"Old 100" Relic...Fact or Fiction?

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Miranda Moorer
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam --  A sign in front of the "Old 100" wreckage explains how the battered B-52D tail section ended up where it is today. History says the wreckage was scattered into the jungle by a typhoon in 1987 and was later uncovered by another typhoon in 1997 allowing Andersen members and guests to tour it. History may be wrong.

It wasn't until a chief master sergeant recently returned to Andersen with a photo he had taken of his buddies standing on top of the remains during their previous assignment here that Andersen officials decided to take a deeper look into the origin of the aircraft remains.

A few months ago, Chief Master Sgt. Joseph McKenney, from the 36th Munitions Squadron, contacted Andersen's public affairs office with his discovery. The chief said that he took the photo of Paul Downs and James Foster, two friends who were stationed with him, standing on the tail section that rests in the woods. 

Chief McKenney was assigned here from January 1981 to April 1982. His photo was taken in 1982; that's five years before a typhoon hit Andersen in 1987 that was credited with depositing the wreckage there.

For those who've read the narrative on the sign that stands in front of "Old 100" the contradiction is apparent.

The Arc Light Memorial was dedicated on Feb. 12, 1974, the first anniversary of the return of the prisoners of war from North Vietnam to Clark Air Base, Philippines.   In 1983, "Old 100" was rendered unsafe due to corrosion caused by Guam's salty air and damp climate. It was replaced by the B-52 that now sits at the Arc Light Memorial. In other words, "Old 100" was removed a year after Chief McKenney left Guam.  

The sign in front of the "Old 100" relic states that the dismantled pieces of the original aircraft 55-0100, which had been placed on the west side of the airfield for destruction, were scattered into the jungle by a typhoon in 1987.

According to research done by former Andersen historian Bill Harris Typhoon Paka uncovered the aircraft's remains in 1997. The remains were left in place so visitors could view them. 

According to the chief, the B-52 remains in the woods were there while "Old 100" was proudly displayed at the Arc Light Memorial.

However, unanswered questions remain. If Chief McKenney's photo was taken between '81 and '82 then "Old 100" couldn't possibly be the remains of the first "D" model B-52, 55-0100. With this "new" information, surfaces new questions. If the chief is right, then what is the real origin of what we now call the "Old 100"? Is it possible that the information that our past historian stumbled upon was inaccurate? The only other possibilities are that the photo wasn't taken when the chief says it was taken or that, coincidentally, the photo was taken on top of the remains of some other aircraft that happens to look exactly like "Old 100."