May 10th, 1996 and LZ Bluebird Remembered


I was in the air in another 46 when the night sky lit up with the fireball from the crash.
We landed and while my self and another Marine pulled weapons guard, Our LT and the rest of the FDC took of running into the swamp to reach the crash site.
The day prior, I spent hours chatting with Doc Garmon aboard the Saipan.



Survivors were:
Maj. Charles A. Johnson Jr., Pilot/CH46
1st Lt. Walter W. Kulakowski Co-pilot/CH46

While standing in line to start the 2003 Walt Disney World Marathon, I ran into Lt. Kulakowski.
He was pulled from the burning wreckage by one of the guys in my platoon (81's Plt, Weapons Co. 2/8)
Damn small world.

As a Range Coach at Edson Range in '81, We were at the pistol range Fam-firing the 1911, so the
recruits could 'familiarize' themselves with the .45. Well, Pvt. Franklin of El Paso, iirc, puts the muzzle to his his head

and pulls the trigger. It was just a miracle we didn't have more people laying on the ground. DRT

zulu

Fuck!

 

In 89 with the 82nd at Bragg a reserve pilot on his 2 weeks came in 500feet low and flew through a stick of jumpers, 3 or 4 guys got jetwashed but one guy got caught on a wing and smacked the side of the plane.  Pvt Ronnie Suits was his name, IIRC, Godspeed.

From 88 to 90 Heavy drop managed to burn in 2 deuce and a halfs, a Sheridan and several road graders.  The Sheridan that burned in in Panama when we went after Noriega...yup, that was mine...  We were experementing with the Graders, apparently they were too long, and we had every failure you could imagine from a split platform to failed releases.  It's amazing we didn't burn in any planes..

Brimfrost exercise 1989.

23rd Engineer Company rendered unable to function because of cold climate equipment failure.
The dumb fuckers shut off their equipment overnight in the field when it was colder than -50. WTF did they expect?
Our unit 47th Engineer Co. not only had to take over their missions in support of the exercise as well as our own, but had to recover their fucking equipment afterwards.
They were watching the Superbowl in our Barracks while we were freezing our asses off.

Brimfrost 1991.

23rd Engineer Co. did it again but not as bad.
They dropped two brand new D7G dozers though a frozen lake because they couldn't read a fucking map.
Hey dummy, did the lack of trees not tell you anything?
We had to go recover their shit AGAIN.

Why did you let them not participate in their own equipment recovery?



 

Helo crashes took many Marines when I was stationed in Japan in the early 80's. Korea 1983 during an excersise known as Bear Hunt. A 46 went down from a wire strike, killing 7 Marines. Pilots survived. March 1985, a 53 participating in Team Spirit 85 crashed in the mountains near Pohang, Korea. 20 Marines killed. May 1985, two 53's from MCAS Futenma, Okinawa came up to Iwakuni for our base open house (Friendship Day). They were loaded up with Marines who would get libertyfor a couple of days.  They took off early Monday morning back to Okinawa and went down in the ocean off the coast of Japan. All lives lost. One external tank was recovered. Cause was surmised to be a blade strike. Over 30 Marines killed.
An A4 Skyhawk from VMA 311 was doing touch and goes. On one approach the pilot forgot to drop his landing gear and came in on the external wing tanks. No injury, but the nose of the plane was damaged pretty bad.

And let those ass clowns fuck up our equipment too?

It it had been up to me they would have been out there with tanker bars and ropes pulling it out by hand.

Not my story, but stolen from Dad.

He was USMC from '62-'66.  They were practicing beach assaults in California.  He said the LVTP-5's would go all the way under water when coming out of the well deck and then bob back to the surface.  The first LVTP-5 out of the well-deck went under but never bobbed back up.  The exercise never let up...

out of Altus afb if its the one I think it is.  Fire in a hydraulic system.

March 21, 1991, off the coast of San Diego.  2 Navy P-3C Orions from VP-50 out of NAS Moffett Field, CA crashed midair while prosecuting a submarine in a massive fleet training evolution.  One was going off-station and one was relieving the departing aircraft.  The aircraft going off climbed into the oncoming aircraft and struck it in the aft section of the fuselage.  All 27 crewmen on both aircraft killed.  Only minor wreckage recovered.
"Still On Station"
Rest easy, Shipmates.

My sister in-law was an ET on the USS Pearl Harbor when it was on deployment in the Persian Gulf in 2008.





Apparently the bridge crew thought the GPS system was down, since it showed the ship's speed at zero while they were under way. My sis in-law and the other ET's confirmed it was working just fine and argued that the ship really wasn't moving. The bridge crew insisted the ship was under way and decided to speed up to prove it. When they saw sand being kicked up under the ship they finally said, "oops."





The ship had run aground and the captain ended up losing his job over it. My sister in-law said it was by far the worst run ship she had served on.





http://www.military.com/cs/Satellite?c=maArticle&cid=1199420553378&pagename=News%2FnwsLayout

 

I remember one time in Graf we were humping the woods and found a skeleton of a uh60 in there. I always wondered what happened to the poor bastards.

There's an armorer here with the ID ANG that used to be an armorer in the USMC.  He has pics hanging on the wall in his work space showing the rusted, burnt remains of M249s, M60s, and M16s.  His task was to sanitize the weapons that were on board that helo of any human tissue that was burned onto the metal, and bag said tissue with the serial numbers of the weapons the tissue came from.

I have a friend from TX that was there when a helo went down during Team Spirit-not sure if it was the same incident or not, but he said he watched a Corpsmen use an ink pen for a tracheotomy because a Marine was so badly burnt he couldn't otherwise breath.  Holy Fuck.

XO of the company I used to be in was running a range.  He sent a PVT downrange to reset some targets or something.  While PVT is still downrange said XO does a quick left right sweep and calls the range hot.  Luckily a PSG saw the PVT downrange and called a cease fire.



Said XO stayed in the Army because he had nothing better going and will soon take a company command somewhere.

