Globemaster Crash, June 1953 (Tachikawa, Japan)

This page was last updated: July 07, 2009

This page of the Korean War Educator is dedicated to
Robert Bushong and the other 128 victims of this deadly crash.

They are not forgotten.

Page Contents:

• Brief Details
• Miscellaneous published accounts
  • Life Magazine article - June 29, 1953
  • Global Security.org
• Remembrances
  • Steve Troutman - in remembrance of Robert Bushong
  • Herman Cupp - in remembrance of the 802nd Engineers
  • Bushong Family - in remembrance of Robert Bushong
  • Donald Donat - in remembrance of the victims
  • Bernard Large Jr. - in remembrance of a West Pointer
  • Jim Escalle - in remembrance of Jimmy Escalle
  • Marcia Ovrebro - in remembrance of Sherman Canney
  • Kimberly Reed - in remembrance of Warren R. Pool
  • Ray Gamma - in remembrance of Narcisco Gutierrez Jr.
  • Fred Napp - in remembrance of Bobby Mixon
  • Mike Perry - in remembrance of Raoul P. Mouton Jr.
  • Terry Mathews - in remembrance of Albert R. Hamilton, Jr.
  • Canney Family and Friends - in remembrance of Sherman C. Canney
• Passenger List
• Photo Gallery

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Brief Details

• The pilot was Herbert G. Voruz Jr.
• Tail number of the plane was 51-137A.
• The plane was from the 374th Troop Carrier Wing.

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Miscellaneous Published Accounts

Life Magazine - June 29, 1953, p. 48

The regular Life magazine feature "Life on the Newsfronts of the World" carried the following mention of this Globemaster crash:

Worst Air Crash

One rain-filled afternoon last week a giant Air Force C-124 Globemaster lifted off the runway at Tachikawa airport near Tokyo and disappeared into the murk.  The tower heard one brief radio message from the plane: "One engine dead; returning for G.C.A. landing."  A few minutes later, in a flat spin, the C-124 crashed into a muddy farm field northeast of the airport.  There were no survivors: the plane carried to death 129 persons, seven members of the crew and 122 servicemen returning to their units in Korea after leave in Japan.  It was--by a margin of 42 deaths--the world's worst disaster in the history of aviation.

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Global Security.Org

The C-124 had a variety of problems associated with its anti-icing equipment, autopilot, brakes, and instrument visibility.  Until WADC engineers could devise a solution to ice formation, pilots were simply told to avoid icy conditions.  At the end of 1952, all C-124s of the 22nd Troop Carrier Squadron were grounded because of fuel tank leaks.  Early in February, after fuel cell modifications, the big planes returned to the skies.  In July 1953, a number of C-124s were grounded again pending inspection of their engines after a number of engine fires.  On 18 June 1953, the worst air disaster up tot hat time occurred at Tachikawa Air Base in Japan when an engine fire caused the crash of a C-124 shortly after takeoff, killing all 129 passengers aboard.  Some of the planes were returned to service the following month, but many remained grounded at the war's end, awaiting new generators.  Despite its problems, the C-124 had demonstrated that it was the cheapest air transport per ton-mile in the Air Force inventory.

Source: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/c-124.htm

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Remembrances

Steve Troutman - In Remembrance of Robert Bushong

Yesterday at a family gathering, a cousin asked if I knew where an uncle was buried.  I did and a discussion about our uncle began.  Do you have any information about a plane crash of American servicemen returning from Korea in June of 1953?  Supposedly it was, and maybe still is, the worst military air craft disaster in history.  There were no survivors.  The same number perished in this disaster as did when the nuclear sub "Thresher" was crushed in the Atlantic Ocean on maneuvers.  My uncle's name was Robert Bushong, aka Bob from Lititz, PA.  Any information will be greatly appreciated.  My first name is Robert after my uncle.  I was born on June 29, 1953.  It is my understanding that Bob was killed 10 days prior to my arrival.  My cousin named his son Bobby in honor of Robert and now we would like to know more about the crash that took his life.

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Herman Cupp - In Remembrance of Members of the 802nd Engineers

Several men on the plane were members of Companies A, B, C & HQ of the 802nd Engineers. Their headquarters were located at K13 (Suwon) Airstrip in Korea. Cpl. Herman Cupp of Tennessee considers himself lucky that he wasn’t a Globemaster fatality, because when he went on R&R on February 13 of 1953, he flew on that same Globemaster. A member of Company A, Cupp had been in Korea since September of 1952. He was head equipment mechanic in the motor pool for Company A.

