Carole Lombard’s Lasting Gift
Carole Lombard was renowned for her kindness and generosity towards others. She was always giving. Whether it was giving friends advice or employment, sponsoring college students and tennis champions, or putting on shows for sick children, Carole was a constant giver.
Did you ever wonder what her final gift was?
An expensive public address system was donated by Carole to the soldiers of Fort Rosecrans in San Diego. It arrived three days after she was killed.
We’ve started a tradition at CaroleLombard.org in which monthly contests are held. This month we’ve added a twist. The holidays are all about giving and so this month we are going to give back to the #1 Giver herself.
As some of you may recall, over a year ago the memorial plaque located at the Nevada mountain where Lombard, her mother and 20 other individuals who died in a plane crash on Jan. 16, 1942, was stolen. It looked like this:
Today there is still no plaque, no tribute, no memory of Carole and the 21 individuals who gave their lives for the betterment of this country. WE can change that.
CaroleLombard.org is joining forces with aviation archaelogist and Lombard fan Michael McComb to raise funds for a new plaque featuring the names of all the 22 passengers who died in the plane crash. But we can not do it alone. We need YOU!
According to our calculations, $2,700 would cover the cost of a 36×30 bronze plaque bearing the names of all 22 individuals. If every single person who visits this site in a week were to give only $1 we would have enough to cover the costs.
There will be no auction of artifacts and there will be no prize involved. Just duty and honor. BUT since everyone like’s a good ego-stroking, the names of everyone who contributes will go down in digital history as they will be recorded on this site for everyone to see.
I ask each and everyone of you to step up and give as much or a little as you possibly can.
OUR GOAL: $2,700 by January 16, 2009.
If Carole could raise $2,017,513 (approx $25,405,871.31 in 2007) in ONE day, we can raise $2,700 in one month.
With that said, I’ll close with the words of Douglas MacArthur who on May 12, 1962 said:
UPDATE: GOAL HAS BEEN REACHED THANK YOU!
Thank you for this picture; I have never seen it in this detail.How elegant she looked, dedicated, extraordinary, radiant!Thanks!
FINALLY!! I gave $5. Sorry it is so little but in these economic times every penny counts.
Deena, $5 is wonderful! You covered 5 donations (remember what I said about $1/1 person) Thank you so much.
And Tally, you are welcome. She is radiant ; )
Great idea! I just gave money. Is it possible to see a tally of where you are in your fund raising efforts? It might provide a nice incentive for those who wish to give and be instructive to those who have already contributed. Thanks! Best, Doug
Another $5 here! Such enjoyment she has given the world. Wish I could spare more - keep us all posted on progress.
Thanks guys! Carole seriously has the best fans. I am not very tech savy when it comes to WORDPRESS and integrating Paypal fundraising meters (three different scripts) so if any of you are feel free to drop me a line!
Until then I’ll keep updating manually.
$10 from me. It is my gift to Carole for all the joy I get from her movies
Mike McComb is a looter. Please carefully consider your affiliation with him. It degrades you and Carole both. He has been raising money for a proposed memorial for over ten years by selling artifacts looted from the crash site. And no sign of any sort of memorial yet from him.
There actually IS another plaque at the crash site, one which has not been plundered. It is mounted where the looters will not readily find it.
Interesting site, BTW. Good luck with the book.
Hi Missy,
You are entitled to your opinion just as you are to knowing that:
1. Michael McComb is an aviation archaeologist. Aviation archaeology involves finding, documenting, recovering, and preserving sites important in aviation history including aircraft wrecks and crash sites. He is also a profession pilot and has done volunteer survey and site preservation work for organizations like the Grand Canyon National Park with their recent TWA/UAL Collision Site Survey.
2. Identifiable personal effects that Michael has recovered from the crash Carole died in have been returned to the families of those who perished.
3. In 2007 when the plaque disappeared, Michael thought that auctioning small pieces of the plane wreckage would be a good idea to fund a new one but the plan was aborted after one auction when he received a complaint. You can revisit this episode on the Carole & Co website: http://community.livejournal.com/carole_and_co/54236.html
4. It is not his responsibility to buy a plaque yet he is generously donating his time and money towards its replacement.
5. As for the other plaque you mentioned, I have spoken with the U.S. Forest Service which manages the area and they are not aware of another plaque nor are they offering protection for it. The memorial plaque we are hoping to finance would be open to the public and protected by the government, (not to mention the size of it).