There was a 155mm round that impacted on Lyman Road near MP4 (close to the MOUT facility) aboard Camp Lejeune back in the early '80s.  The round detonated near a car with a mother and daughter,  killing the mother.  Not sure if she was hit by shrapnel, or injured when the car overturned when control was lost and it hit the ditch on the side of the road.  She was married to a Marine officer-I was told an O-5 or O-6.  That incident is still spoken of today

I remember being on vacation with my parents when the news reported a large airborne training exercise at (I believe) Ft. Irwin that killed a bunch of Soldiers due to high winds when the drop occurred.  This occurred in the late '70s or early '80s.

There was reportedly a major incident involving an exercise that simulated a first strike attack by the USSR.  For a few anxious moments, there was confusion as to whether the attack was real or simulated.  That would have been the mother of all training exercise accidents.

I have written incident reports of more than a few Marines that were shot during training on live fire ranges.

Similar to your first story but with a much worse outcome:

Here Apaches were doing a live night fire, afterwards the BDA revealed they had blown up a cow... with a fucking hellfire

That Shitter may have gone down during T.S. 84 I was there for T.S. 84 and 85, deployed from Iwakuni. It was loaded with grunts and flying at night in bad weather. The word was that it just simply crashed into a mountain. No survivors.

IIRC C 1/10 fired that round and heads rolled.





 

May 2008, Camp Geiger, NC.

Marine PVT while on armory guard charges his m16a2, walks into the portajon, puts it on burst, and offs himself.

June, 2009..a mechanic clears my Amtrack for amphibious ops. About halfway into the surf the engine quits and water starts pouring into the vehicle. I pooped myself

In Graf in 83 on the mg range , German contractors are down range setting targets and the woman Major tells us to open fire with 3 M-2's and 4 M-60's . we questioned and pointed out the van , she insisted, we fired range control shows up, she was relieved and we are done for the day , the next day we have a new officer .

Our unit 818 wrecker guys were lifting an M-60 pack without using outriggers and bent the boom on the wrecker

I used to hate the amount of shit we had to carry up the side of fishing boats and all that....................it's easy, just jump from the  CG boat to the fishing boat!!!!............in 10 foot seas or more!!!!

Had a PFC at Ft Lewis in 2000 who died instantly while doing side straddle hops. ( jumping jacks for you civilian types)

He was overweight and had been taking WAAAAYY too much rip fuel ( before they banned ephedrine). He had a massive brain hemorrhage and was brain dead before he hit the ground.  The Army kept him on life support long enough for his Mother to be flown in to say goodbye. They also medically retired him before they pulled the plug. I always thought that was cool.

Had a Marine from my Unit killed at 29 palms back in 94-95. He was pushing the cleaning rod down the barrel of an M-2. Unfortunatley, he was holding the cleaning rod with both hands directly in front of his chest. Gunner hit the trigger, sending the bolt forward. Cleaning rod was pushed into his chest and hit his heart or lungs, can't remember which. DRT.

Already been discussed in this thread, but incase you didn't read all of the comments about it.

It occured at Dover, and there was no fire in the hydro system (well, prior to impact with the ground).  Yes pilot error, but it was a CRM breakdown as well.  That's why if you see something and you think its not right you speak up.  You're all in the jet together.  Instructor FE noticed a non-standard flap setting but didn't mention it.  The aircraft flew on two engines, even though they had 3 available to them.  Nobody caught that.

Another very tragic mishap would be "Yukla 27".  E-3 Sentry (AWACS) that crashed shortly after takeoff from Elmendorf AFB Alaska, killing all 24 (American and Canadians) on board.  Multiple bird strikes resulted in the loss of two engines just as they were rotating (taking off), and they were headed to rising terrain to the east so they had no where to go.  

Brimfrost '89-  Air Force C-130 with a bunch of Canadian Airborne guys misses the runway SHORT at Ft Wainwright in some serious ice fog..  Bellys into the bank of the Chena River, breaking the aircraft in two.  Both halves spin down the runway, throwing men and equipment everywhere.  A lot of guys died.
I still have the newspaper article around here somewhere.
While I was on Drill Sergeant status at Ft Leonard Wood we had a DS talk a trainee all the way through pulling the pin on an M67 in the live bay as a right handed thrower.  Trainee chooses this moment to tell DS that he is a lefty.  DS makes the fatal decision to switch sides of the live bay and allow the trainee to change throwing hands.  Trainee "milks" the spoon during the transfer.
Boom.  Both of them DRT.
I knew the DS pretty well.  This kind of carelessness was not like him... but this is what the official investigation determined had happened.

Exercise Tiger

WWII practice exercise thathad a tragic ending.



One of the German E boats involved is now on display in Plymouth.

S130

Had a SSG jump up on the tracks of a M113  that had an M-60 firing over the side at the same time.
Luckily,his face was on the other side of the flash hider and the accident was in his pants.

Artep in Hoehenfels W. Germany almost got my face fried off by an ATWESS from a Viper AT weapon.
Came upon a tracked vehicle that started to take off. My buddy in front of me by instinct raised it up to fire.
Life moved in slow motion as I dove to the left and the heat from that simulator went over my shoulder and back.
If I hadn't been looking, It would have burned my face off.

My company was sitting in a valley in the brush at Yakima Firing Center waiting our turn during brigade LFX's. We were to cross the LD that night at 2000hrs. So as were are eating field chow we see these "high speed" types setting up equipment about 500yrds away. They do their thing a bit more and then light off a smoke pot and start looking upward.



Sure enough, about five mikes later we see an C130 barely visible. Out of the back comes tiny little specs, and we have ringside seats to watch an HALO jump. Cool!....or not. There is one thing the Yakima Valley is known for, and that is wind. And at that moment my SWAG on the wind was at least 20mph sustained, if not more, and gusting well into the 30's.



I never understood who thought that was a good idea, but we watched every single one eat shit HARD on landing. With more than a few being drug across the desert floor. In the end maybe one or two got up under their own power, and plenty of medics were busy when we walked off into the night for a morning LFX.