On the day he flew in the Globemaster to Japan, he said that the officer in charge announced to the passengers (after they were already in flight) that the plane was having problems. They were losing the ability to generate electricity. The passengers were seated in folding seats that lined the sides of the plane. There were no parachutes available, so all of the passengers were ordered to put on their Mae West life jackets in case the plane went down in water. “I don’t recall being worried at the time,” said Cupp, “but I wasn’t ready to return to Korea on the same plane, either. The Globemaster made an emergency landing that night, although I don’t know where. I remember that we finished the rest of the trip by bus. On the return trip to Korea, we flew back on another plane.”

Cupp said that his company was on the front lines north of the 38th parallel when news came back that a member of the survey crew had gone down in the Globemaster crash. “The surveyors’ home base was K13,” said Cupp. “We were on TDY in Kumwha Valley to build an airstrip for the 2nd and 3rd Army. There were about 25 men in the company—three mechanics and the others were operators and that sort of thing. All of the workers were from Company A, but the surveyors were from Headquarters Company. They didn’t live in my tent, but I helped to supply electricity for theirs. News came out of Headquarters that one of the surveyors died in the crash. I believe he was a boy named Lockwood.”

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Bushong Family - In Remembrance of Robert Bushong

Steve Troutman, nephew of Robert Bushong, told the KWE:

"In my search for a photo and obituary, I just discovered a letter written July 9,1953 from Headquarters 802D Engineer Aviation Battalion APO 970 from Earl S. Wilson Major CE (USAF) The second paragraph writes:

"The accident in which Robert was involved occurred as he was returning from Japan where he had taken rest leave. The C-124 in which he was traveling departed Tachikawa Air Force Base at 1631 hours 18 June 1953. Immediately after take off the pilot found it necessary to feather one engine and prepare to return to Tachikawa. On the down-wind approach, the plane dropped from Ground Controlled Approach surveillance and crashed short of the field at 1634 hours. Witnessed stated that there were no survivors and that death was instantaneous."

The letter goes on to express his sympathy and comments about Robert and services held at the Battalion on Sunday 21 June by Battalion Chaplain Bradley T. Morse."

Click HERE to view a copy of the letter.
View Death Notice newspaper clipping
View Obituary newspaper clipping

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Donald Donat - Remembrance of the Victims

I was in the radio room of the 374th Communication Squadron at the time of the crash.  They were monitoring air traffic at the time, and we heard the call from the 124.  As I remember, the pilot reported one port engine failing and within a minute or two he called and said he had lost his other port engine.  That was the last we heard.  Sgt. Matt Welton and I went outside and could see the smoke off in the distance.  We took a Jeep and went to the crash scene.  There were 128 on the manifest, but in counting the bodies they came up with 129.  At first they thought they may have killed someone on the ground.  As it turned out, one of the 374th boys had put his brother on the plane to fly back to Korea where he was stationed.  This happened often where guys hitched rides.  Unfortunately, this time it cost the guy his brother.  I don't remember what his name was.  I only know that you never forget the smell.

Matt and I were right at the crash, up close.  It happened in late afternoon, as I remember.  I had gone to the radio room to meet Matt, and we were going to go to dinner.  When we arrived at the scene, it was a smoldering mess of pieces.  The recovery people were placing the bodies on buses that were used to transport serious stretcher cases from Korea normally.  This evening they were used to take the bodies back to base.

The plane pieces varied in size.  The tail vertical section was in almost one piece.  The body of the plane was in hundreds of pieces.  The engines were whole.  I believe that it hit at about 20 or 25 degrees.  When it hit, the force made it bounce back about five feet.  We could tell by the marks the engines made in the dirt.  The bodies were primarily outside, as the plane was torn apart.  The crew compartment, however, was crushed, and the pilot and copilot were mashed in the plane.

We stayed until dark.  I came back on the 19th and took pictures of the crash.  I didn't take the time to go get a camera when it happened.  All we were trying to do was get there to see if we could help.  Of course, there was no need.  They were all dead.

How did I feel?  Well, as I remember, like someone hit me in my stomach--short of breath, shaken.  And as I said, the smell of burnt flesh.  Terrible smell!!  Sad to think that they had just finished their R&R and were on their way back to Korea.  I guess it could have been worse if it had happened on the way to Japan and they had never had their R&R.  But just think...they were mostly in their teens and twenties.  Never really lived.  Many with no wife or children.  Sad.

