Searching for Answers and Recognition on Flying Tiger Line Flight 739

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) – When Kimberly Steinman-Elmquist woke up last week on her 60^th birthday her first thought was not of celebration, but of the father she lost in a mysterious airplane explosion over the North Pacific Ocean when she was only 20 months old.

On March 16, 1962, Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, a Lockheed Super Constellation transport airliner, exploded and disappeared over the ocean between Guam and the Philippine Islands. On board were 93 American soldiers, three South Vietnamese military men and 11 crew members. All perished. Twenty-six-year-old Army Sergeant Ranger John Karibo of Ohio, Kimberly’s father, was on that plane

The fate of Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 is a mystery that has spanned six decades and continues to grow exponentially, spawning more questions than answers. Like a pebble thrown into the water, the story continues to expand, becoming more complicated with each passing year.

Karibo had been training at Fort George Meade, Maryland when he received orders to report to Travis Air Force Base for a new assignment. He was only allowed to return home to Ohio briefly to say “goodbye” to his young wife, Tonya and his daughter. The mission was top secret; no one could speak of it. 

Karibo was then off to Travis AFB where he joined 92 other Rangers all reported by the government following their disappearance to have been specialists in electronics and communications. Elmquist shared with this reporter that her father was trained in biological, chemical, and radiological warfare.

Their final destination was to be Saigon, Vietnam. From Travis they stopped to refuel in Honolulu, Wake Island and Guam expecting to proceed on to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. Somewhere from Guam and the Philippines contact with flight 739 was lost. After three hours with no radio contact Search and Rescue operations was initiated from Guam and the Philippines.

Flying Tiger Line flight 739 and everyone on board was declared lost when it was calculated their fuel would have run out.” No trace of the plane or any indication that it had crashed into the sea was found. It just disappeared.

Adding insult to injury or in this case, death, the families of these men were informed that their situation did not qualify to have their loved ones’ names included on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.

In March 2019, Elmquist joined three other families in Washington D.C. on a trip to visit Senate aides, tell their stories and present them with packets bulging with documents for each senator on the Armed Service Committee.

The trip was organized and led by Donna Ellis Cornell, from Michigan, daughter of Sgt. 1^st Class Melvin Hatt from Michigan.  A Stars and Stripes reporter followed the group for 3 days.

Elmquist was featured in the article and in a video in the online version of the August 8, 2019 article. She has been tirelessly lobbying anyone who will listen to get the word out for these 93 men who served their country alongside others on the Wall.

Elmquist recalls when her mother-in-law Edith received word of her son’s loss and presumed death, she never accepted it. To her dying day she just knew ‘Johnny’ would walk through the door. Tonya, John’s wife was denied any kind of memorial service for her husband and eventually the families grew apart. 

There is one bright light in this fight. Groundbreaking for a private monument to honor all 93 servicemen and 11 crew members took place recently in Columbia Falls, Maine, site of the Wreaths Across America. It is scheduled to be completed and dedicated by the end of the year.

Elmquist wonders what the military and government could be so afraid of even now, 60 years later, to still be unwilling to release information on the incident. She knows the questions would stop if their loved ones would get the recognition they deserve.  “It makes you wonder what was happening with the United States and Vietnam at the time, and what would have happened in the war if their mission had been completed.” “I don’t care what happened any more, I just want them to be remembered.”

Elmquist and her mother Tonya Wagner, now 81, have been giving back to the military community most of their lives. Wagner has been president of the Northern California chapter of Gold Star Wives for over 20 years. Elmquist has been with Sacramento Blue Star Moms since 2011 and currently is 1st Vice President of Membership.

There currently is a bill sitting in Congress. SB 1891, Flying Tiger Flight 739 Act was introduced on June 18, 2018.  According to Elmquist, it was spearheaded by Senator Gary Peters of Michigan but is sitting in the Committee of Natural Resources, dying a slow death.  She says, “We believe the Bill should be in the Committee for Armed Services to get the proper attention it needs”.

Sources:                                                                                        
‘www.Flying Tiger Line flight 739’ will bring up articles referenced in this article plus more.
Face Book page: Remembering Flying Tiger Line 739
For Donna’s story visit http://flight739-14-1962.com. The full roster of 93 men and 11 crewmembers with their names and 33 state of origin have been assembled by Ellis and other relatives of the deceased.

Email for Kimberly Steinman-Elmquist; [email protected] Email for Donna Ellis: [email protected]