Ralph “Frenchy” LeBlanc

Shortly after getting back onto the USS Pine Island, Frenchy underwent a double leg amputation and plastic surgery operations to improve his burns. He was one of the first people ever to get a skin graft. His recovery took months, but he never once lost his sense of humour, the thing that kept the crew positive throughout their time on the ice.

He was given prosthetic limbs, but was told that it was unlikely he’d ever be able to walk away from the hospital. Frenchy defied the Doctor’s prediction and returned to Louisiana to start the rest of his life. Frenchy always thought every girl he met was “the one”. But he evetually found his true love in Mary Daigle, a clever woman that shared his sense of humour. They went on to have 4 children together.

Frenchy went on to be the Aldreman of his adopted town Breaux Bridge and then he became a tax collector for the St Martinsville Parish School board.

Ralph Frenchy LeBlannc died in August 1994 in his home surrounded by his sons.

Jim Robbins

Robbins went on to marry Dolly Dale, his childhood sweatheart shortly after Operation Highjump. Before this, he took Dale to see Frenchy when he was in hospital. When they were there, Frenchy told Dale how lucky she was to land a magnificent man like Jim Robbins.

Robbins remained in the navy for the next 20 years, rising through the ranks and retiring as a chief in 1965. He and his wife went on to have son, who gave them 4 grandchildren. Upon returing from the navy, he recieved a letter from Capatin Caldwell, who told Robbins that his survival training and skills were one of the primary reasons that they were able to survive those 13 days on the ice.

In 2002, Jim lost his wife and he continued to live in his home in California. Jim Robbins passed away in 2014, aged 88.

Captain Henry Caldwell

Captain Caldwell remained on the Pine Island ship, whilst the other survivors went back home. He continued the rest of the mission with a limp. His teeth which had been badly chipped in the accident were replaced with crowns.

Later in life, a medical exam would reveal a fracture in his neck.

After operation Highjump, Caldwell returned to his job in the Naval Academy as the director of athletics. He raised a large family in Florida. Caldwell passed away in the 1980’s of natural causes.

Bill Kearns

After Operation Highjump, Kearns went through several painful operations to rest the bones in his arm and shoulder, which were badly injured in the crash. Whilst recovering in hospital, Kearns recieved several letters from the mother of Lopez, the phographer that died in the crash. She blamed Kearns for killing her son.

Kerans went on to enter the Georgetown school of foreign service and a few years later married Mary Louise. With a keen interest in writing, he got a job at a publishing company and went on to write his own book titled “The Silent Continent”

Later on, Kearns and Mary had 4 children, one of which wrote the fantastic book “Where Hell Freezes Over”. A detailed account of the entire George 1 crash. Kearns got a job with Time magazine, working in advertising for the rest of his life. Despite the crash, he had a keen interest in Arctic exploration and in 1967 he was asked to come to Antarctica as observer to make sure that no countries were performing any military operations on the continent.

Bill Kearns passed away in November 2017, he was the last living survivor of the George 1 crash.

William “Bill” Warr

After Operation Highjump, Bill returned to Pennsylvania and got a job as a roll grinder at a local sttel mill. He married his school teacher, and together they had one son. The marriage didn’t last and they eventually divorced.

He went on to marry another woman, but after 17 years, that also fell apart, due to Warr’s drinking problem which all stemed from the crash of George 1. For the remainder of his life, Bill suffered from survival’s guilt. He forever wished that he could have done more to help his injured crew mates, and felt guilty that he was relatively unhurt.

Bill Warr died in February 1980.

Owen “Mac” McCarty

Shortly after Operation Highjump, McCarty published his side if the story in the Saturday Evening Post. When he recieved his royalty check for the story, he divided up the money and sent it to each of the survivors, equaling $250 each. Jim Robbins got a double share.

McCarty returned to his wife and kids but quickly disapeared from public view, losing contact with the other survivors. Little is known about what McCarty went on to do. But according to Robbins, McCarty died in the 1970’s due to health problems that weren’t related to the crash.

Crash fatalities

Maxwell Lopez

Fred Williams

Wendell Hendersin

References

Many thanks to David A. Kearns for his wonderful book “Where Hell Freezes Over”. Much of the information found on this page and in my video was taken from the book, which gives a very detailed account right from the mouths of the survivors.