As I remember, they brought a bulldozer and plowed a road between a row of houses back about 100 yards in the field to the site.  I believe it was a potato field.  The first there were the crash crews, and I believe it was the Army Med Evac unit that had the buses.  They used to meet the planes coming in from Korea MASH units and take them to hospitals in Japan.  I don't know who counted the bodies and I don't know the name of the guy who put his brother on the plane.  I just remember everyone talking about how badly he felt.  I didn't know him and I don't know if he got to go home or not.

As to the smell, burnt pork comes to mind, but when you know it's a funeral fire of 129 good GIs, it makes you sick.  I never saw anything on the crash until I wanted to tell our local newspaper about it.  They are planning an article on it for--I guess for want of better words--"War Stories."  I wasn't sure of the date.  I should have looked on the back of my pictures.  I had dated them.  But I went to Google and found your site and another site that mentioned the crash.

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Bernard L. Large Jr. - Remembrance of a West Pointer

My father, Capt. Bernard L. Large Sr., was standing at the end of the line waiting to bard this plane on June 18, 1953.  He was tapped on the shoulder from behind and turned around to find another Captain standing there.  This man was a West Point graduate, and in the U.S. Infantry.  He had noticed my father's Combat Infantryman's Badge on his left breast pocket.  This award was from the Second World War from combat in the Pacific with the 10th Infantry Division.  He remarked that he did not yet have the C.I.B. and desperately needed it for his career (professional soldier).  The war in Korea was drawing to a close at this point, and this man stated that he was afraid it would end before he got over to Korea.  He asked my father if he would be willing to trade places with him and allow him to go in my father's place.  My father would fly out the next day in this man's place on the shuttle flight to Korea.  My father agreed, and the West Pointer walked with my father to the manifest officer who was boarding the passengers.  This man had the power to nullify the arrangement.  After thinking it over a few moments, he finally agreed to the switch, took the boarding pass from my father, asked his name, scratched out my father's name, asked the West Pointer his name, penciled this name in over my father's, and handed him my father's boarding pass.  The manifest officer then told the West Pointer that he would be boarding in about ten minutes.  The West Pointer turned to my father, shook hands with him, and thanked him for the favor.  My father then went back upstairs to the officers' quarters, and went back to bed.  The West Pointer boarded the plane ten minutes later, the flight took off, and moments later crashed in a rice paddy just outside Tokyo.  The award (C.I.B.) that had almost cost my father his life in World War II had saved it nine years later during another war.

In Korea, my father was a company commander with the Army's most renowned unit, the famous 27th Infantry "Russian Wolfhounds" Regiment of the elite 25th Infantry "Tropic Lightning" Division.  He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1953 after thirty years' service to his country.

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Jim Escalle - Remembrance of Jimmy L. Escalle

Jim Escalle happened to be browsing the web when he came across the KWE page about the C-124 crash at Tachikawa. Jim's uncle, 2/Lt. Jimmy L. Escalle, was MIA in Korea June 19. There is a website devoted to his memory and to that of the men of the 36th Fighter-Bomber Squadron.  It can be found at http://www.36thfbs.com/.  Jim wrote:

"Besides several enlisted personnel from my uncle's squadron (36th FBS) who perished on that flight, there were three pilots and their flight surgeon. Kenneth Mayo was the flight surgeon, and Albert Hamilton, William Stacy, and Raoul Mouton were all F-86 Sabre pilots in the 36th. Both Mouton and Hamilton graduated from Webb AFB in Class 52-F."

Jim also attached a few photos for the KWE: one showing 2/Lt. Raoul Mouton on the hood of a jeep; one showing 1/Lt. Albert Hamilton relaxing outside the Quonset hut with a pipe in his mouth; one with Hamilton in t-shirt sitting on his bunk; and another photo of a C-124 from the same squadron as the one which crashed. Jim's photos can be seen in the Photo Gallery at the very bottom of this page.

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Marcia Ovrebro - Remembrance of Sherman Canney

"When I was a very small child, my Mom exchanged many letters with Sherman Canney from New Hampshire. I am now 60 years old, and my military-assistance projects have often been in tribute to his memory. I was only four or five when they started writing to one another.  She said he was like a "big brother" for me--and I should always remember him, although we had never met.

Sherman always said, in his letters that nothing would ever stop him from meeting his "family" in Southern Minnesota. He was scheduled to soon return from Korea, and our family was so excited to finally meet him. However, the plane crash stopped our meeting.  But the crash did not stop his memory from traveling with me the rest of my life . . . over 50 years that his life and his memory have motivated me to love and to care, and to nurture and to encourage military and their families.

