Projects

The Good Works Kitchen is proud to partner with Resolute Promise LLC, whose mission is to bring home those that gave the last full measure of devotion.

Resolute Promise is an enterprise that is locating, recovering and bringing home remains of MIAs. This enterprise is seeking investors, sponsors and donors. Donors may make tax-exempt contributions to RP via The Good Works Kitchen.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Resolute Promise  |  Mt. Tahoma Glacier Expedition                5 September 2023

Resolute Promise LLC has launched a project to research the site of the R5C Curtis Commando aircraft that crashed into the South Tahoma Glacier on Mount Rainier on December 10, 1946. The airplane, carrying 32 military personnel, was flying from San Diego to Seattle when it encountered extreme weather conditions. Due to the dangerous terrain, high elevation, and limited access to the location of the crash, very little is understood about the site since it was last fully observed in the summer of 1947.

Resolute Promise, a team of subject matter experts, visited Mount Rainier National Park several times through the summer of 2023 to better understand current conditions and what has happened to the wreckage since 1946. In mid-August, our group of experts performed split operations with an alpine team spending four days at high elevations, visually inspecting the site in coordination with a filming team working at lower altitudes, retracing the steps of the personnel who first saw the wreckage in 1947. Understanding changes in the glacier is germane not only to fully comprehend what has happened with the wreckage of the aircraft, but also the pernicious effects of climate change.

The alpine team’s time was spent scanning the glacier for debris. They observed aluminum wreckage above 9,000 feet.  Exceptional visibility and weather benefitted the team for the majority of their stay at 6,500 feet. The visual survey was complicated by the number of crevasses and the amount of continual rock falling from the headwall that rises some 3,500 feet above the glacier that make discerning foreign objects on the glacier quite challenging.  Many times what seemed to be artificial, in fact, turned out to be snow, ice, or rock. 

Resolute Promise would like to acknowledge that we are working on the western slopes of Tahoma, the traditional homeland of various Indigenous peoples of Washington State, including the Puyallup and Nisqually Nations. 

The team counts on the expertise of Dr. William Belcher, a board-certified forensic anthropologist and associate professor of anthropology at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Belcher, a long time Seattle area resident, graduate of Tumwater High and Western Washington University and the son of a retired Army heavy weapons specialist infantryman who served in Korea and Vietnam. Dr. Belcher is passionate about investigating, searching for, and recovering those who are Missing-In-Action, giving their name back to them, and bringing the opportunity for long-awaited healing to their families and loved ones.

Resolute Promise plans to continue investigating the glacier in the coming weeks and months utilizing various technologies including optical and satellite imagery.

The team’s recent expedition was sponsored by Pocket Prep, a Seattle based company that believes education should be within everyone’s reach.

Much has changed with the glacier over time, including 24 outburst flood incidents since 1967 – the most serious was also the most recent, taking place in August, 2019. And as the pace of climate change intensifies, the movement and melting of the glacier has accelerated, posing greater risks and enhanced difficulty in reaching and surveying the site. Taking into account the changes that have occurred, and the availability of modern technology, team members believe the site can be more clearly understood and help to bring closure to the family members of those who were lost on that fateful day. The purpose which drives the team behind Resolute Promise is to remember those who lost their lives in the service of their country.

Resolute Promise would love to hear from family members, loved ones, and friends of those lost that fateful day.  https://www.resolutepromise.com/families-impact

For more information: www.resolutepromise.com or families@resolutepromise.com

For more information, visit ResolutePromise.com