Hearts of Courage: The Gillam Plane Crash and the Amazing True Story of Survival in the Frozen Wilderness of Alaska

By John Tippets

Book Overview

No greater saga of the Northland was ever recounted than the experiences of the survivors of the Gillam plane crash. The Alaska Fishing News, Ketchikan, Alaska, February 8, 1943 In Hearts of Courage John Tippets has done a wonderful job giving voice to his father in telling his story. Arnold Griese, author of Bush Pilot: Early Alaska Aviator Harold Gillam, Sr., Lucky or Legend? John's thorough research and attention to detail transports us back in time to become part of these miraculous events in the lives of Joseph and Alta Tippets. Jeffrey Johns, Curator, American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum None can match the Gillam crash survivors for sheer heroism in the face of impossible odds. Their courage was inspiring! Ric Gillespie, Executive Director, The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR)

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594330778
• ISBN13: 9781594330773
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Publication Consultants
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Gillam crash survivor's story riveting in detail

Hearts of Courage By John M. Tippetts Publication Consultants 2008 $19.95 "There are old pilots and bold pilots - but no old, bold pilots." It's a truism every pilot I've ever met repeats. Alaska certainly needed the bold pilots - without fearless, intrepid explorers who did what everyone thought could never be done, Alaska's history would be much different. But it's also true that many of the bold, fearless aviators that people the state's early aviation history many times pushed the envelope just a bit too far, leading to the third leg of the adage. Aviator Harold Gillam was one such adventurer. Gillam, who earned the nickname "thrill `em, spill `em, no-kill `em Gillam," was one of the boldest of Alaska's early pilots. He was famous for saying, "The weather's never as bad as it looks," taking his bird up in conditions no sane man would venture outdoors in, let alone up in the air at the mercy of gravity. Born in Illinois, Gillam found his way to Alaska and discovered flight. He took up with one of Alaska's most famous flying families, Joe Crosson and his sister Marvel, falling in love with the girl and the planes. He made his name as one of the pilots who discovered the Siberian crash site of Carl Ben Eielson's last flight. Though he lost the woman he loved to a crash, he never lost his love for flying, or his penchant for dramatic takeoffs and landings, hairy adventures, and more than a few crashes, both minor and serious. He always walked away from them, until one day his luck ran out. The story of that fatal flight is told in "Hearts of Courage: The Gillam plane crash and the amazing true story of survival in the frozen wilderness of Alaska," by John M. Tippets. It concentrates on Joe Tippets, John's father, a survivor of the crash and instrumental in finding rescue for himself and the other survivors. Joe was a Civil Aeronautics Administration employee who had lived in Alaska for several years; he was returning to Anchorage after visiting his sick mother in Ogden, Utah. From Seattle, he was "lucky" enough to get a seat on a Morris-Knudsen plane to Alaska. Piloting that plane was M-K's chief pilot, Harold Gillam. While piloting the M-K Lockheed Electra 10-B on January 5, 1943, Gillam lost his bearings en route to Annette Island for refueling. The subsequent crash is a fixture of Alaskan history - after losing an engine and altitude, Gillam managed a crash landing into what is now the Misty Fjords National Monument, near Boca de Quadro inlet. With his skill, Gillam would have managed to bring the plane down in one piece - had it not been for the trees that sheared off the right wing and sent the plane slamming into the ground. Gillam and his five passengers survived, although all suffered some degree of injury. Gillam had a concussion, but he managed to get his passengers out of the plane and set up a camp in which to wait rescue. Passenger Susan Batzer, traveling north to take a job with the Civil Aeronautics Administration, was ser

A Story of Tremendous Courage and Faith Against the Odds

"Hearts of Courage" by John M. Tippets is a story of tremendous courage and faith against seemingly insurmountable odds. In January 1943, the Morrison-Knudsen Electra piloted by Harold Gillam crashed on a snow-covered mountain in southeast Alaska. On board was Joseph Tippets, a radio electrical engineer for the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and the author's father; along with Robert Gebo, Morrison-Knudsen's Alaska general contractor; Susan Batzer, on her way to take a stenographer's job for the CAA; Percy Cutting, a Morrison-Knudsen mechanic; and Dewey Metzdorf, the owner of the Anchorage Hotel and apartments. While the story of the Gillam crash has been described numerous times, this account, including new details and recollections, tells the story of Joseph Tippets and those aboard the fated Morrison-Knudsen Electra using personal research, historical photographs and the words of Joseph Tippets found in news accounts, interviews and published resources. I approached "Hearts of Courage" with a tiny amount of trepidation. Often memoirs provide a one-sided version of events, and especially when an author is sharing memories of a family member, the fear is that he is too close to be objective. Such is not the case with "Hearts of Courage". John Tippets provides a thoroughly researched, detailed account of the Gillam crash of 1943, a brief history of Joe and Alta's (Joe's wife and the author's mother) life, world events as pertaining to World War II and Alaska's strategic position in the Pacific Northwest, in addition to what the years following the crash held for Joe and Alta. Also included are excerpts from the official Civil Aeronautics Board Report on the crash, new equipment and supply guidelines that were put into effect after the crash and Joseph Tippets's letter to Susan Batzer's parents. Susan was the first victim to subcumb to her injuries. The last few pages of the book include excerpts from the report completed after a 2004 site examination by the U.S. Forest Service and members of the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, along with photos and diagrams of the Lockhead Electra and the crash site. Woven through this amazing story of survival is the deep faith that Joe and Alta shared; each confident that they would be reunited, even when others had lost hope and Alta learned the official search for survivors had been called off. With "Hearts of Courage", John Tippets has turned the story of the Gillam crash into a page-turning, engaging and heroic story of courage and faith. Anyone interested in aviation history, aviation disasters or inspiring and uplifting stories will enjoy "Hearts of Courage".

Great book

My husband loved this book for Father's Day. As a pilot, lover of Alaskan adventure, and war veteran, it was right up his alley.

One of those books you can't quit reading once you start it

Once you start into the third chapter, you won't be able to quit until you finish it. An unbelievable, but very factual, story of the human spirit overcoming all possible obstacles of nature and certain death with facinating insights into what it was like living in the "last frontier" at a time when remote was an huge understatement.

Faith and family produces a miracle!

From the first chapter, I learned specific details about WWII in the Alaskan Territory. I had not realized how risky it was to be an Alaskan during the war years. But I was so impressed by the faith and determination of the Gillam plane crash survivors. They quickly realized that despair would lead to death, so they chose faith and hope instead. Faith and fear cannot coexist, and their faith produced a miracle. Many people put their lives at risk to bring these men safely home. A very good book, especially when you realize it is a true account!!