B-52 Crash Victims Identified

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. - Air Force officials have released the names of the Barksdale crew members of the B-52 that crashed July 21 off Guam's northwest coast. Five of the six crew members were stationed here.

They are Maj. Christopher M. Cooper, 33, aircraft commander; Maj. Brent D. Williams, 37, navigator; Capt. Michael K. Dodson, 31, co-pilot; 1st Lt. Joshua D. Shepherd, 26, navigator; and 1st Lt. Robert D Gerren, 32, electronic warfare officer.

The sixth crew member was Col. George Martin, flight surgeon and deputy commander of 36th Medical Group at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

The Barksdale Airmen were deployed to Guam with the 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron as part of DOD's continuous bomber presence mission in the Pacific.

"Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families of these Airmen," said Col. Robert Wheeler, 2d Bomb Wing commander. "We appreciate the military and civilian organizations who are continuing recovery efforts to bring our Airmen home."

A board of officers is investigating the accident.

The B-52 was not carrying weapons, officials said. B-52s have been in service since 1955.

The accident is the second for the Air Force this year on Guam. In February, a B-2 crashed at Andersen Air Force Base in the first- ever loss of a stealth bomber. The military estimated the loss of the aircraft at 1.4 billion dollars.