The crew was traveling from McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington, to Elmendorf Air Base in Anchorage, Alaska, when the plane crashed into a mountain in Mount Gannett, Alaska, during severe weather conditions.
Due to its remote location, the crash site would not be discovered until six decades later, when an Alaska National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk crew conducting routine training in 2012 spotted aircraft wreckage, frozen in ice, on Colony Glacier.
Credit: Staff Sgt. Brehl Garza
Credit: Staff Sgt. Brehl Garza
Recovery operations confirmed it was debris from the Air Force C-124 that crashed six decades earlier with 42 airmen, eight soldiers, one Marine and one sailor on board, according to U.S. Department of War records.
Since that time, annual recovery missions have been conducted by the U.S. military with the goal to locate and return the remains of all who perished.
In 2021, a shirt belonging to Newsome was recovered and presented to his family in Dayton, according to his official obituary published in 2025.
More recently, additional remains were identified, transported to Dayton, and presented to his extended family, which includes numerous nieces and nephews from Dayton, Springfield, Akron, Atlanta, Louisville, Kansas City, and Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Newsome was born on Nov. 8, 1922, in Talladega, Alabama, to Sterling E. Newsome Sr. and Alberta Headen Newsome.
His father, a coal miner, moved the family from Alabama to Logan, West Virginia, in the early 1930s, according to his obituary.
Newsome was educated in the segregated schools of Logan and graduated from Aracoma High School.
“Determined to build a life beyond the coal mines, Sterling moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, to live with relatives and seek employment. When work proved scarce, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in May 1943,” his obit reads.
Newsome served for 32 months before he was honorably discharged. Years later, he rejoined the Armed Forces, this time entering the U.S. Air Force, where he trained as an aircraft mechanic at Randolph Field in San Antonio, Texas.
A memorial service celebrating Newsome’s life, his sacrifice, and his return home was held in November at Greater Allen AME Church.
H.H. Roberts Mortuary handled Newsome’s burial arrangements and the veteran was given full military honors at the Dayton VA National Cemetery.
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