WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 — A special ceremony honoring veterans of the Cold War and marking the 50th anniversary of the deaths of three “Men of the Golden Heart” took place today at Arlington National Cemetery’s Old Amphitheater.
Maj. Dale Richardson, 1st Lt. William John Wolters Jr., and Airman 2nd Class Melvin Lindsay were among 11 members of the 58th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron who died Aug. 31, 1956 when their Air Force WB-50D weather reconnaissance airplane, dubbed the Golden Heart, crashed under mysterious circumstances.
The result of a partnership between Andrea Richardson Stowers of Alexandria, Va., whose father was honored, Virginia Del. David L. Englin (D-Alexandria), and Bethlehem Baptist Church of Alexandria, the ceremony culminated the ongoing efforts of the survivors of these airmen to honor the service and sacrifice of their loved ones.
Stowers spent 50 years searching for surviving family members of the other 10 crewmen who died that night. Working from childhood memories, her father’s flight records and mission assignments, recently de-classified Cold War documents, and interviews with other Cold War veterans, Stowers pieced together details of her father’s life and service.
A chance encounter in California led Stowers to William Douglas Wolters, the son of 1st Lt. Wolters, in late 2005. Wolters had been independently pursuing a similar life mission to honor his father. Through Bethlehem Baptist Church, Stowers found Thedessa Weaver, the mother of crew member Lindsay, who was an Alexandria native and one of the few black aircrew members during that era. Through research and interviews with many veterans they learned that the Golden Heart and its crew, like many others assigned to the 58th Air Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Eielson AFB, Alaska, had been sent to “test the hot clouds,” gathering fallout from Soviet nuclear testing to return to the United States for analysis of the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons capability.
Englin, a 32-year-old Air Force veteran who grew up on Cold War military bases overseas, first met Stowers while campaigning for his seat in the Virginia House of Delegates last year. Moved by Stowers’ efforts to honor her father and his crew mates, Englin offered to help commemorate these airmen. A U.S. Air Force Academy graduate who majored in history with a specialization in Russian studies, Englin was familiar with the history of Cold War flight operations.
“These men risked everything understanding that the world would never know of their heroism because these operations were so secret at the time,” said Englin. “It takes a special kind of person in the first place to go into harm’s way to protect others. People who do it knowing their stories will probably never be told hold a unique place even among those other heroes who serve. Now that the Cold War is behind us and these missions have been de-classified, we must honor them publicly and share their stories.”
Fallen Golden Heart airman Lindsay grew up in Englin’s legislative district, he and his family were members of Bethlehem Baptist Church, who is helping host Saturday’s ceremony. Working with Stowers, Englin sponsored House Joint Resolution 444 to celebrate Lindsay’s life and service and to honor the other fallen airmen of the Golden Heart. Englin’s resolution, which passed the Virginia General Assembly unanimously on March 3, acknowledged Lindsay’s sacrifice and that of the “many unsung heroes of the Cold War who have never been publicly recognized for the important role they played in protecting and serving our nation during a critical time in our nation’s history.”
Curtis Peebles, noted Cold War Historian adds, “It is important that the veterans of the Cold War receive the recognition due to them for the difficult missions that they undertook during that conflict.”