I've always wondered if that was SF or Para Rescue that pulled that stunt...





 

I remember that crash. One of our loader operators was tasked to help lift wreckage off the bodies.
That fucked with him for a long time.

Were you at Wainwright then?

The problem with Camp Lejeune is its small size.  G10 impact area is surrounded by heavily trafficked roads like Lyman, Snead's Ferry, and Hwy 172.  On top of that, they sometimes fire rounds from the GPs on Lejeune across the New River into the K2 impact area.  There's a lot of training going on at II MEF-especially during the summer.  Ranges will often conflict with other ranges, so range control scheduling had to walk a fine line to ensure training didn't affect somebody somewhere else on the base.

Example:  SOI fires a TOW missile or two from G2.  Anyone in MOUT had to go inside the buildings until G2 went cold.  I won't even go into what it took in terms of closing roads and posting road guards.  

They've had quite a few close calls out there.  One time, it was either mortars or arty that had a round impact in front of OP 5 (which was occupied), which is right off Snead's Ferry Rd.  

There's a reason that you have to wear body armor and brain buckets on the OPs.....  

A Marine shot himself at Stone Bay with an M9 to the head last year.  Not too long before that (maybe a year or two) a Marine shot himself in one of the heads on the rifle range (don't know which one; A, B, or C range).

In 2008 right after I left Blackburn, a Navy Corpsman was in the "butts" where the targets are at Stone Bay Rifle Range.  He stepped outside the line painted on the ground where you have to stay within.  A 5.56mm round ricocheted off the target frame and hit him in the neck and struck one of his arteries.  An MV-22 transiting "the blue line" (New River) was diverted to the range for a MEDEVAC.  He lands and the bird breaks down right there.  A second one is immediately diverted and lands (that one was probably monitoring the air net so was able to respond rapidly), the Corpsman and a couple of Marines helping to stop the bleeding rush the victim on board the Osprey and they're cleared direct to CL Naval Hospital.  That flight probably took less than two minutes in "airplane mode".

He didn't make it.  I understand he bled out aboard the Osprey.  

summer of 95 at Ft McClellan, something similar happened.  Private went to throw and managed to chuck it mostly up and to his 9 o'clock.  Landed right next to the other pit with a Pvt and Sgt in it.  I remember seeing his eyes get big before I stepped away from the ballistic window or whatever it was

In basic training, one of our Drill Sergeants was uber Ranger. CIB, couple sets of wings, etc. This was in 1995, so wasn't much of anything going on back then. He is demonstrating how to cook off a grenade, and toss it into the front of a bunker. His arm was about two inches too short. The grenade bounces off the front of the bunker, and rolls back down in front of him. Pop! It was a practice grenade. He got up, dusted himself off, and said "Privates, that is NOT how you clear a bunker."

Mishap #1:  KC-130 Hercules

KC-130 flying the racetrack over Southern Cali during CAX at 29 Palms.  A massive sheet of fuel begins to flow out from the trailing edge of the left wing.  Pilot shuts down #1 and #2 (both left wing engines) and limps home with asymmetric power courtesy of #3 and #4 (both right wing engines).  Of course, when you shut down #2, you also lose hydraulic pressure, so no power to flight controls, landing gear or brakes.  Aircraft circles around a few times, dumping fuel onto the nice golf courses and environmentally sensitive hippies, then comes home for one heck of a tense landing.

Aircraft comes in wobbling as the pilot tried to keep things under control with no hydraulics.  Aircraft hits hard and caddywumpus, but is apparently OK and rolling down the flightline.  Pilot stands on brakes, causing them to glow red for some time after the aircraft stopped.  Fuselage was not parallel to the runway on stop.  Aircraft had to stay put, shutting down operations for some hours as the nose brakes cooled.

Why did this happen?  The crew pressurized the cabin with the refueling tank on board.  The tank had an open vent in the top.  When the refueling manifold behind the left wing failed, cabin pressure continued to force fuel into the failed manifold.  Simply depressurizing the cabin would have stopped the fuel flow, but the flight engineer forgot about that in the panic of seeing a sheet of fuel misting out of the wing into the hot turboprop exhaust.

I was the maintenance controller during that exercise, and I got to oversee my first hard landing inspection and was very glad that I didn't have to find out what a maintenance controller has to do in the event of a catastrophic mishap.

Mishap #2: KC-130 Hercules

Night crew flight engineer was set to taxi a KC-130 to the high-power runup area for testing after engine repairs.  The FE taxied off of our flightline and onto the taxiway.  As he prepared to turn and cross the runway to get to high power, he got confused in the darkness and missed his turn.  Instead of ending up on the taxiway, he ended up taking the aircraft offroading into the ditch.  The nose gear entrenched itself in the ditch and the aircraft came to a very sudden stop.  Thinking that perhaps nobody would ever notice, the FE moved the condition levers into "Reverse" and tried to back out of the ditch.  Nothing doing.  He finally had to radio back to maintenance control and the tower to get a tow crew to extract the aircraft from the ditch.  I was also the maintenance controller during that particular shift.  Everyone thought it was pretty funny until I told them we had to get another bird ready for the mission that the subject aircraft had been slated to fill.  Turned into a late night and one fewer FE had his taxi license as of the next night crew.

Mishap #3:  AV-8 Harrier

I was at corrosion control school (very boring, if the name of the school didn't give that away), which was along one of the runways at our air station.  A Harrier was coming in for a landing, but the pitch was all wrong and the aircraft was in too much of a nose-down attitude.  The pilot stuck with it, thinking he could pull it out.  The nose continued down and the pilot ejected.  Unfortunately, he waited too long and ejected right into the pavement and skidded for quite some ways along the runway.  He was (mercifully) decapitated during the skid, and as he slowed, the burning wreckage of his aircraft caught up with him and ended up on top of him.  That was a very bad day.

