Maj Frank M. Salavarria; Maj Philip F. Strine (EP); Capt Charles W. Roberts (RN); Capt Michael L. Carroll (NN) ; Capt John T. Pantilla (EWO); 1Lt William T. Causey (CP); and MSgt Kermit C. Casey (AG)
Virtual Cemetery: USAF B-52F Stratofortress 70173, 28 Feb 1968
"Spaces between transmissions normally vacant during the day were cluttered with nightime radio sounds, foreign conversations and mysterious beeps. I was listening to the tape that contained the final transmissions of Meal 88 to the Matagorda RBS site--our only clue to the missing aircraft's fate."
-- McGill, E. (2012). Jet Age Man, SAC B-47 and B-52 Operations in the Early Cold War. West Midlands, England: Helion & Company
In Memory of Thomas D. Childs, Captain, US Air Force
Captain Child's Boeing B-52F Stratofortress (tail number 70173, call sign Meal 88) disappeared from radar contact at approximately 2304CST/0504Z on 28 Feb 1968 during a low-level training mission over the Gulf of Mexico. Because the aircraft and its crew of eight* were never recovered, the US Air Force crash investigation team's official finding was as follows: "The primary cause of B-52F 57-173 aircraft accident is undetermined due to lack of information and tangible evidence available as the aircraft is downed in an unknown location."
Captain Childs, a highly experienced instructor radar navigator assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing, 20th Bomb Squadron, Crew S-63 at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, was aboard the missing aircraft to evaluate the performance of 9th Bomb Squadron crew E-07. A decorated combat veteran, he flew missions supporting Operation Arc Light during the Vietnam War.
Captain Childs' hometown was Muncie, Indiana and he was a graduate of Ball State University. He left behind a wife (Karin) and daughter (Tiffany).
MORS AB AlTO
* The other lost aircrew members were: Maj Frank M. Salavarria; Maj Philip F. Strine (EP); Capt Charles W. Roberts (RN); Capt Michael L. Carroll (NN) ; Capt John T. Pantilla (EWO); 1Lt William T. Causey (CP); and MSgt Kermit C. Casey (AG)
Virtual Cemetery: USAF B-52F Stratofortress 70173, 28 Feb 1968
"Spaces between transmissions normally vacant during the day were cluttered with nightime radio sounds, foreign conversations and mysterious beeps. I was listening to the tape that contained the final transmissions of Meal 88 to the Matagorda RBS site--our only clue to the missing aircraft's fate."
-- McGill, E. (2012). Jet Age Man, SAC B-47 and B-52 Operations in the Early Cold War. West Midlands, England: Helion & Company
Captain Child's Boeing B-52F Stratofortress (tail number 70173, call sign Meal 88) disappeared from radar contact at approximately 2304CST/0504Z on 28 Feb 1968 during a low-level training mission over the Gulf of Mexico. Because the aircraft and its crew of eight* were never recovered, the US Air Force crash investigation team's official finding was as follows: "The primary cause of B-52F 57-173 aircraft accident is undetermined due to lack of information and tangible evidence available as the aircraft is downed in an unknown location."
Captain Childs, a highly experienced instructor radar navigator assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing, 20th Bomb Squadron, Crew S-63 at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, was aboard the missing aircraft to evaluate the performance of 9th Bomb Squadron crew E-07. A decorated combat veteran, he flew missions supporting Operation Arc Light during the Vietnam War.
Captain Childs' hometown was Muncie, Indiana and he was a graduate of Ball State University. He left behind a wife (Karin) and daughter (Tiffany).
MORS AB AlTO
* The other lost aircrew members were: Maj Frank M. Salavarria; Maj Philip F. Strine (EP); Capt Charles W. Roberts (RN); Capt Michael L. Carroll (NN) ; Capt John T. Pantilla (EWO); 1Lt William T. Causey (CP); and MSgt Kermit C. Casey (AG)
Virtual Cemetery: USAF B-52F Stratofortress 70173, 28 Feb 1968
"Spaces between transmissions normally vacant during the day were cluttered with nightime radio sounds, foreign conversations and mysterious beeps. I was listening to the tape that contained the final transmissions of Meal 88 to the Matagorda RBS site--our only clue to the missing aircraft's fate."
-- McGill, E. (2012). Jet Age Man, SAC B-47 and B-52 Operations in the Early Cold War. West Midlands, England: Helion & Company
Gravesite Details
The grave marker pictured is a cenotaph located at the Elm Ridge Memorial Park in Muncie, Indiana. Captain Childs' remains are resting somewhere on the seafloor offshore Matagorda Island, Texas with the other seven members of his missing B-52 crew.
Family Members
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