Posted: 10/1/03

Krech lost, but not forgotten

Cliff Buchan
News Editor

More than 37 years since his death, Melvin Krech remains lost, but not forgotten.

It was on April 1, 1966 when ADJ1 Krech was lost at sea off the coast of Vietnam while serving on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise. The 1949 Forest Lake High School graduate was 34 at the time and had served 17 years in the Navy.

Time has eased the pain, but the memory of a lost son and brother remains for the Krech family.

On Sunday, some of the pain eased as family members gathered in the village square in Marine on St. Croix to remember Melvin Krech and dedicate a small plaque on the parkís flag pole where a POW-MIA flag donated by the family in Krechís honor flies.

Krechís mother, Gertrude, sat quietly in a folding chair as a color guard from American Legion Post 225 in Forest Lake stood smartly in the cool wind of an early fall afternoon.

Family and friends joined Post 225ís El Ewert in the singing of the national anthem.

The anthem followed a brief ceremony where the flags were lowered and then raised in honor of the MIA.

Ray Krech, 68, who was three years younger than Melvin, led a family delegation that included several generations of Krechs.

Ray Krech purchased the POW-MIA flag that flies in Marine in honor of his brother.

Navy men

The Krech boys grew up south of Big Marine Lake in Scandia on a 300-acre farm.

Melvin Krech left for the Navy in 1949, right after high school. His brother followed suit three years later in 1952.

Melvin Krech spent his early years in the Navy as an aircraft mechanic. He also learned to fly during those early years.

By the time of his third deployment to the waters of Vietnam in 1966, Krech was assigned to an A3D as a navigator/gunner. A3Ds were air-to-air refueling tankers which serviced bombers returning from missions over North Vietnam.

Krech and two fellow flyers died on April 1, 1966 when their A3D malfunctioned and crashed on the deck of the Enterprise. The plane went off the bow of the carrier and was run over by the large ship.

Krechís body was never recovered and he technically is listed as Missing In Action yet today.

Ray Krech completed a 20-year Naval career. He retired from the Navy in 1972 as he faced his third deployment in Vietnam.

The brothers were based at Whidbey Island in Washingtonís Puget Sound and spent time together when in their home port.

Other honors

Sundayís honor in Marine was the second local recognition for Melvin T. Krech.

In 1996, on the 30th anniversary of his death at sea, Krechís name was added to the memorial at Lakeside Memorial Park in downtown Forest Lake. The memorial was established in 1977 and honors all area residents who gave their lives in service to their country.

Krech, who was listed as MIA, was not included in the first official recognition. He was formally honored during the Memorial Day program in 1996.

Melvin Krechís service has also been honored at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. and at the Minnesota Vietnam Memorial in St. Paul.

With Sundayís program in Marine, the small village just a few miles from where Melvin Krech grew up, the local recognition has now come full circle.

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