For over 50 years, I have searched for information about that plane crash, but I could not find any details until this early morning hour on December 27, 2007.... That in itself is like a holiday gift to me. Unfortunately, I have not been able to track a contact with his family.  I do not remember at this time the city in New Hampshire where his family lived. He used to write about regularly receiving letters on alternate days from his Mom, his fiancée, and my Mom--just like clockwork, and he depended on those letters to get him through the struggles of war.

That crash was not widely publicized, and many people did not realize its existence. However, one little girl--who is now a senior, will not ever forget the impact of that fateful crash 54 years ago. Sherman Canney's memory lives on each time I see a military person and each time I pray or contact someone who devotes his life to preserving and to protecting our country. When someone dies, I feel like "my big brother" has died all over again....  Yet in my heart, Sherman will always live. - Sincerely, Marcia Ovrebo" [Posted 12/27/07]

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Kimberly Logie Reed - Remembrance of Warren R. Pool

Warren R. Pool, nicknamed the "Gentle Giant" (he was 6'7" tall), served in the Army in World War II and the Korean War. He was a Sergeant 1st Class with the 622nd Engineers Aviation Maintenance Company. He was killed in the C-124A Globemaster crash on June 18, 1953 in Japan, one month and one day before his 35th birthday.  Although I never met him (I was born 12 years after his death) I always wished I had.  His sister was my beloved grandmother, Dorothy Pool Culver Groves.

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Ray Gamma - Remembrance of Narcisco Gutierrez Jr.

During the time I was in Korea, Narcisco was stationed 20 miles from Seoul in an Air Force unit located next the air base in Suwon, Korea. I didn't know it at time. The last time I saw him was in 1951 at Shepard Air Force Base in Texas where I completed my boot training.  I have a picture of four of us Santa Clara High School buddies that was taken at Shepard Air Force Base, Texas in January 1951. They are from left to right, Ruben Lopez, myself, Ron Goulart and Narcisco Gutierrez. All of us four served in Korea and survived the war except for Narcisco.

Shepard Air Force Base, Texas January 1951 (Click picture for a larger view)

Narcisco Gutierrez Jr. (Click picture for a larger view)

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Fred Napp - Remembrance of Bobby Charles Mixon

Bobby Mixon was my uncle, the brother of my mother. Being born in 1965, I did not get a chance to meet him. All that I have known about him has come from my mother and my grandparents while they were alive. He was in the Air Force returning to Korea from R&R. His body was recovered and returned to his hometown of Winnfield, Louisiana by train. He was buried in Gorham Cemetery in Joyce, Louisiana in our family plot. - Fred Napp

Remains Of Local Airman To Arrive Here For Burial
(September 17, 1953 Winn Parish Enterprise newspaper)

Funeral services for Airman 2/C Bobby C. Mixon, 22 year old Winnfield man killed last June in an airplane crash in Japan, are scheduled here next week, it was learned today.  The remains are to arrive here Monday afternoon, and will lie in state at the Hixson Funeral Home chapel until the funeral, to be held in Laurel Heights Baptist Church. Exact date for the funeral has not been set.  Rev. H. J. Mott and Rev. Waynon H. Mott will conduct the funeral services, with burial in Gorham Cemetery in Joyce under direction of Hixson Brothers Funeral Home.

Airman Mixon is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Elton Mixon of Route 2, Winnfield; one brother, David Mixon, three sisters, Nedra, Cynthia Marie and Laura, all of Winnfield, Route 2, and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Gorham of Winnfield, Route 2.

Young Mixon was killed June 18 when the Air Force transport plane which he was aboard, crashed in Japan. He had spent a furlough from duty in Korea and was returning from Japan when the crash occurred.

He was a former Western Auto store employee and a member of the Laurel Heights Baptist Church.

Burial Rites For Winn Airman Held On Tuesday
(September 24, 1953 Winn Parish Enterprise newspaper)

Burial services were held Tuesday, September 22 at 2:30 p.m. in Laurel Heights Baptist Church for Airman 1/C Bobby Charles Mixon, victim of a military airplane crash in Japan on June 18.

A/1/C Mixon, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Elton Mixon of Winnfield, Route 2, had been in the Far East since February 24 and was returning from a leave in Japan after duty in Korea, when the fatal crash occurred.

Ministers officiating the funeral were Rev. Waynon Mott, pastor of the Laurel Heights Baptist Church, Rev. H. J. Mott of Monroe, a former pastor of the church, and Rev. D. W. McDaniel of Winnfield, pastor of the Walker Baptist Church in Jackson Parish.  Burial was in Gorham Cemetery under direction of Hixson Funeral Home.

Young Mixon, 22 years old, is survived by his parents, one brother, David Mixon, three sisters, Nedra, Laura, and Cynthia Marie Mixon, and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Gorham.

