A friend of mine was in the Marine Corps during WWII. They left San Diego in a DC-3 and were heading for the Oakland Army terminal to ship out to the the South Pacific when they lost one of the two engines on the aircraft.

The plane was loaded with 35 or more Marines with full battle gear (less ammo) and the personal belongings they were allowed to carry.

In order to make it over the Coastal Range, the pilot ordered all gear to be thrown over. Packs, Garand Rifles, helmets and even the aircrafts seats were jettisoned!

My buddy had several hundred dollars in silver certificates tightly packed in his sea bag go down into the Redwood forest below.

In spite of the fact that the San Francisco Peninsula is one of the most densely populated spots on earth, much of the Coastal Range is much as it was before Portola and Drake first visited. It's too rugged and densely forested for economical developement. Water is also in limited supply.

Anyone with a long range detector and a light plane may be interested in working on finding these objects. I'd be interested in helping. I know the area pretty well. I feel the best place to start would be to find the original flight plan the plans traveling from San Diego to Oakland followed. That'd narrow it down some. It'd still be a "needle in a haystack" search though.

These troops were all carrying "silver" coins and silver certificates. This doesn't even account for the watches, rifles and other WWII artifacts that have never been found!

As an ironic side note, when the aircraft was approaching Oakland, orders were received to turn around and go back to San Diego!! The plane turned around and went back over the Coastal Range and returned to San Diego on one engine!! Says a lot for the ruggedness and reliability of the old DC-3!! Doesn't say a lot for the brass!!:)