Plane crash survivor to share story

Author Rupert Pratt will visit from New York.

September 10, 2008
By Shannon Durbin

In 1954 Ed Olson, Elkader, found himself in the Alaska mountains after a plane crash. Author Rupert Pratt of Scotia, N.Y. - also one of the six survivors - will share excerpts from his book Touching the Ancient One, Friday, September 12 at 3 p.m. He will be visiting the Elkader Public Library for this presentation. The event is open to the public.

Pratt is originally from West Virginia. He attended Marshall College (We are Marshall) before joining the Air Force in 1953. On February 5, 1954 Pratt was on the C-47 plane when it crashed into an Alaskan mountain ridge. After a month in the hospital Pratt completed his enlistment in Newburgh, New York where he married. He completed his Masters at Marshall College and taught for 36 years in the Schenectady City School District.

After retiring from teaching Pratt went on a mission to find the other survivors of the crash. They held a reunion in 1995 in Dayton, Ohio. People magazine covered the event and ran an article in their September 23, 1996 issue. The reunion unified the group and helped initiate several projects, such as memorials at the Veterans Memorial Park in Alaska and at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. The families also contributed to the book Pratt wrote as a result.

Rupert has two sons and is an active member in his church and spends time traveling in his retirement.

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