C-130H 74-1681,  of the 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing, crashed while dropping M551 Sheridan tank at Fort Bragg, North Carolina - load hung-up, parachute deployed.

I was in the lead aircraft of this formation.  The crew in the incident had a mis-drop on the initial pass, left the formation and went around again to drop.

The time was compressed, and an item was missed on the loadmaster's checklist...the pallet locks were still engaged.  Three 28' extraction chutes went out
the back, and the load stayed put.  There was nowhere to go but down.  The crew dropped the flaps and gear and attempted a landing on Sicily DZ, which,
thankfully, is a huge DZ.  

The plane touched down hard and rolled to the end of the DZ before it hit an embankment by perimiter road.  That is what tore the plane apart just aft of
FS 245.  The loadmaster that was killed (a great guy) was attempting to squeeze beside the Sheridan to get aft of the load and cut the extraction chutes
free.  He didn't make it...the impact crushed him between the tank and the side of the aircraft.  The student loadmaster lost one of his legs below the knee.

The guys up front suffered minor physical injuries.

My Marine time I don't recall too many incidents first hand.  I do remember in 87 hearing about the dependant getting killed by arty.  The story I heard is she used a road that was closed or was supposed to be closed, combine that with  the round not being where it was supposed to go or something along those lines.  

My NYARNG time has a few doozies though.

Ft. Drum with the 210th Armor,  Mortar section.  We draw our pre positioned vehicles from UTES at Drum for training.  One M106A2 (M113 mortar carrier varient) has a situation with the driver's hatch.  They're supposed to spring up when released from locked open and you just reach up and pull it down to battle lock it.  Well this particular vehicle has way too much spring action.  When you release it from locked open it snaps shut like a F'ing 100 pound mousetrap.  To add insult to injury the safety pin that you manually lock the hatch release lever with has a worn out ball detent in the end, resulting in the F'ing pin walking out.   Leaving range 44 we make it about a mile and that hatch let loose on poor old pvt Cuzdy dropping him like a sack of shit in the driver's compartment.  The TC climbed out of his hatch and into the driver's hatch to pull the laterals back and stop the track.  Medics called,  Pvt Cuzdy is unconscious,  Medevac helo comes in for the landing, Plt Sgt, himself a former VN war medic wigs out and has to go sit by himself in the brush until the helo goes away.    Mixed emotions on that part.  {previously that poor fucker even had another fatality on his hands stateside I believe while he was still a medic in the NYARNG,  one of the joe's get's shot in the gut rodding M2's cold on a night MG range, big hole center mass, lots of blood, no saving joe. Apparently the army doesn't teach feeling the t slot on the breach block at night for a remaining live round]  As a marine corps school trained machine gunner I still remember that.  

Same AT, might have even been the night before previous story.  We're popping illum for the tanks on tank tables in the early evening, they go cold and send a HMTT fueler to fuel a tank down range(I have no idea why the F a tank is down range with a near empty fuel tank but suspect it was more to do with having the fueler for the moment).  In the middle of the refueling lightining strikes the HMTT.  The HmTT driver and the tank think they're recieving fire from the next tank back at the start line.  Tank buttons up (like that would help stop a sabot!!!) and the HMTT driver stomps on the gas and boogies out of there with mud a flyin draging unwound up hose.  Needless to say, the driver was happy to know his truck with diesel can take a direct lightning strike without blowing up.  


ETA- I recall one humorous story from my time with the 210th armor.  After popping illum for several nights in a row (and continued training during the days with just a few hours of sleep/napping) we get cut loose to do our own training.   We draw more ammo for the 4.2 inch mortars, this time HE.  One of our guys shows up with the truck of ammo and starts unstrapping the load, drops the tailgate in preparation to offload,  Plt Sgt wakes a few of us napping beauties to off load it and store it in the shade under some trees.  OK,  one of the Sgts decides he'll make it easier and back the truck closer to the storage spot.  He starts backing toward the spot down a short but moderately steep grade but can't see in his mirrors so he stomps the brakes........the pallet of HE 4.2inch rounds slides off the back of the truck and rolls about 50 feet stopping against one of the aforementioned shady trees.  Of course during this fall and roll, about 6 joes scatter faster than cockroaches when you turn the light on.  After about a good minute we all realize nothing is going to happen and go up and look at said upside down palletized ammo.  We cut the steel banding to take the pallet off the top and set it behind the tree and covered the ammo with a tarp before the Plt Sgt. got back.  He comes back about 5 minutes later and is shocked that we got it unloaded so fast and wondered why we didn't restack it on the pallet to keep the crates good and dry per the manual.  

I had a 1SG who managed to perforate both sides of an FLA on a jump.  He got his air stolen, streamered at an angle,

40mm round fired from a 203 will bounce off someone's chin after breaking his jaw.  Fired out of a 320 the paint round will at a minimum bruise the fingers if you slip it off the foregrip into the tube.

here are two aircraft crashes . i was a replacement for one of the guys killed in the helo crash.  that was the 2/502 infantry....... it was either the 1st, or the 3rd/ 502 that was in the plane crash.   they supposedly were carrying all their medical/ dental records with them when they crashed...........  then a few months after i arrived, i was in a blackhawk, that tried to land on top of another blackhawk. it was EXTREMLY close, we were right on top of the one on the ground, 10 more meters, and we would have crashed right on them, we barely managed to pull up off of them...

Copter Collision Kills 17 Soldiers at Ft. Campbell
March 10, 1988|From Times Wire ServicesFT. CAMPBELL, Ky. — A team of investigators on Wednesday began examining the wreckage of two Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters that collided during a night training mission, killing the 17 soldiers aboard, officials said.