Pallbearers were James Guin, Glyn Guin, G. W. Jones, David McCartney, Walter Ross, Buddy Foster, M. J. Foster, and Manson Howard.

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Mike Perry - Remembrance of Raoul P. Mouton, Jr.

My uncle, Raoul P. Mouton Jr., perished in this crash.  He was an F-86 pilot with the 36th FBS.  Uncle "Junior", as we later came to know of him, had written home to his parents that he did not like flying in the Globemaster.  He explained that if something went wrong with his F-86, he could "get out."  But if something went wrong with the Globemaster, he could not "get out."

I have talked with other 36th FBS pilots who felt the same way and did not like the Globemaster(s) one bit.  A number of the pilots whom I talked with told me they narrowly missed being on that flight.  A lot of the 36th FBS pilots were eligible for R&R chose not to take it, but rather stay and continue to "rack up" combat missions so they could get their 100 missions and go home.  Had these pilots chosen to take R&R at the same time as my uncle, they almost certainly would have been casualties of this crash as well.  Other 36th FBS members killed in the crash included F-86 pilots Albert Hamilton and Bill Stacey, and 36th FBS Flight Surgeon Ken Mayo.

Thank you for posting the information on this event.  I have created a website dedicated to Raoul Mouton and all service members of the 36th FBS who served during the Korean War.  The URL is: www.flyingfiendsinkoreanwar.com. I've contacted and spoken with 23 pilots, 1 "admin" type, and two crew chiefs from the famed 36th FBS.  On 18, June 1953, the 36th FBS set a world record which stands to this day - 121 combat sorties for a single squadron in a single day. Together, we will not let the memory of these American Heroes and the sacrifices they made for America and the free world, die.- Mike Perry

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Terry Mathews - Remembrance of Albert R. Hamilton, Jr.

[KWE Note: This article was written by Terry Mathews, art editor for the News-Telegram newspaper in Northeast Texas.  Albert R. Hamilton was her father.  The article appeared in the July 17, 2009 issue, and is reprinted on the Korean War Educator with Terry's permission.]

There’s something good here: Bittersweet phone call
unites two families 56 years after tragedy

My father was Lt. Albert R. Hamilton, Jr. I was 18 months old when he was killed in the C-124 crash in June of 1953. I never knew him and my mother never spoke of him. I have gaping holes in my heart where his memory should be.

– Terry Mathews, Winnsboro, Texas

I put the above post on the Korean War Educator website (www.koreanwar-educator.org) several years ago. Little did I know the impact those few sentences would carry through cyberspace.

My father was a Sabre jet fighter pilot assigned to the Air Force’s 36th Fighter-Bomber Squadron at K-13 air base near Suwon, Korea. He is buried in paradise, at the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Four years after he was killed, my mother remarried, and built a new life in Winnsboro with her second husband, John Earl McCrary. Together they had a son, Mark, and were owners of The Bandbox of fashions for 30 years.

My paternal grandmother died when I was 8. I lost my paternal grandfather, along with most of the Hamilton family ties in my senior year of high school.

My mother didn’t talk about my dad. “It was too painful,” she recently told me.

I grew up knowing the basic facts of his life, but didn’t have any contact with the men who served with him until several years ago when I started Googling his name on the Internet.

My Internet searches yielded names and websites dedicated to the 36th squadron and its pilots, along with e-mail addresses of those who were there at K-13. I found photos of him I’d never seen, taken by other squadron members.  I’ve also made contact with relatives of pilots who were lost or who have since died. One of the relatives shared copies of the flight surgeon’s report from the crash. Knowing that I had read the graphic details horrified my mother, but it gave me a sense of closure.  I had even talked to pilot “Wild Bill” Sternhagen, now an attorney in Montana, who said, “Your father had the right stuff. He would have been a general.”

Finding these links on the Internet helped me piece together my dad’s military life.  However, nothing prepared me for the phone call I received on Friday evening, March 20, 2009.  “Is this Terry Mathews?” a male voice on the other end of the line asked. “Terry Hamilton Mathews?”  Once the caller realized he had reached the right person, he said, “You don’t know me, but my name is Kirby Prickett and I was there the day your father died.”  Kirby had seen my post on the Korean War Educator website and decided to find me.

Over the course of the next 40 minutes, Kirby and I swapped stories. We laughed and we cried – a lot.  “I don’t sleep well at night,” he explained. “I have nightmares about Tachikawa. After reading your post, I kept thinking about the little girl who was missing her daddy.”  Kirby was a policeman in the Air Force, stationed in Tokyo. He had just dropped someone off at the Tachikawa air base as the C-124 carrying my dad headed back toward the field.

