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Patriot’s Name: FLIGHT OFFICER JUDSON BASKETT
Mission Type: MIA/KIA WWII Airport Repatriation and Escort
Military Branch: U S Army Air Corps
Date of Mission: 9 August 2016
Staging Time: 8:30 a.m.
Briefing Time: 9:15 a.m.
In position time: 9:45 a.m.
Staging Address: Bush Airport, Cell Phone Lot, 5101 Will Clayton Parkway
(at Wright Road) West of Lee Road, Houston, Tx 77032
Mission Details: We will give honors as Flight Officer Baskett is repatriated during a dignified transfer at Bush Airport. We will then escort him and his family with LEO escort and with the help of our PGR Road Guards to American Heritage Funeral Home on Veterans Memorial Drive in Houston, Tx.
Obituary: Flight Officer Baskett , along with his copilot and radio operator, were declared MISSING IN ACTION, then officially KILLED IN ACTION on 28 November 1946. The 3 crewmen were part of the 1305th Army Air Force Base.
The C-47 crashed into a jungle covered mountain slope. Flares were spotted by American and Royal Air Force search planes but no results were reported.
In 1966, a Malaysian cutting sugarcane discovered the crash site. Reports and photographs made by the police were relayed to the Malaysian Ministry of Defense who notified the U.S. embassy.
In 1985, the wreckage was rediscovered by 2 local men.
In 2009, locals again rediscovered the wreckage and photographed it. Finally, the report was acknowledged.
A group of researchers from the Malaya Historical Group, along with several next-of-kin, worked tirelessly since 2012 to lobby to bring our heroes home.
In 2015, during “OPERATION GANGGA”, teams from the Royal Malaysian Armed Forces and our DEFENSE POW/MIA ACCOUNTING AGENCY, visited the site and performed a remains recovery mission. About 110 personnel were involved in this recovery mission.
Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter attended the dignified transfer ceremony in Asia, where four Malaysian soldiers handed the wooden box to U.S. troops.
After 70 years, it is our honor, to welcome Flight Officer Baskett home.
Stand down sir. Your job is done.
Rest easy. You are home.
PLEASE COME OUT AND STAND PROUD FOR THIS AMERICAN HERO. He has waited 70 years.
CO-LEAD Ride Captain: Dee Goff
RC phone number: 281-468-5488
RC email address: jgoffsr@aol.com
CO-LEAD Ride Captain: George Pelkey (Semper Gumby Negotiator)
RC phone number: 713-376-2812
RC email address: georgepelkey@prodigy.net
RC #3: Paul Babb (ROAD GUARDS and LEO LIAISON)
RC #3: phone number: 936-537-6223
RC #4: Harold Woolley (Motorcycles and cages escorts)
RC #4: phone number: 281-413-0789
RC #5: Stan Brown (Tarmac Lead)
RC #5 phone number: 832-865-2384
Ride Captain and Support Vehicle: Ken Strube
SV Phone number: 281-250-7659
SV Email address: kstrube1@windstream.net
Weather Forecast: VERY HOT, Temp high 90’s
*Please hydrate well before & during the mission.
“All Groups, Clubs, Independents, ETC. are welcome. The prerequisite is Respect and following PGR Code of Conduct. You do not have to
ride a motorcycle to join in.”