Maj. Randy Schoel said that everyone on the two ships died in the collision Tuesday night near the Tennessee-Kentucky border, about 12 miles from the center of Ft. Campbell. The helicopters reportedly were flying 90 m.p.h. at an altitude of about 250 feet.      was the worst Army aviation disaster since 248 soldiers based at Ft. Campbell were killed in 1985 in the crash of a chartered troop plane in Newfoundland, Schoel said.Human Factor Cited

"I would say now there is no indication of any mechanical factor" in the accident, said Chief Warrant Officer Joe Adams, a member of the investigating team from the Army Safety Center at Ft. Rucker, Ala. "We are looking at human and environmental factors. The human factors might include some restriction of vision."

Bill Harralson of the 101st Airborne Division at Ft. Campbell said that three helicopters were flying in formation and one of them was hit by a fourth. "There were three aircraft in formation––if you want to say, ducks in a row––headed east, and another, who was flying solo, hit one of those," he said.

The Black Hawk, built by the Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Technologies Corp., is one of the newer helicopters used by the military. It has been grounded four times in three years, however, and officials said last summer that 40 people had died in crashes involving Black Hawks since 1978

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––


Gander, Newfoundland Plane Crash
December 12, 1985

On Thursday, December 12, 1985, the chartered DC-8 plane carrying 248 members of the 101st Airborne Division of Fort Campbell, Kentucky and 8 crew members returning home for Christmas from peace keeping duties in the Middle East, crashed during takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland. The following Monday, December 16, 1985, President and Mrs. Reagan visited Fort Campbell for a memorial service honoring those soldiers.
Some time later, a memorial to those soldiers that died in the crash was placed at the junction of US 41-A and the Pennyrile Parkway in Hopkinsville, Christian Co, Kentucky. This memorial lists the names of those soldiers. In addition, a tree was planted in memory of each of them. I have recently [May 2001] taken some photos of the memorial and they will be found here!

I would like to make this page a memorial to the memory of these men and women but need your help to do so. If you can supply an obituary or final resting place for anyone on this list, please send it to me. Be sure to include the name of the newspaper, the city and the date. I would like to put up a memorial page for each of them that includes comments made by their family, friends, and others that knew them, including pictures. Who were they? What were they like? What were their likes and dislikes? How was your life affected by them and by the loss of them?

The following list of crew members on this flight was provided by: Ms. Sydney Delores Jennings, mother of Todd Martice Jennings listed in the New York section, and Bonnie Britt . Thank you for contributing this information to this site.

All of the Cockpit Crew was from the Miami Area  
John Griffin 45 Captain
John Robert Connelly   First Officer
Mike Fowler   Flight Engineer
All of the Cabin Crew was from the New York Area  
Maia Matasowski   Flight Service Manager
Jean Sarafin 37 Flight Attendant
Desiree McKay   Flight attendant
Ruthie Phillips 26 flight attendant.
Stacy Cutlar or Cutler   Flight attendant


The following list of those soldiers killed in the plane crash appeared in the Kentucky New Era, Hopkinsville, Ky, December 16, 1985 as supplied by the Pentagon on Sunday, December 15.