“I was leaving the air base when an ambulance motioned for me to turn around and follow,” he explained. “We thought this would be a rescue mission. When we realized it was only going to be a recovery, we all hit our knees.”  The crash happened about 4:30 in the afternoon. When he returned to his barracks later that evening, Kirby said he burned his clothes.

For almost 56 years, Kirby kept the horrors of the crash and its aftermath to himself.  “I didn’t even tell my wife, Sue, until two days ago,” he said. “And we’ve been married 53 years.”

Kirby and Sue have two sons, Dan and Dennis, and one daughter, Linda.  “I kept thinking about Linda and my relationship with her,” Kirby said. “It’s what made me search for you on the Internet. It’s what made me pick up the phone and call you.”  Kirby said he always felt helpless because he couldn’t do anything for the men on the plane that day.  “There’s was nothing we could do to have saved them,” he said. “We were there and we were willing, but there was nothing to be done.”

Kirby left the military in 1956. He worked for Honeywell International in Denver until he retired in 1991. He and Sue then settled in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1993.  During his free time and with some computer skills learned from Sue, Kirby began surfing the Internet, looking for information about the crash.  “I found a list of all the men on the plane that day,” he said. “I printed it out and said a prayer for every one of them.”

Using Google and other Internet search engines, Kirby was able to find my phone number, but didn’t act on it right away.  “Every now and then, I would look at what you wrote,” he said. “But then, I’d put it away. I just didn’t know what to do.”  Through the years, Kirby said one of his greatest fears was a chance meeting with someone who had lost a friend or loved one in the crash.  “Sue and I travel a lot,” he said. “We work with Habitat for Humanity. We meet new people all the time and I was always afraid of someone saying, ‘I had a relative on that Globemaster crash during the Korean War.’”

As we talked, Kirby also said he was a little worried about my reaction.  “I didn’t know what you would say,” he explained. “Maybe you might not want to talk to me. I just didn’t know.”  Before we hung up, Kirby said, “I’m glad I made the call. It was very hard for me to do, but I’m glad I did.”

I immediately fired off an e-mail to my mother telling her what had happened and giving her Kirby’s e-mail address because I was in no shape to have another conversation.  She and Kirby e-mailed several times and eventually talked on the phone.

After his initial call, I received an e-mail from Kirby saying that he had told his story to his son Dennis, and had plans to tell Dan and Linda soon.  Then, he mentioned that he and Sue were going to be in Texas this summer to visit Linda and her family in Burnet.  “Could you meet me and my mom for lunch somewhere?” was my immediate response.

On Monday, July 6, Kirby, Sue, Linda, Linda’s husband Doug and their son Christopher, drove from Burnet to The Stagecoach Inn in Salado to meet my mom, my husband Chip, and me for lunch.

In getting ready for the visit, my mom went through a box of my dad’s letters – some 200 of them – spanning from their courtship until the night before he died. She shared a few with me on the trip, and began to give me more details about her life with my father.  “It was just too painful [when you were young],” she said. “I just shut down.”

When we finally met face to face, Kirby and I hugged.  “I don’t have any words,” he repeated.  Over the next three hours, however, we all found our voices. We shared photos and family stories. A bond that began with horror ended 56 years later with gratitude and warmed hearts.

While he may have been unable to save the men on that plane, on June 18, 1953, Kirby Prickett reached beyond his fears, picked up a phone and found a way to make things easier for my mom and me. For that, I will always be grateful.

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Canney Family & Friends - in Remembrance of Sherman Canney

[KWE Note: The following material was submitted to the Korean War Educator by Connie Canney of Florida on behalf of the family and friends of Sherman Canney, a victim of the Globemaster crash in Japan in 1953.]

Sherman Canney Remembered: Some Comments on the Meaning of His Life and Death
by Robert Canney, a brother – written June 14, 1985

"One of the awards to be given to a member of this year’s graduating class of Nute High School in Milton, New Hampshire is the Sherman Canney award. This award is to be given to 'the pupil who is amiable, friendly, and has done the most to enrich the lives of his (or her) classmates.'  Such an award is significant because it is saying, in effect, that we recognize and honor those qualities of character that make for richer lives and for better relations among ourselves and, by extension, between and among the peoples and nations of the world.

