Feast for Needy Indians : Thanksgiving Relived in Flight by Pilgrims

About 30 self-appointed Pilgrims turned the traditional Thanksgiving story around Saturday when they airlifted 5,000 pounds of food from Van Nuys to an Indian reservation in Yuma, Ariz.

“Years ago, Indians took food to the Pilgrims to help them survive,” said Jim Eddingfield, a Litton Industries engineer who organized the expedition, known as Pilgrim Flight. “We’re returning the Thanksgiving feast to the Indians.”

Saturday’s flight was the 13th time in 15 years that the 50-member Litton Flying Club had delivered food and clothing to a needy Indian reservation during the holiday season. This year, their destination is the Cocopah Indian Reservation.

Longtime Participant

Club members selected the Cocopah tribe with the help of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and Iron Eyes Cody, an Indian actor and longtime participant in the Litton flights.

Cody is best known for a 16-year-old television commercial for the Keep America Beautiful Advertising Council in which a single tear rolls slowly down his weathered face.

He said he donated 10 turkeys to the cause because the Cocopah tribe is “poor and small.”

Provisions included 120 frozen turkeys, large sacks of potatoes and rice, tuna, cheese, butter, beans and cranberry sauce, Eddingfield said. The food, plus some clothing, was donated by Litton employees. Club members also donated fuel and their flying time.

300-Mile Flight

Nineteen small planes--each carrying a pilot, co-pilot and about 300 pounds of food--were scheduled to make the run, Eddingfield said. The 300-mile flight was to take about 2 1/2 hours, said Joyce Neal, a club pilot.

By 9:30 a.m., about 30 flying enthusiasts milled around outside the Litton hangar at Van Nuys Airport. About half wore powder-blue flight jackets with their name stitched on the front and a Litton emblem with silver wings emblazoned on the back. Three of the 19 pilots were women.

Poor visibility, however, kept all but six of the planes on the ground. Still, all of the perishable food was airlifted. The remaining items will be flown or trucked to the reservation by Thanksgiving Day.