Department of Defense Jonestown Tragedy Eyeball

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26 October 2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown
Jonestown was the informal name for the "Peoples Temple Agricultural Project", an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple, an American cult led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby airstrip and in Georgetown, Guyana's capital. The name of the settlement became synonymous with the incidents at those locations.
909 Temple members died in Jonestown, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning, in an event termed "revolutionary suicide" by Jones and some members on an audio tape of the event and in prior discussions. The poisonings in Jonestown followed the murder of five others by Temple members at a nearby Port Kaituma airstrip. The victims included Congressman Leo Ryan, the first and only Congressman murdered in the line of duty in the history of the United States. Four other Temple members died in Georgetown at Jones' command.
To the extent the actions in Jonestown were viewed as a mass suicide, it is the largest such event in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001. [More]

Department of Defense Jonestown Tragedy

Eyeball

An aerial view of the bodies of the victims of the Jonestown tragedy. US Army personnel from Fort Bragg, North Carolina (NC), are placing the remains into body bags. Photographer's Name: SSGT JOSE L. SANCHEZ. Date Shot: 11/20/1978.

A member of the US Army sprays disinfectant over the bodies of Jonestown victims before placing them into plastic body bags for removal to Georgetown. Photographer's Name: SSGT JOSE L. SANCHEZ. Location: JONESTOWN. Date Shot: 11/20/1978.

Colonel (COL) Bruce M. Durvine, vice commander of the 39th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Wing, and members of the 55th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron carry boxes of plastic body bags to an HH-53 Jolly Green Giant helicopter for use in the evacuation of bodies from Jonestown. Photographer's Name: SSGT JOSE L. SANCHEZ. Location: JONESTOWN. Date Shot: 11/20/1978.

A US Air Force HH-53 Jolly Green Giant helicopter from the 55th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron stands by to assist in the removal of the remains of the victims of the Jonestown tragedy. Photographer's Name: SSGT JOSE L. SANCHEZ. Location: GEORGETOWN. Date Shot: 11/20/1978.

US military personnel and volunteers offload the remains of Jonestown victims from a 55th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron HH-53 Jolly Green Giant helicopter. The bodies will be placed in coffins for transport to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Photographer's Name: SSGT JOSE L. SANCHEZ. Location: GEORGETOWN. Date Shot: 11/20/1978

[Image]

US military personnel remove personnel remove body bag containing the remains of the victims of the Jonestown tragedy from a truck. The body bags will be placed in coffins for transport to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Photographer's Name: SSGT PEDRO J. GONZALEZ. Location: GEORGETOWN. Date Shot: 11/20/1978.

US military personnel place a body bag containing the remains of a victim of the Jonestown tragedy in a coffin for transport to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Photographer's Name: SSGT PEDRO J. GONZALEZ. Location: GEORGETOWN. Date Shot: 11/20/1978.

US military personnel place a body bag containing the remains of the victims of the Jonestown tragedy in a coffin for transport to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Photographer's Name: SSGT PEDRO J. GONZALEZ. Location: GEORGETOWN. Date Shot: 11/20/1978.

US military personnel stack transfer cases containing the remains of the victims of the Jonestown tragedy onto a pallet for shipment to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Photographer's Name: SSGT PEDRO J. GONZALEZ. Location: GEORGETOWN. Date Shot: 11/20/1978.

A member of a US Army medical team meets with Guyanese officials upon his arrival to assist with the humanitarian relief efforts following the Jonestown tragedy. Photographer's Name: SSGT JOSE L. SANCHEZ. Location: GEORGETOWN. Date Shot: 11/20/1978.

A staff sergeant from Howard Air Force Base, Canal Zone, carries cases of C-rations from a C-130 Hercules aircraft for use by US military personnel participating in humanitarian relief efforts following the Jonestown tragedy. Photographer's Name: SSGT JOSE L. SANCHEZ. Location: GEORGETOWN. Date Shot: 11/20/1978.

Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Leonard Morrisey, an HH-53 Jolly Green Giant helicopter pilot from the 55th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, examines a poster found at the compound as the remains of the victims of the Jonestown tragedy are loaded aboard the helicopter. Photographer's Name: SSGT JOSE L. SANCHEZ. Location: JONESTOWN. Date Shot: 11/20/1978.

US Army UH-1 Iroquois helicopters are loaded aboard a C-141 Starlifter aircraft for transport back to their home base in the Canal Zone. The helicopters were used during humanitarian relief efforts following the Jonestown tragedy. Photographer's Name: SSGT JOSE L. SANCHEZ.Location: GEORGETOWN. Date Shot: 11/20/1978.