U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Eleazar Oliva, an infantry unit leader with Marine Coordination Element Norway, presents the U.S. flag to Abby Boretto, daughter of deceased U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Henry N. Pilger, during a commemorative hike on Grytoya Island, Norway, July 25, 2024. The hike covered nearly 8 miles and was conducted in honor of five U.S. Marines that lost their lives in a helicopter crash on the island during Exercise Strong Express in 1972. (Kedrick Schumacher/U.S. Marine Corps)
(Tribune News Service) — Three decades ago a parcel arrived for Abby Boretto that led her on a journey across the Atlantic Ocean to meet the sender.
Boretto said the parcel contained her late father’s ring and was sent to her from Norway.
During a NATO training exercise on Sept. 23, 1972, a helicopter carrying 1st Lt. Henry N. Pilger, as well as Gerald Merklinger, Pete Rodriquez, James Skinner and Raymond Reisner, crashed on the island of Grytoya, Norway, killing everyone on board.
Decades later, Pilger’s 1970 United States Naval Academy class ring was found in “near-perfect” condition at the crash site, Boretto said.
The story of how Pilger’s class ring was returned to his family is the subject of the 2023 documentary “The Ring and the Mountain.”
The large-scale training exercise, called Operation Strong Express, held during the Cold War, was meant to simulate Russia attacking NATO territory and test the alliance’s ability to defend itself, according to the U.S.S. Little Rock Association. Pilger was the co-pilot of the helicopter during the accident and was 24-years-old when he died.
On Oct. 1, 1993, during a hunting trip on a mountain in Grytoya to find grouse, Norwegian doctor Hans Krogstad found some debris left over from the 1972 crash. A golden ring stuck between two rocks caught his eye, he said in the documentary. The ring has a blue star sapphire embedded in it. An engraving around the sapphire reads “United States Naval Academy” and has Pilger’s name inscribed inside.
Feeling an obligation to have Pilger’s ring returned to his family, Krogstad picked up the ring, put it in a brown envelope and sent it to the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway, with the instructions that it be returned to Pilger’s next of kin.
Boretto received the ring when she was in her early 20s and described the ring as still looking like it was new.
However, at the time she received the ring, she said she didn’t know very much about the person her father was since he had died when she was 15 months old.
“It was a ‘wow’ moment. I understood at that moment that this ring was found between two rocks after all of this time ... just spectacular. I knew it was a treasure,” Boretto said.
Boretto added that her late mother, Debbie Wadsworth, did not often talk about her father because his death was something incredibly painful for her.
Abby Boretto, the daughter of U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Henry N. Pilger, addresses the crowd during a commemorative hike of Jamnfjellet on Grytoya Island, Norway, July 25, 2024. Pilger was one of five U.S. Marines that lost their lives in a helicopter crash on the island during Exercise Strong Express in 1972. (Sgt. Kedrick Schumacher/U.S. Marine Corps)
When Boretto was about to turn 50, she was thinking about her life and she went through the memory box that she kept the ring in. She realized that she had never thanked the person who sent her family the ring and set out on a quest to find him. While Boretto knew Krogstad’s name from a letter that was included with the package that contained the ring, she had no idea who he was or if he was still alive. She tried searching for more information but didn’t have much luck.
“At that moment of pulling the ring out again and re-reading the letters that were accompanying the ring in the brown envelope, I was like ‘I have got find this guy.’ It’s a monumental gift,” she said.
Around the same time, Krogstad began his own journey to find out if the ring had ever returned to its owner’s family, fearing it might have still been stuck at the U.S. Embassy in Norway. He reached out to the embassy, however, he said in the documentary that they weren’t able to provide him with answers. Krogstad connected with Norwegian journalist Simen Laholt, who wanted to do a story on the ring’s journey.
Laholt reached out to Boretto over Facebook and told her that Krogstad had been trying to find out what happened to the ring. After decades, she finally learned that the person who found the ring was still alive. She decided to travel to Norway to meet him and turn the experience into a documentary.
“I had just gone through this period of trying to find him myself. I was completely taken aback, I was so excited,” Boretto said. “I didn’t speak to him before I traveled to Norway because I wanted it to be super authentic when we met for the first time. Unspoiled.”
Boretto said that she struggled to find a way to make her documentary a reality until her 51st birthday rolled around. When Boretto’s aunt, Mary Lou Wadsworth, called to wish her niece a happy birthday, she told her about the 2016 documentary “The Last Ring Home,” which was surprisingly similar to Pilger’s story. “The Last Ring Home” tells the story of how a World War II naval captain’s ring was returned to his family. Boretto connected with the director of “The Last Ring Home,” Fairfield County filmmaker Josh Shelov, who agreed to also direct Boretto’s documentary.
“Within 52 days of meeting Josh, I am in Norway with a film crew ready to tackle this first part of my documentary,” she said.
With a film crew in tow, Boretto traveled to Norway in 2022 to honor the 50th anniversary of her father’s death and finally meet Krogstad. The film captures their meeting, as well as their trek up the rocky mountain in Grytoya to reach the crash site. The film also shows the ceremony honoring the 50th anniversary of the crash.
“My very first initial meeting with him was monumental for me. It was easy, It was beautiful...It was a true celebratory meeting for both of us,” Boretto said. “Making it up the mountain was a celebration. I was so excited and that was an achievement in itself, to make it to the top and to be in this space, in this place of mystery 50 years to the day (my father died.)“
The film also showcases interviews with some of Pilger’s classmates from the Naval Academy who recall their memories of the late Marine. Pilger was known by his friends by nicknames like “Captain Easy” and “Rick” and said he had a good sense of humor, according to the Naval Academy’s Class of 1970 40th Reunion Book. He came to the Naval Academy after studying in Syracuse, New York, and was also gifted in math and sports, the book added.
“This ring has finally helped me to connect, learn and understand who my father was,” Boretto said. “This ring stands as such a symbol. It’s such a beacon. It’s been waiting to tell the story. It’s its own character, it’s taken on a life of its own.”
Boretto premiered the documentary in Norway in 2023 to honor the 51st anniversary of the crash. The film premiered in the United States at the USS Midway Museum in San Diego in 2024. It has also been screened by the Navy base in New River, N.C. (where Pilger was stationed). Boretto will also be screening it at her father’s 55th class reunion at the United States Naval Academy in Maryland in April. It is set to be released on the EvergreenNOW! streaming service on April 1, according to Boretto.
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