The Book
Randy L. Losey
On top of Green Mountain, Ascension Island stands a pedestal placed in an open area surrounded by lush island plants. Atop of this pedestal is a book. Visitors to this place add their name to those that have already visited this beautiful place. This oasis on top of the mountain is in sharp contrast to the rest of the rocky volcanic island.
The United States Corp of Engineers constructed Wideawake Airfield in 1942. It was during the Second World War from 1943 to 1945 that more than 25,000 aircraft of the United States Air Force transited through Ascension for transatlantic flights, including up to 4,000 U.S. armed forces.
For many of us, Ascension Island was our home away from home. If you are ever in a crowd of ARIA Alumni, you may hear someone suggest chartering a plane to revisit the South Atlantic island.
I want to thank Mr. Geoffrey Fairhurst, former administrator of Ascension Island, for taking the time to respond to my email. At my request, he searched through decades of these collected books. I requested copies of any of the pages that contained the names of those that died on ARIA 61-0328. He informed me that there were unaccounted books for some years, but to my surprise, he provided these images.
Randy L. Losey