Justice for the Jack B. Ketchum Crew?

The uncontainable nature of the OSS – Office of Strategic Services, during World War II, is historically accurate and universally accepted. Recent literary efforts have attributed the death of General George Patton to the rogue agency, in a homicidal plot to silence his pending public criticism regarding the conduct of the war. Following the Potsdam Conference in August 1945, President Harry S. Truman summarily disbanded the OSS upon returning to the United States, even though the war with Japan was still very much undecided. President Truman is believed to have assessed the OSS, and its insolent leader, “Wild” Bill Donovan, as more serious a threat to the American way of life than operating no US civilian spy agency at all. Until the CIA – Central Intelligence Agency was later founded in 1947 the United States had no civilian spy agency. It is also historically accurate to say that “Wild” Bill Donovan campaigned forcefully for the position of CIA Director in 1947, and was soundly and summarily rejected for the position by President Truman.

I know that President Truman was well-acquainted with Omar Ketchum, Jack Ketchum’s father and president of the VFW – Veterans of Foreign Wars in Washington, DC. I have a picture of Omar Ketchum standing behind President Truman at the signing ceremony for the GI Bill, pivotal legislation for every American veteran. I also believe that President Truman knew that the OSS caused the death of the Jack Ketchum crew on their way home, June 13, 1945. Any sane person would regard such a heinous crime committed against the Jack Ketchum crew as monumentally unacceptable. Although Omar Ketchum was fed the collective “cover story” about the Ketchum crew being killed in a C-54 crash that never really occurred, I contend that President Truman found it increasingly difficult to promote such a charade. He surely regarded “Wild” Bill Donovan and the OSS as contemptible, and even though the murder of the Jack Ketchum crew was “buried” to prevent public awareness, President Truman clearly made a deliberate decision to eliminate the murderers of these innocent American servicemen from the ranks of the US Government.

Today’s United States Air Force was founded in 1947 during the same time-period as the Central Intelligence Agency. To date, the USAF has been totally inert in efforts to uncover the truth about the Jack Ketchum crew. For all its chest thumping bravado, the USAF continues to totally acquiesce each time it is denied information by the CIA about the crash of the Jack Ketchum crew. A US Army Air Corps crew, the predecessor to the USAF, was murdered on their way home by the predecessor to the CIA, and in response, the USAF would have to rally to appear merely impotent. Justice for the Jack Ketchum crew still remains elusive, although the mystery of their loss has been solved and that truth is now shared very publicly. Their story has evolved into a public affair with a global audience. That audience must now decide whether the last mission of the Jack Ketchum crew remains forgotten and whether the OSS, CIA and USAF led cover-up is still socially acceptable.