The Snapshots in Time Collection

Newspaper Clipping: "Rescuers Lasso Fresno Sailor After Crash" — Korean War Patrol Bomber Ditching, Sea of Japan

Newspaper Clipping: "Rescuers Lasso Fresno Sailor After Crash" — Korean War Patrol Bomber Ditching, Sea of Japan

A 1950s newspaper clipping recounts the harrowing ditching of a U.S. Navy patrol bomber in the Sea of Japan during the Korean War, in which ten crewmen died. Survivors, including Fresno sailor Joseph Oliver Smith, described the fiery crash and their rescue by a Navy destroyer in a letter home that formed the basis of this news story. Project: 218289