Name Rank Age City
ALABAMA
Davis, Jimmy D  Spec 4    Aliceville , Al  
Highfill, Joe W  Pvt 2    Daleville , Al  
Hughes, Frank J  Staff Sgt    North Carrollton , Al  
Simmons, Carl N  Pfc    Banks , Al  
Turner, Vincent L  Staff Sgt    Huntsville , Al  
Winston, James A  Staff Sgt    West Birmingham , Al  
Wright, John R  Spec 4    Daleville , Al  
ARKANSAS
Kidd, Timothy Linn  Sgt    North Little Rock , Ar  
Long, Paul D  1st Lt  24  Pine Bluff , Ar  
Stewart, Randy S  Sgt  21  Texarkana , Ar  
Thomas, Randall K  Sgt  31  Springdale , Ar  
Walker, Guy W  Spec 4  22  Jacksonville , Ar  
ARIZONA
Barber, Daniel Mark  Spec 4  24  Flagstaff , Az  
Danielson, Thomas  Spec 4    Mesa , Az  
Hobbs, Kevin S  Pfc    Flagstaff , Az  
McArdle, Paul A  Sgt    Winslow , Az  
CALIFORNIA
Andreoff, Steven A  Staff Sgt    Antioch , Ca  
Burdette, James D  Spec 4    Lancaster , Ca  
Carter, Gregory T  Pfc    Covina , Ca  
Chaddock, Garett R  Pfc    Lake Isabella, Ca , Ca  
Gonzales, Michael J  Spec 4    La Puenta , Ca  
Graham, Kelly O  Pvt 2    San Jose , Ca  
Jackson, Adrian D  Pvt 1    Los Angeles , Ca  
Millett, John M  Sgt    Idyllwild , Ca  
Padgett, Gary W  Spec 4    Vista , Ca  
Pevey, Terry R  Spec 4    Port Heuneme , Ca  
Spears, James M  Spec 4    Costa Mesa , Ca  
Wallace, Brian E  Pfc    Canoga Park , Ca  
COLORADO
Serna, Ernest W  Pvt 2  20  Denver , Co  
Sloan, Matthew S  Spec 4    Lakewood , Co  
Stephens, Dane  Spec 4  19  Littleton , Co  
Tucker, Thomas N  Pvt 2    Goldon , Co  
DELAWARE
Haller, Brian D  Capt    Wilmington , De  
Kuehn, John M  Spec 4  22  Wilmington , De  
FLORIDA
Beer, Edward M  Pvt 2    Orlando , Fl  
Brasfield, Tony L  Spec 4    Panama City , Fl  
Britt, George A  Spec 4    Lighthouse Pt , Fl  
Bury, David A  Pfc    Panama City , Fl  
Ferguson, James A  Sgt    Orange Park , Fl  
Graham, Thomas Lyle  Spec 4    Jacksonville Beach , Fl  
Hart, Robert B  2nd Lt    Miami , Fl  
Hobbs, Donald Ernest  Spec 4    Palm Harbor , Fl  
Jeffcoat, Marvin A  Lt Col    Tallahassee , Fl  
Kee, Jeff S  Spec 4    Pensacola , Fl  
Kiser, Bruce E  Pfc    Jacksonville , Fl  
Schmoyer, Ricky A  Spec 4    St Petersburg , Fl  
Smith, Thomas E  Pfc    Brooksville , Fl  
GEORGIA
Bauman, Eric Joseph  Spec 4  19  Warner Robins , Ga  
Benson, Wyatt David  Spec 4  19  Forsyth , Ga  
Lawrence, Michael R  Maj    Atlanta , Ga  
Lynch, Benjamin R  Pfc    Macon , Ga  
Searcy, Blanchard T  Pfc    Sylvester , Ga  
Smith, Clinton D  Pvt 2    Conyers , Ga  
Word, Virginia Ruth  Spec 4  20  Warner Robins , Ga  
IOWA
Mullins, Steven W  Spec 4    Des Moines , Ia  
Phillips, Alvin  Pvt 2    Oakaloosa , Ia  
IDAHO
Bradshaw, Steven J,  Spec 4  20  Boise , Id  
Crawford, Paul M  Pvt 2    Nampa , Id  
ILLINOIS
Craig, Michael E  Pfc    University Park , Il  
Gayton, Anthony Lovell  Spec 4    Robbins , Il  
Goree, Joseph W  Pvt 2    Edwardsville , Il  
Lundgren, David C  Spec 4    Chicago , Il  
Richardson, Gregory W  Pfc    Sterling , Il  
Wilburn, Darnell  Staff Sgt    Chicago , Il  
Witmer, John B  2nd Lt    North Brook , Il  
INDIANA
Arvin, Roger D  Spec 4  27  Evansville , In  
Dumpert, Brian Lee  Sgt    Marion , In  
Mayhew, Ronald C  Sgt  24  Indianapolis , In  
Miller, Larry G  Sgt    Loogootee , In  
Miller, Timothy E  Spec 4    Noblesville , In  
Murray, Michael  Sgt    Washington , In  
Robertson, Vergil L Jr  Sgt    Spencer , In  
KANSAS
Banks, Bobby L  Spec 4    Junction City , Ks  
Yeargan, Cary T  Pfc    Newton , Ks  
KENTUCKY
Black, Hasland O  Cmd. Sgt    Lafayette , Ky  
Bradley, John T Jr  Spec 4    Winchester , Ky  
Carter, Troy G  Capt  40  Fort Campbell , Ky  
Cruz-Salgado, Francisco  Pvt 4    Fort Campbell , Ky  
Englebert, Christopher  Spec 4    Louisville , Ky  
Grala, Douglas F  Staff Sgt    Fort Campbell , Ky  
Manion, Edward John  Capt  30  Fort Campbell , Ky  
Martin, Thomas L  Pvt 2    Louisville , Ky  
Moore, Samuel Theodore Jr  Staff Sgt    Fort Campbell , Ky  
Nelson, Donald C  Sgt 1st Class    Hammond Hts , Ky  
Nichols, Richard Sidney  Sgt    Fort Campbell , Ky  
Owens, Gregory Allen  Pvt  21  Louisville , Ky  
Palmisano, Jeffrey R  Sgt    Fort Campbell , Ky  
Parris, Rudy  CW3    Hopkinsville , Ky  
Phillips, James D Jr  Sgt    Fort Campbell , Ky  
Powell, Barry C  1st Lt    Madisonville , Ky  