My brother Sherman Canney graduated from Nute High School 34 years ago. The passing of so much time suggests that a great many people attending this year’s graduation know very little, if anything, about who Sherman was, and why an award is being offered in his name.  It seems appropriate to me, given this consideration, to offer some comments on the meaning, as I see it, of Sherman’s all-too-brief life and tragic death. Although no amount of time will ever lessen the sorrow that some of us carry with us since first learning of Sherman’s death, we can, in some measure, vindicate his loss by telling others about him and persuading them to take what steps are necessary to prevent the loss of more such lives in the future.

The Sherman Canney award suggests that we value a person’s humanity at least as much as we value one’s ability to play basketball or achieve a certain grade point average or excel in some other endeavor.  People who knew him often remarked about his ready smile and cheerful disposition. But Sherman was much more than just a friendly or gregarious person. He was warm, good natured and witty. He was sensitive and responsive to the needs of others, and genuinely interested in their concerns. He was thoughtful on an everyday basis in all of his relationships. He seemed to know what would most please a friend or relative on their birthday or holiday and provided it, either as an act of kindness or appropriate gift.

Sherman’s friendships and associations were numerous. Besides the many girls and boys among his peers, he was friendly to and took an active interest in children and the elderly. Sherman was the kind of person that everyone liked. He had a charming and personable way about him that made him easy to meet and enjoyable to know. He was cooperative rather than competitive, and was quicker to share than to acquire. He was, in addition, socially concerned and involved at an early age. It was once reported that he was—at 16—the youngest master of record of the Lewis Nute Grange.

Sherman truly was an extraordinary person. In spite of all the racist and sexist and self-centered ways in which most of us are socialized, Sherman somehow transcended such limitations. He was an active correspondent, for example, with many people in other areas of the world, people of different races, ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs. Such activity and interest indicate that he was a developing universalist and internationalist.

What was also rare about Sherman was his ability to maintain at all times a high level of sincerity and honesty and integrity of character, so much so that those who knew him were themselves uplifted and ennobled. Sherman was indeed in a constant state of grace. His qualities of character were the best our family had to offer and, I believe, in many ways the best that humanity has to offer.

Sherman’s everyday life was a celebration of being alive. He loved and respected people, he loved and respected animals, and he loved and respected the natural environment. There are numerous photos of him with friends, relatives, pets, and selected landscape backgrounds, all revealing his profound love of life.

My brother Sherman was also patriotic as young women and men are encouraged to be. He took seriously the notion that he “owed a debt to society” and enlisted in the army rather than wait to be drafted. He was anxious to fulfill what he considered to be a public service obligation so that he would then be free to go to college and pursue other personal and creative interests.

On June 18, 1953, two years after graduating from Nute High School, Sherman was killed with 128 other young soldiers in an airplane crash in the Korean theater of war. He was 19 years old.

When Sherman’s broken body was returned home in a coffin a few months after his death, the sharp reality of the Korean War was also brought home to us all. It made some of us think long and hard about why that military involvement by the United States was so necessary that it required the supreme sacrifice of so many people.

A military funeral was held for Sherman in Prospect Hill cemetery in September, a few days after what would have been his 20th birthday. Our mother was presented with an American flag, apparently for consolation. But she never was consoled. She remained deeply distressed by his death until her own death some years later.

If he had lived longer, I’m confident that Sherman would have come to understand the Korean military involvement by the United States not as an action on behalf of human liberation, social justice, or out of a respect for the right of other people to true national independence and self determination. He would have come to understand it for what it was: an action on behalf of corporations, banks, and military interests.

Over 50,000 Americans died in that act of intervention by the United States and more than 100,000 were wounded, maimed and crippled. The Koreans sustained casualties many times these numbers. Today it takes a continuing presence of some 40,000 U.S. military personnel and an arsenal of nuclear and other weapons to prevent the Korean people from uniting their country under a government which represents their interests and not those of a foreign power. The continuing presence of U.S. military forces in Korea prevents those people from building a society where every person has access to necessary health care, education, and the opportunity to make a positive contribution to their own society. It prevents them from being treated with the dignity that all human beings deserve.

Much of the same can be said, of course, with regard to Vietnam, except in that case the Vietnamese, at an enormous sacrifice to themselves and their land, emerged victorious and are now in the process of rebuilding and developing their devastated country. That imperialistic intervention also cost over 58,000 American lives and some 200,000 additional casualties and tremendous amounts of money derived from American taxpayers, money which could have been better used for social programs and services in this country.

For the U.S. Congress to vote to supply any form of aid to the contras is tantamount to a declaration of war. To make what has been a covert war against Nicaragua into an overt war with Congressional approval means that the youth of America once again will be sent to kill—and to die—as my brother Sherman did—in order that profit interests prevail over human needs and environmental preservation.

