Mt. Tom B-17 Memorial Ceremony - July 15, 2017

This past Saturday, July 15, 2017, I attended my third memorial service at Mount Tom. The ceremony is dedicated to 25 men who never had the life experiences we all take for granted. They are remembered every year thanks to all the efforts by the Stettner family (Ellen, Al and Scott) which was their mother’s wish. Mrs. Stettner (Dorothy) was the sister to Alfred Warm, one of the men who was killed in the accident.

On the evening of July 9, 1946, a B-17 (Flying Fortress) flying out of Goose Bay, Labrador, and carrying the servicemen who were on their way home after serving in World War II. The plane was preparing to land at Westover Air Force Base. But rain and darkness covered the peak of Mount Tom and, only minutes away from the airfield, the plane crashed into the south side of the mountain, killing all on board. If the plane had only been 30 feet higher they would have survived.

Below are the names on the memorial marker of the individuals that died. Eighteen were in the Coast Guard, one from the Red Cross, one a doctor from the U.S. Public Health Service and the rest were Army Corps.

Archilles, David F.         S2C                      USCG                   MA

Austin, Wayne L.          1LT                       USAAC                CO

Bailey, Arthur                CIV                      ARC                      NE

Benfield, George R.       EM3C                  USCG                   TX

Carson, Howard E.        PFC                      USACC                NY

Coviello, Pasquale P.     LT                        USPHS                  NJ

Davenport, Gregory S.   SIC                      USCG                     RI

Fleming, George E.       ETM3C                USCG                     PA

Gillis, Ernest R.             RM3C                  USCG                    MA

Johnson, Wilfred U.      LT                        USCG                     NJ

Lebrecht, Henry A.        CAPT                  USAAC                  NY

Meriam, Frank G.          LT                        USCG                    MA

Miller, Arthur C.            SIC                      USCG                     RI

Orford, George E.          LTJG                   USCG                     NJ

Roe, Daniel R.               SGT                     USACC                  AZ

Sanchez, Eulogio           PFC                     USAAC                  MI

Scott, Russell S.             BM2C                 USCG                     NJ

Simons, Arnold J.          RM3C                 USCG                      RI

Tansey, Rex A.               PFC                    USAAC                  OR

Turrentine, Samuel A.   FL O                    USAAC                  SC

Valdrini, Herman J. Jr.  FL O                    USAAC                  AZ

Warm, Alfred, L.           RM3C                 USCG                     NY

Warshaw, Stanley P.     SIC                      USCG                     NY

Winnard, Lee                 RM2C                 USCG                     MI

Worth, Hugh J.              YNC                    USCG                    MA

I am always moved to tears when I attend this ceremony. My parents both were in the military during the war but they got to come home while these men didn’t. On a nice day take a hike up to the memorial. The site is kept in impeccable condition by a husband and wife team who donate their time to keep it so.

I want to thank all the young men representing the Civil Air Patrol. Some who were assigned to keep traffic moving to the old ski lodge located at the bottom of the mountain for parking. There were also cadets that did the Presentation of Colors (U.S. and State flags). The Civil Air Patrol also supplied two 11-passenger vans to transport the attendees up/back to the memorial site.

If you would like more details regarding the previous two memorials I attended, click on the years in my blog for 2015 and 2016 and scroll through the postings to read them.

THEY WERE ON THEIR WAY HOME, FOR THEM, WHO DID THEIR VERY BEST, AND NOW IN GOD’S HANDS…AT PEACE” (Norm Cote)