On January, 26,1950, Robert Espe, a master seargant in the U.S. Air Force, waved goodbye to his wife Joyce and two-year-old son Victor on a remote air field outside Anchorage, Alaska. It was a snowy day, a month out from the winter solstice. The sun rose not long before 10 a.m. and by 5 p.m. everything was black again. Joyce Espe was seven months pregnant at the time. A native of Hapur, India, she was struggling with the Alaskan winter. Along with her son and 42 others, all U.S. servicemen, she was flying from the military base in Anchorage, south...