"There is no such thing as a common man," Frank Capra said, and Joseph Tippetts is a living testimony to this truth. Not a name heralded in the media like a Lindberg, Tippets would be remembered as one of the extraordinary survivors from the Gillam plane crash of 1943. That January, six people in a Lockheed 10-B departed Seattle's Boeing Field en route to Alaska.

When it crashed in the Alaskan wilderness, Tippets and his companion would complete a harrowing walk through the unexplored bush. During the coldest winter in 30 years these two genuine heroes secured a rescue for the two remaining injured passengers left behind.

Alaskan bush flying in '43 was no place for a beginner pilot. Old-timers said there were three kinds of Alaska weather: clear and unlimited--Pan Am weather, ordinary weather and "Gillam weather. Harold Gillam, an aviator experienced in flying through some of the foulest weather ever to cover the earth, would shake his head and say, "Thew weather's never as bad as it looks," and on that freezing Jan. 5, the outlook was not promising.

In flight there was ice accumulating on the plane and, at that time of year, sunset would come mid-afternoon. It would not only get colder but Gillam would also approach his destination in darkness. The pilot knew all these factors and he wasn't worried; completely at home in the worst weather and with thousands of flying hours logged over Alaska's rugged terrain, he felt confident as he pushed on through the clouds. The carburetor heat and de-icing systems were full on; the plane was on track and on time.

Tippets sat in the Lockheed with four other passengers thinking of his reunion with Alta, his beloved wife, and son, Jon. He reminisced about the hurried flight he'd made to Utah from Anchorage to be at the bedside of his dying mother. Gone over Christmas, Joe left his expecting wife and made it back to Ogden in barely enough time to say good-bye to his beloved mother, Josephine. He was grateful he made it in time and with his LDS faith, he knew he would see his mother again.

He spent a few days in Heber with Alta's family, then met with several church officials in Salt Lake City, as he was an Alaskan branch president reporting on the state of the church in that far northern territory.

World War II was on and meanwhile, Alta was back home helping provide some sort of Christmas for many of the young servicemen, even though her prayers cried out for Joe's safe return. The couple knew their meeting would be sweet and Joe wrote Alta to say, "Godspeed our quick reunion and I hope I beat this letter to you!"

Several hours into the flight, Gillam tuned in to what he thought was the Annette, Alaska radio range. Suddenly the left engine lost power and with the added weight of the ice, the right engine couldn't maintain altitude. Unknown to Gillam they were also nowhere near Annette.

With one last desperate radio call, the pilot now had to focus on crashing the plane, hoping to keep all aboard alive. At 1,800 feet the snow cleared briefly to reveal an open spot on a mountain side so he switched off the right engine, lined up on the clearing and held the aircraft's nose high, hoping to stall just before impact.

Gillam and his passengers survived the crash, but Susan Batzer would die in two days. Gillam trekked out of the crash site to find help, leaving Joe and Sandy with two severely injured men. It wasn't long before everyone knew Gillam would not return.

Joe and Sandy now had a difficult decision to make--leave the injured passengers and go for help or sit tight and try to keep body and soul together in the treacherous cold with the hope searchers would find them. They decided on the later.

"Hearts of Courage" is the account of Joe and Sandy's journey through the Alaskan snow and ice, through undiscovered territory to attempt a rescue for two other men who waited in the freezing weather. Told in Tippets' own words by son, John, the tenacity and courage of the two men is a story of real heroism against impossible odds...the stuff legend is made of. The miraculous events of those weeks--the ordeal of survival, the ultimate rescue--are told with boldness and honesty.

"Hearts of Courage" will increase your belief in man's ability to overcome anything even a test in the frozen wilderness of the north, if his heart is true and his faith is strong.

It is available in area bookstores.