Evening star., 1945-11-12
Kiefer
Continued From First page !

Commodore Kiefer was command
Ing officer of the aircraft carrier
T1conderoga when she was struck by
two Jap suicide planes off Formosa
last January. He suffered IS wounds
in the ensuing explosions, but stuck
to his bridge for II hours until fires
were extinguished before permitting
himself to receive medical attention.
He went to Quonset last April.
Death Confirmed.
The 1st Naval District in Boston
today confirmed that Commodore
Kiefer was one of the victims of the
crash. Several hours earlier a
Beacon City official had reported the
commodore was among the dead.
The plane, twin-engined craft.
was en- route from Caldwell, N. j.,
to Quonset and was last heard from
Yesterday afternoon as it few over
Stewart Field, West Point, N. Y. 1t
crashed Is minutes later. The
wreckage was found at 3 am. to-
day.
When $40 marines and Navy men
reached the scene this morning they
found the body of Commodore
kiefer on pile of leaves. The body
was Is feet from the planes fuselage.
A cold rain beat down, continual
ton of the fog and rain that pre-
vailed through the area when the
plane crashed
Fifty feet from the commodore s
body was another victim and 10C
feet away lay another body. Inside
the fuselage was the scorched body
of fight captain.
Bits of flesh and clothing hung
from tree limbs so feet above the
ground.
Bomber Dived Into Hills.
The Marines and Navy men from
Quonset Point trudged 21z miles
through mountainous underbrush tc
reach the bodies. 1t took them
nearly two hours and many of them
fell as they moved through the
Shiny mud and over slippery stones
Navy men said it was obviou:
the bomber had dived into the
rocky hill. Beside one wrecked en-.
gine lay the body of sailor, next
to a body burned beyond recogni.
ton. His watch had stopped al
1923.
The wreekage, spread over a large
area. was first reached by Joseph
Brown, sr, and his son, Joseph, jr
employees of the Texas Co.'S oil
refinery at Glenham, N. Y, who
summoned Police Sergts. Samuel
Rogers and Ralph Carter of the
Beacon police.
The Beacon city official said
Commodore Kiefer was identified by
items in his pocket. Another mark
of identification, he said, was the
cast on his arm, which he had worn
since the Jap attack on the Ticon-
deroga.
Heard Two Explosions.
The Browns said they saw the
plane fly over the refinery and later
heard two explosions which police
assumed to be explosions of flares
set off by the heat of the plane.
Mr.. Brown and his son said II
took many hours for them to locate
the wreckage.
They located it, they said, by fol-
lowing the scent of burning flesh
They said the fog was so thick that
no flames were seen at any time.
The plane crashed 1,400 feet ur
from the summit. Not until three
hours after they located the wreck
age did they manage to make theil
way back to Beacon to advise police
Commodore Kiefer, bachelor
called Kansas City his legal home.
He was executive officer of the
carrier Yorktown when it was sunk
in the Pacific.
Called Indestructible Man.
Secretary of the Navy Forresta
described Commodore Kiefer, a ma
. tive of Blackfoot, Idaho, as the 'in
destructible man" when he deco
rated him with the Distinguished
Service Medal
In addition to the DSM, Commo
dore Kiefer had received the Nav,
Cross, Silver Star and Purple Hear
with Star and wore five campaign
ribbons.
Graduated from the Naval Acad
emy in 1918, he served on anti
submarine patrol in the World Wal
He entered naval aviation in 1926
taking a post graduate course il
aeronautical engineering at An
napolis.
He participated in six major Pa
cific engagements, including tn
battles of the Coral Sea and Mid
way.
Despite his many wounds, Com
modore Kiefer always declared tha
I'm no hero"
Changed Ships Course.
Kiefer Cthen captain) was on tn
bridge of the Ticonderoga whel
the Jap Kamikaze planes score,
their hits. He changed the cours
of the ship to keep the. wind from
feeding fires that might explod
Its bombs, and at the end of tn
struggle the ship was able to launcl
and land aircraft.
At one time, regarding his injure,
arm, he said, That's nothing a
all. I'm a professional man, jus
paying back the United States fo
marvellous education and 80 year.
steady employment at q good jo
and good pay.
I'm not like the reserves VIII
volunteered to go to war with ia
less training. There's nothing heroi
about us regulars We weren
giving up homes, good jobs, pleasar
shore lives to go to sea-"
He had been promised sea dut
again - soon a. his arm heales