After Bob Timmons’ B-17 crashed into the Cedar Mountains, Joda Cochrane received a telegram stating that her son was missing in action. Two days later came a knock on their door. Mickey Cochrane was 7 at the time, and he remembers it vividly. He says that cold day in January could not compare to the bone-chilling news those inside received. Then, later, the casket arrived, containing ashes and accompanied by two crew members, Byron Cook and Neil Buck. Until the burial, one of the crew members stayed with the remains at all times.

   It was not until after Mickey retired that he was able to make good on the promise to his mom. Now, in 1995, Joda was gone from this life, and Mickey contacted the office of Congressman Fred Upton and requested records on his brother under The Freedom of Information Act. Mickey received a map and the name of Phil Bennett, Bureau of Land Management in Utah.

          Phil Bennett told Mickey that a helicopter pilot rounding up wild mustangs in the Cedar Mountains had seen evidence of a large plane crash and had recorded the GPS coordinates. Now Mickey wanted to talk to any of the crash survivors still alive.  Using the national directory, he determined that no one was left except one… the radio operator named Ernest Hunt. He got them on the phone and talked to Ernie’s wife, Mary. It was an emotional call… Mary told him that Ernie had gone blind and then had a stroke. She put him on the phone. Ernie said Bob Timmons had been his best friend. In fact, he named their son after him. Mickey felt most honored that they had so named their first son.         

    How the couple met was most interesting. Mary was originally married to another one of the crew members who had died in the crash. She kept in touch with Ernie and his wife out on the West Coast, and came to visit them, only to find that Ernie’s wife had just passed away also. She stayed on and they were married after that… and had the son named Bob.

          Mickey said they would be out to visit, but first he and wife Shirley made the trip to Utah. Phil Bennett from Land Management offered to take them up into the mountains to find where the B-17 had crashed. So in 1999 they made the trip out there. Phil was as good as his word and provided horses for the trip.  Trailering the horses out to the Cedar Mountains, the group then mounted up and rode into the wilderness. They traveled 5½ hours through desolate arroyos and ridges, but could find nothing. Mickey was even carrying a wood-burned memorial plaque he had made to leave at the site. They came back disappointed.

          Next day Mickey and Shirley traveled on to the coast to meet radio operator Ernie and Mary. Their son Bob and his wife, Linda, drove to meet them too. Mickey videotaped Ernie’s account of what happened that fatal day. And the blind veteran told them he thought it was ice on the wings that caused their crash. Mickey said he felt so honored that they had named their son after his lost brother. It was an emotional reunion.

          Next trip, Mickey showed all of his information to Al Hoffman, one of his closest friends. Al lives on the West Coast, but has a cabin in the mountains of Utah. They came to stay at Al’s invitation. This time they drove into the mountains as far as they could go, then locking in the coordinates of their car on the GPS, continued on foot. The July heat was unbelievable, and they had to return once again empty-handed.

          Then, in 2004, they decided on one more try. Radio operator Ernie had heard from a man named Rex Pearmain out in Utah. He said he had found the wreck and was also looking up crew members. Mickey called Rex and told him his name… The Utah man, who ran a wrecking yard and built specialty cars, was suspicious at first. He said, “There was no one on that B-17 named Cochrane!”  Mickey said, “Bob Timmons was my half brother!” And he convinced Rex of his authenticity… so they arranged a meeting. Rex and a friend, Wayne Waytuck, had a hobby of locating wrecked airplanes.  For 27 years they had searched and they had finally found the B-17.

          Next morning, Rex and two young men accompanied the Cochranes into the mountains. They traveled by Jeep and ATVs until they finally had to walk the last 300 yards which was practically climbing. And thus they reached the wreckage. Mickey felt that he had finally achieved his lifelong ambition.

          He had the plaque, commemorating the crew, with a pipe and base. Placing the plaque at the point of impact, they all sat there in silence for a few moments. Then they searched for souvenirs, finding buttons, insignia, and a canteen. They also found some human remains, which were now just bones… waiting to be found for 60 years.

          And now Mickey had fulfilled his promise. In the future, anyone coming upon the wreckage would be able to read the plaque and know about those men who lost their lives serving our country just as surely as if they had died in combat. And Joda Cochrane could rest in peace, knowing that her two sons had finally become reunited!

Part 1 - A Promise Kept
 

Special thanks to Mickey Cochrane for sharing these special photos.
 Thanks to Roy Davis for recording Mickey Cochrane's historic 2-part story about
Robert Timmons in the Tri-City Record September 1 and 8, 2005. 

 
Army Lists Crash Dead
 

WENDOVER - Names of four officers and two noncommissioned officers who were killed Monday when a Wendover-based Flying Fortress crashed into a rugged mountain peak near Delle, Tooele county, were released late Wednesday by Wendover public relations officers.

    Killed were:  First Lieutenant Hugh Rhodes Ashby, son of Mrs. C. O. Ashby, Seattle, Wash.; Second Lieutenant Marvin J. Bible, husband of Mrs. Helen F. Bible, San Francisco; Second Lieutenant John W. Newman, son of A. H. Newman, Louisville, Ky.; Second Lieutenant Clarence R. McRae, son of W. C. McRae, Asheboro, N.C.; Technical Sergeant Joseph Barboza, son of Mrs. Emily Barboza, Osterville, Mass., and Staff Sergeant Robert A. Timmons, son of Mrs. Joda Cochrane, Hartford, Mich.

    Five men parachuted to safety just before the huge bomber crashed.  They are Second Lieutenant Frank A. Huntley, Hollywood; Technical Sergeant Neil D. Buck, Hazel, Nev.; Staff Sergeant Ernest E. Hunt, Stayton, Ore.; Staff Sergeant Junior L. Klahs, Syracuse, N.Y., and Staff Sergeant Byron F. Crooks [sic: Cook], Greenview [sic: Greenwood], La.

    The crash raised the toll of Wendover airmen killed in less than a week to 31.  Twenty-five were carried to their deaths when two bombers crashed west of Great Salt lake [sic] last December 29.

Byron F. Cook's name was misspelled in the article (Crooks) and he was from Greenwood, LA.

Information for this web site was gathered from personal interviews, newspaper articles, scrapbooks, personal photo albums, and other documented materials - many available to the public at the Hartford Public Library or Van Buren County Historical Museum.  Please report any typographical errors, updated information, or incorrectly stated information to the webmaster for correction.  Reprinting for personal and instructional purposes is permitted, however, unauthorized commercial reprinting of this information or unauthorized linking to photos-pictures on this site is strictly prohibited without written permission from the webmaster. 

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© 
A Pictorial History of Hartford, Michigan
Emma Thornburg Sefcik,
Competent Secretarial Service
History of Hartford
Copyright © 2000 - All rights reserved.


Revised: July 04, 2008