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Rancher presented with patriot medal

By Sheena Read Nanton News

Updated 4 months ago

Southern Alberta rancher Reid Moynihan was presented the Montana National Guard Patriot Medal in a ceremony by the Montana National Guard at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton June 22.

For the past 34 years, Moynihan has kept a monument at the site of a jet crash site on the ranch forestry lease land at Lookout Butte in the Porcupine Hills.

On June 9, 1977, a F106 Delta Dart crashed in the Porcupine Hills during manoeuvres.

The jet was loaded with four live sidewinder air-to-air missiles.

The pilot, Lt. David L. Denning, 28, was killed when the plane hit the ridge, missing the forestry fire lookout tower by less than 100 metres.

Brigadier General Bradley Livingston remembered that Denning as a man who "was full of energy, who was living his dream."

Livingston was 22 when he met Denning. One of his jobs was to test pilots, and Denning was more focused on his flying than other areas, and he'd asked for a proctored exam. Livingstone said he was impressed by Denning, by his energy and commitment. Their meeting was the day before Denning's death.

In the '70s, the U.S. military always did their training exercises in June, and often over southern Alberta. During the exercise, Denning was ordered to attack a mock enemy plane, Livingstone said.

The cockpit monitor was linked to NORAD attack headquarters in the U.S.

Although the mock enemy plane was intended to be at 35,000 feet, Denning's monitor indicated an attack altitude of 6,000 feet.

The controller confirmed that Denning dropped to 10,000 feet from 20,000, where he had intercepted and destroyed a first mock enemy plane. Denning had questioned the altitude, but a NORAD controller checked and confirmed the altitude.

"After Denning told the controller he was ready to attack from the read, he disappeared from radio contact," said Livingston.

The crash altitude was about 5,980 feet. It took 12 hours for the U.S. military to locate Denning.

Because of this crash, U.S. military changed protocols so that the lowest permissible altitude for exercises over southern Alberta and northern Montana would be set at 14,000 feet.

"That night, as soon as there was word of a downed aircraft, all aircraft taking part in the exercise would have taken part in the search," said Col. Bryan Fox.

There were 50-60 aircraft taking part in the manoeuvre, he said.

It was during the Cold War, so "the scenarios were that the Russians were going to attack by coming over the North Pole," he said.

Canadian and U.S. forces took part in the exercises.

Because it was the Cold War, and a U.S. military aircraft that had crashed, little information was released about the crash. Rumours flew around the hills about the crash.

The crash site was kept off-limits for weeks, while the U.S. military cleaned up the site.

Although the rocket motors did explode in the crash, the four warheads were recovered, Fox said.

Local rumours included stories of possible radiation contamination, but Fox said that this was not the case, although the aircraft was capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

For Moynihan, who was seven at the time of the crash, years have not lessened the importance of the crash. For years he searched for more information on the crash, and searched for the pilot's name.

There were so many rumours, so many theories," he said.

Finally in 2008, he found a clipping in the Lethbridge Library from the Lethbridge Herald, naming Denning.

He drove back to his ranch, repeating the name over and over.

That day, he contacted the woman who manned the forestry lookout, and "for the first time in five years, we found some wreckage."

"I didn't think I was doing anything outstanding," Moynihan said. "This man needed to be known."

Moynihan eventually located members of Denning's family. Last year, they visited the Skyline Ranch to see the crash site and monument.

"It's truly an honour to have someone who would take the step forward, to remember," said Walsh, and to bring closure to the Denning family.

The crash site will be remembered as a site of friendship between two families, between Alberta and Montana, and between Canada and the U.S., said Livingston.