Rahr, Michael R  Spec 4    Fort Campbell , Ky  
Robinson, Thomas E Jr  Sgt    Fort Campbell , Ky  
Scott, Gary L  Spec 4    Oak Grove , Ky  
Sellner, Timothy D  Staff Sgt    Fort Campbell , Ky  
Smith, Rex V  Sgt 1st Class    Fort Campbell , Ky  
Smith, Scott John  Spec 4    Louisville , Ky  
Stone, Earl C  CW2    Fort Campbell , Ky  
Thompson, Danny C  Sgt    Fort Campbell , Ky  
Witt, Kevin Michael  Sgt    Fort Campbell , Ky  
LOUISIANA
Alexander, Herbert D  Pfc    Ponchatoula , La  
MASSACHUSETTS
Aponte, Ivan R  Spec 4    Boston , Ma  
Gerdes, Scott W  Pfc    Pittsville , Ma  
MARYLAND
Duckworth, James Frederick  Staff Sgt    Westernport , Md  
Heidecker, David W  Pvt 1  21  Westminster , Md  
Hoyer, Robert S  Spec 4    Pasadena , Md  
Stearn, Alexander W  Pfc    Lutherville , Md  
Thornton, Christopher G  Sgt    Tacoma Park , Md  
Whiteman, Michael L  Spec 4    Dunkirk , Md  
MICHIGAN
Andrews, Danell  Spec 4  22  Detroit , Mi  
Guerra, Richardo  Pfc    Ferndale , Mi  
Karadsheh, Ibrahim  Sgt  25  Warren , Mi  
Parsons, Thomas F  Sgt    Washington , Mi  
Wisson, Theodore M  Spec 4    Port Huron , Mi  
Wyn, Robert  Pfc    Sherwood , Mi  
Ziegler, Cathleen M  Spec 4    Novi , Mi  
MINNISOTA
Kubic, Mark R  Staff Sgt  25  Brooklyn Park , Mn  
Nolan, Michael T  Pfc    Plymouth, Mn  
Witt, Kevin M. SSG 26 Sleepy Eye, Mn  
MISSOURI
Easley, Brian E  Sgt    Independence , Mo  
Stack, Michael Shayen  Spec 4    St Louis , Mo  
Straub, Gary L  Pfc    Benton , Mo  
Williamson, James H  Spec 4    Waynesville , Mo  
MISSISSIPPI
Holliman, Jerry W  Staff Sgt    Coldwater , Ms  
Staten, David C  Pfc    Pontotoc , Ms  
MONTANA
Wallace, Mark E  Pfc    Bozeman , Mt  
NORTH CAROLINA
Arrowood, Stuart N  Pvt 2    Fayetteville , NC  
Buchanan, Gregory A  Pvt 2    Bakersville , NC  
Carter, Mark E  Sgt    Fayetteville , NC  
Edmonds, Kyle L  Capt  28  New Hill , NC  
Johnson, Jerrin Andrea  Pvt 1    Fayetteville , NC  
Johnson, Ravon Leroy  Staff Sgt    Eaton , NC  
Morgan, Lindale  Pfc    Enfield , NC  
Perry, Vickie S  Pvt 2    Enfield , NC  
Rawls, David L  Pfc    Fayetteville , NC  
Shook, James Emerson  Pfc    Fayetteville , NC  
Simmons, George Henry  Spec 4    Wilmington , NC  
NEBRASKA
Olson, Robert L  Pfc  20  Omaha , Ne  
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Eastman, Michael C  Capt    Plymouth , NH  
NEW JERSEY
Cordero, Miguel Angel  Sgt    Paterson , NJ  
Davis, Thomas E  Staff Sgt    Woodbury , NJ  
NEVADA
Bowen, John P  Sgt    Las Vegas , Nv  
Mathis, Donald Lee  Pvt 2    Las Vegas , Nv  
NEW YORK
Bostwick, Paul J  Pfc    Binghamton , NY  
Brilya, William R  Pvt 2    Hudson Falls , NY  
Campbell, Trevor  Pvt 2    Brooklyn , NY  
Coleman, Bobby Lee  Pfc  20  Rochester , NY  
Hemingway, Paul C  Sgt    Staten Island , NY  
Jennings, Todd Martice  Spec 4    Yonkers , NY  
Nelson, Kenneth J  Pvt 2    Falconer , NY  
Rimiller, Richard D  Pfc    Bloomingdale , NY  
Sears, Ronald W  Staff Sgt    Bronx , NY  
Stringer, Richard  Spec 4    Dexter , NY  
Thomas, Robert F  Spec 4    Roslyn , NY  
Travis, Theodore  Sgt    Niagara Falls , NY  
OHIO
Brady, Darrin P  Pfc    Brunswick , Oh  
Caudill, Phillip R  Pvt    Cincinnati , Oh  
Daniels, Walter G  Pfc    Columbus , Oh  
Harris, Brian D  Pfc    Canton , Oh  
Napier, Michael A  Spec 4    Middletown , Oh  
Reasbeck, Patrick S    .  Adena , Oh  
Seitz, Frederic C  Pfc    Aurora , Oh  
Wilson, Rodger L  Spec 4    Dayton , Oh  
OKLAHOMA
Wolford, Robert Neil II  Sgt    Tulsa , Ok  
OREGON
Fuller, Paul Koerner  Cpl    Portland, Or  
Hassing, Mark S  Pvt 1  20  Portland, Or  
Hull, Jeffrey D  Pfc  19  Cornelius, Or  
Shultz, Robert D  Pfc    Veneta , Or  
Venneri, Steven C Pfc  19  Gladstone, Or  
PENNSYLVANIA
Council, Orlando F Jr  Pfc    Philadelphia , Pa  
Deckman, Herbert R  Pfc    Steeltown , Pa  
Fink, Kevin F  Pvt 2  23  Dayton , Pa  
Haugsdahl, Reginald  Spec 4  20  Erie , Pa  
Lloyd, William Michael  Pfc  21  Philadelphia , Pa  
Schremp, Peter E  Sgt  24  Pittsburg , Pa  
Shipley, Michael D  Spec 4  27  Huntingdon , Pa  
Stritch, Scott A  Pvt 2    Annville , Pa  
Thompson, Scott Bryan  Spec 4  22  South Waverly , Pa  
Wester, John Charles  Pfc  19  Pittsburg , Pa  
Wilkins, Franklin R  Pvt 2  20  Shamokin , Pa  

