1952 crash of Globemaster in Alaska affected generations

August 2012: Mike Smith holds a photograph of his brother, Army Col. Gene Smith, outside his Wilmington home after the rediscovery of the wreckage. He died a year before some remains were determined to belong to his brother. (EMILY VARISCO for THE NEWS JOURNAL)

Isaac Anderson, Sr., seen with his wife. Anderson was one of 52 who died in a Globemaster crash. His body was never recovered. (Tonja Anderson-Dell)

June 2012: A specialized eight-person recovery team, with team members from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and Northern Warefare Training Center, search for aircraft wreckage, remains, or other personal affects while conducting recovery operations at an aircraft crash site on Knik Glacier. (Reuters)

June 2012: A specialized recovery team search for aircraft wreckage near the Coloney Glacier. (Reuters)

Tonja Anderson-Dell took a photo of Mt. Gannett and the Coloney Glacier during a personal tour in 2012. She said she believes she was the closest to her grandfather that she would ever be on that flight. (Tonja Anderson-Dell)

This container was part of a rations kit and found in one of the searches on the Colony Glacier. (Tonja Anderson-Dell )

These items were collected from a survival kit found during a search on Coloney Glacier. The life raft, which is a bright object, was one of the first objects to catch the eye of the pilot of an Army National Guard blackhawk helicopter that first spotted the wreckage in 2012. (Tonja Anderson-Dell )

Debris from 1952 Air Force crash discovered in 2012 on the Coloney Glacier. (U.S. Air Force)

The C-124 Globemaster was a transport plane used by the Air Force. (U.S. Air Force)

June 2013: A UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter comes in for a landing to transport the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command team back to base after a day of assessing a historic aircraft crash site at Colony Glacier. Working on the glacier is dangerous and requires nearby teams to keep an eye on weather conditions. (DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE)

Dr. Greg Berg (L) and Ms. Kelley Esh, anthropologists leading a specialized recovery team with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, verify a location point as they assess a historic aircraft wreckage site at Colony Glacier. (Department of Defense/Handout via Reuters)