Hopefully this clarified a few things for you. If raising money to pay tribute to a Medal of Freedom recipient and World War II soldiers still degrades me so be it.
A future reference to everybody else: As far as this site goes, the only requirement for membership is an interest in Carole Lombard. Interest is not a measurable commodity thus, all are welcome. I don’t want individuals who may have done degrading things to be discouraged from participating.
I appreciate your concerns and value the love you have for Carole. I hope that you will join us in this effort.
Love and Light,
Carla
First off, I would like to thank Carla and everyone on this board that has contributed to this memorial plaque project. I do believe this is a great project that not only honors Carole Lombard and her patriotic efforts, but also the other passengers and crew onboard the ill-fated TWA Flight 3.
I would also like to take this time to respond to the slanderous comments made by the anonymous “Missy”. As Carla has said you are entitled to your comments, but you are very wrong about me and my efforts. You may not agree with me, but at least I will sign my comments with my REAL name.
I became a fan of Carole Lombard after I began researching the accident which took her life nearly 67 years ago. My research has taken me on a twenty year journey and although there have been many suggested probabilities as to why the flight was off course, the official cause of the accident still remains undetermined.
As a former professional archaeologist and current airline pilot, I not only took a deep interest in learning as much as I could about accident, but also about early commercial aviation. As often happens with research, the direction eventually transcended into a study of the flight’s most well known passenger, actress Carole Lombard and the golden age of Hollywood.
After my first visit to the crash site in the early 1990s, I felt a proper memorial should be erected at the site. However, due to land ownership and management issues it was easier said than done. At the time, the land that the crash site was located was being transferred from private ownership to either BLM or Forest Service but neither was quite sure who would manage the land. The funding for a memorial plaque was another obstacle that was pursued. Many ideas were considered to raise funds including the sale of small wreckage fragments of which I regret. It was an effective but controversial direction to raise funds that really distracted from the end result.
The current memorial plaque effort by Carla is commendable in that it is not only funded solely on the love and appreciation of Carole Lombard’s fans, but also honors the military personnel, passengers, and crew who should never be forgotten. More importantly, the plaque will be visible to all that happen to visit the site and not some supposedly secretly hidden memorial as “Missy” states. I am not sure of what value a hidden memorial serves?
In closing, I am more than happy to donate for this project and to see it through.
Sincerely,
Michael B. McComb
http://www.lostflights.org
First off, I would like to thank Carla and everyone on this board that has contributed to this memorial plaque project. I do believe this is a great project that not only honors Carole Lombard and her patriotic efforts, but also the other passengers and crew onboard the ill-fated TWA Flight 3.
I would also like to take this time to respond to the slanderous comments made by the anonymous “Missy”. As Carla has said you are entitled to your opinion, but you are very wrong about me and my efforts. You may not agree with me, but at least I will sign my comments with my REAL name.
I became a fan of Carole Lombard after I began researching the accident which took her life nearly 67 years ago. My research has taken me on a twenty year journey retracing the events that led to the disaster. There have been many suggested probabilities as to why the flight was off course however, the official cause of the accident still remains a mystery.
As a former professional archaeologist and current airline pilot, I not only took a deep interest in learning as much as I could about the accident, but also about early commercial aviation. As often happens with research, the direction eventually transcended into a study of actress Carole Lombard and the golden age of Hollywood.
After my first visit to the crash site in the early 1990s, I felt a proper memorial should be erected at the site. However, due to land ownership and management issues it was easier said than done. At the time, the land that the crash site was located was being transferred from private ownership to either BLM or Forest Service, but neither was quite sure who would manage the land. The funding for a memorial plaque was another obstacle that was pursued. Many ideas were considered to raise the funds including the sale of small wreckage fragments of which I regret. It was an effective, but controversial direction to raise funds that really distracted from the end result.
The current memorial plaque effort by Carla is commendable in that it is not only funded solely on the love and appreciation of Carole Lombard’s fans, but also honors the military personnel, passengers, and crew who should never be forgotten. More importantly, the plaque will be visible to all that happen to visit the site and not some supposedly secretly hidden memorial as “Missy” states. I am not sure of what value a hidden memorial serves?
In closing, I am more than happy to donate for this project and see it through.
Sincerely,
Michael B. McComb
http://www.lostflights.org
Here’s another five dollars-wish it could be more. Thank you, Carole!