RHODE ISLAND
Spearman, Mark  Pvt    Woonsocket , RI  

SOUTH CAROLINA
Bittle, Sammy Dale  Pfc    Cheraw , SC  
Brown, Johnny L  Pfc    Sumter , SC  
Diventura, Joseph L  Cpl  21  Summerville , SC  
McWhite, Calvin  Spec 4    Columbia , SC  
Ruth, Ray A  Spec 4    Walterboro , SC  
Singleton, Earl  Sgt  30  Hugger , SC  
Walker, Gregory  Spec 4    Manning , SC  
Ward, Abraham  Sgt 1st Class    Chester , SC  
SOUTH DAKOTA
McCleery, Christine M  Spec 4    Rapid City , SD  
TENNESSEE
Avillan, Luis A  1st Lt    Clarksville , Tn  
Brancato, Charles F  Sgt    Clarksville , Tn  
Davis, James A  Sgt    Knoxville , Tn  
Dixon, Thomas D  Spec 4    Sequatchie , Tn  
Ferguson, Mark W  Spec 4    Kingsport , Tn  
Foskey, Thomas J  Cpl  22  Clarksville , Tn  
Givens, Gary Lynn  Sgt    Clarksville , Tn  
Godsey, David L  Sgt 1st Class    Clarksville , Tn  
Harden, Benny J  CW3  38  Clarksville , Tn  
Ivy, Herbert Guy  Cpl    Knoxville , Tn  
Jennings, Donny K  Staff Sgt    Clarksville , Tn  
Jones, Joseph A  Sgt    Knoxville , Tn  
King, Robert M  Capt    Clarksville , Tn  
Kosh, John K  1st Lt  27  Clarksville , Tn  
Lane, Randall Alan  Spec 4    Clarksville , Tn  
Malone, Jerry W  Staff Sgt    Clarksville , Tn  
McCook, Robert F  1st Sgt    Woodlawn , Tn  
McCormick, J Scott  2nd Lt  24  Bristol , Tn  
Miller, Dirk A  CW2  30  Clarksville , Tn  
Nelson, Steven R  Staff Sgt    Clarksville , Tn  
Pafford, Theodore L  Pfc    Clarksville , Tn  
Rains, Terry L  Capt  29  Clarksville , Tn  
Reynolds, Jessey T  Staff Sgt    Jamestown , Tn  
Roberts, Wilbur Grant Jr  Staff Sgt  28  Clarksville , Tn  
Stevens, Kip L  2nd Lt    Clarksville , Tn  
West, Thomas E  Sgt 1st Class    Clarksville , Tn  
White, Emery S III  Staff Sgt  late 20's  Clarksville , Tn  
Willingham, Richard N  Sgt    Clarksville , Tn  
Wooliver, William L  Sgt    Clarksville , Tn  
TEXAS
Cartwright, Dennis  Pvt 1    Silsbee , Tx  
Cupples, Troy R  Pfc    Porter , Tx  
Gray, Christopher  Spec 4    Alvarado , Tx  
Hardeman, Chester D  Pvt 1    Dallas , Tx  
Hughes, Charles W  Spec 4    Cleburne , Tx  
King, Jerry J  Pfc    Fort Worth , Tx  
McCarty, Joey  1st Lt    Canyon Lake , Tx  
Miller, Richard Dean  Staff Sgt    Tyler , Tx  
Roberts, Bobby E  Spec 4    Fort Worth , Tx  
Wheeler, Frank C  Spec 4    Odell , Tx  
VIRGINIA
Bowen, Robert  CW3    Wytheville , Va  
Colby, Stephen R  Spec 4    Colonial Beach , Va  
Hansen, William W III  Pfc    Stafford , Va  
Kirby, Thomas James  Staff Sgt    Salem , Va  
Puntanen, Raimo K Jr  Spec 4  20  Chesapeake , Va  
Russell, Ronald C  Pfc    Portsmouth , Va  
Vinson, Wayne  Pfc    Chesapeake , Va  
WASHINGTON
Kaplin, Robert S  Spec 4    Gig Harbor , Wa  
Lineberry, Donald G  Sgt    Olympia , Wa  
Reed, Melvin W  Pvt    Tacoma , Wa  
Wood, Lawrence A  Staff Sgt    Everett , Wa  
WISCONSIN
Schultz, Keith Mitchell  Pfc  19  Schofield , Wi  
WEST VIRGINIA
Abrams, Mark Edward  Pfc    Rhodell , WV  
Gantzer, Kevin A  Sgt  22  Wheeling , WV  
Hileman, Thomas T  Pfc  ,  Fairmont , WV  
Jordan, David A  Pvt 2  21  Winfield , WV  
Mollett, James Albert  Sgt  22  Kermit , WV  
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Fitch, David  Spec 4    Washington  
GUAM
Nartia, Joseph A  Sgt 1st Class    Tumon  
PUERTO RICO
Gonzalez, Roberto  Pfc    Quebradilla  
Ocasio, Francisco Jr  Sgt    Juana Diaz  

C/2/6 CAV
#84-24259

A/C crashed after a wire strike near the village of Neustadt an der Aisch, about 25 miles NW of Nuremberg.
RIP:          CW3 Lester G. Baggett Jr [P]
               1LT John D. Murphy [P]
Only Aircraft I ever launched that never came back>

The Green Ramp disaster was a 1994 mid-air collision and subsequent ground collision at Pope Air Force Base (Pope AFB), North Carolina that killed twenty-four members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division preparing for an airborne operation. It was the worst peacetime loss of life suffered by the Division since the end of World War II.
Link to full story

Two of my neighbors husbands died that day.

Spc. Bee Jay Cearley, from Bacliff, Texas, was born on 2 May 1966. He entered the Army on 23 May 1990. A Gulf War veteran, he was a member of the 2d Battalion, 504th Infantry. He is survived by his wife and two children.

Rip Brother

I remember being off post at a sew shop for the Pope crash.  I came back to the battery about an hour after and we were still doing the accountability, blood type checks for donations, and gathering CLS qual folks.  There were still dudes walking around Ardennes with protective wraps for burns a year later.

Let's just say that I knew the crew of a C-130 Hercules that was on a low level training mission in Alaska once.

Let's furthermore state that the pilot on that flight was not very well liked by many in the squadron, because he took dangerous and unnecessary risks.

And further, let us state that on that mission, he got the bright idea to fly into a narrow box canyon, and then had to turn the ship around in a very tight space, because a sheer cliff wall rose right in front of them and there was no time to scramble for altitude to clear it.

We may also state for the record that while putting on extreme bank angles to try and get the ship turned around, the airframe started shaking and buffeting, because our hero was THAT close to a stall that would have killed everyone on board.

To state that the faces of his crew were chalk white with fear when they landed would be an understatement, and there was a line at the door of the squadron commander's office of guys waiting to have a word with him.

But I believe our hero received a well deserved "talking to" after that incident.

The Yukla 27 CVR transcript is one of the most harrowing things I have ever read.

Coworkers son was in the chow tent near the impact area at Drum that was shelled by another unit by mistake a few years ago , killing and injuring several guys.

It was 2 rounds of 105mm.  There was a charge error, should have been 4 or 5 but they fired 7.  The women killed actual stopped after the first round, it was the second round that killed her.  

The section chief was drunk and the crew was mostly 0800s and not 0811s.  

The wrecking ball incident. I was in the back of a 60 training a crewchief to call slingloads under NVGs. On appproach the pilot at the controls who was also new to the procedure seemed to want to treat it like a roll-on landing. We both kept saying "No lower" or something to that effect because we were still moving along with a ton of cement connected to the cargo hook. We got through that fine, came around again for another approach. This time the altitude was better, the block about about 4 feet off the ground and slowing normally when our cement block struck another sitting in the LZ. BANG! Our block swung violently, cement dust and chips went everywhere, then the insructor pilot hit the release before the swinging block could hit anything else. The block rolled a bit and balled up half our chain underneath it. We got it back upright by hooking back up and slowly hovering straight up, flipping the block over.