Let us join together and insist that there be an end to wars that have for their purpose the subjugation of people for the sake of exploitation, the building of careers, and the making of huge profits. Let us insist that there be an end to militarism. Let us demand, instead, that our tax dollars be used to build more and better schools, hospitals, housing, and jobs provided for those who need them. Let us demand that our natural environment be respected and revered, not raped and plundered. Let us put an end to the divisions which keep us divided and stunted as human beings.

Let us have the honesty and courage to acknowledge that the central problem in the world today is the profound injustice that people experience and respond to which stems from: poverty, hunger, illiteracy, disease, brutality, repression, and the foreign domination of a people’s labor and resources. We must prevent our own government, when the occasion requires it, from supporting repressive client regimes which brutalize and murder and terrorize the masses of their own people, as in El Salvador and the Philippines, etc.

By doing this, we can put an end to the killing of tens of thousands of our young men and women. Sherman’s death need not be completely in vain. If, as a result of reflecting upon it, we can learn to find alternatives to such military involvement, we can yet save the lives of countless others who are otherwise destined to die in Central America.

Long live the beautiful spirit of Sherman Canney!"

129 U.S. Servicemen Die in Crash of Giant Plane

TOKYO, Friday, June 19 (AP) – The world’s worst air disaster killed every one of 129 United States service men aboard a giant Globemaster in a fiery crash near Tokyo yesterday.  The great, two-decked C-124, its engines failing after a take-off for Korea, was trying desperately to get back to Tachikawa Air Base, 25 miles west of Tokyo. It never made it. The Globemaster went into a flat spin, staggered, and plummeted nose down into a muddy farm.

Japanese farmers said there was a terrific flash and a roar as the 3000 gallons of gasoline aboard burst into flame. Then the dead and dying were incinerated in a towering funeral pyre. “The smell of burned oil and human flesh was terrible,” AP correspondent Stan Carter reported from the scene. “The bodies were terribly burned and mangled. The fire was so hot it ignited magnesium metal in the plane’s framework and part of it burned like a thermite bomb. The rain kept coming down, hissing on the hot steel that was tangled up in giant balls of wreckage.”

Hours later, by searchlight, Air Force crews worked to recover the charred bodies. One victim was found still clasping his rosary as he had been praying.  The Air Force said it would hold an immediate investigation into the cause of the crash. The long list of victims will not be released until next of kin are notified.

Of those aboard, seven were crew members and the rest were airmen and Army engineers attached to air bases returning to Korea from rest leave in Japan.  All Far East C-124s, four-engined giants capable of carrying 222 passengers, had just gone back into service after being grounded over the week-end with generator trouble. In recent days, flights had been cancelled several times because of mechanical trouble.  But the Air Force said there was nothing to indicate coming trouble on the fatal flight. The weather, while rainy and murky, was well within safe flying limits. The crash was by far the worst in the history of aviation. The previous record was the crash of another C-124 last December 20 at Moses Lake, Wash., when 87 died.

8 New Englanders Die in Plane Crash

Mrs. Edna Sorrento, 21, or 104 Ferry St., Everett, a patient at Whidden Memorial Hospital, Everett, received word that her husband, Nicholas, 23, was one of the eight New Englanders killed in Tokyo in the world’s worst air disaster—as she made plans for her third wedding anniversary.  Word of his death came less than 24 hours after she had received a letter for him, saying he would be home in August. Sorrento was an airman second class. The other New England dead included:

• Airman Second Class Francis M. Gay, 18, son of Mrs. Mary A. Voner of 14 East Brookline St., South End

• Airman Second Class Kenneth A. Minor, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Reignold A. Miner of 1100 West St., Sheldonville

• Technical Sergeant Donald H. Nassif, 23, husband of Mrs. Joanne Nassif of 79 Newland St., Springfield

• Private First Class Sherman C. Canney, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Victor C. Canney of Milton, N.H.

• Airman Third Class Raymond H. Peloquin, husband of Mrs. Theresa Peloquin of Mason St., Woonsocket, R.I.

• Army Private First Class Edmond A. Mathieu, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Mathieu of 17 Pratt Ave., Taftville, Conn.

• Airman Second Class Bruce S. Heal, son of Mr. and Mrs. Morris Heal of 445 Main St., East Hartford, Conn.

Doctor Broke News

Dr. Benjamin Barton of 107 Ferry St., Everett, a friend of Mrs. Sorrento’s family, broke the news to her at the hospital, where she was taken Tuesday for treatment of acute appendicitis.

A native of Everett, Airman Sorrento was graduated from Everett High School and entered the Air Force in 1951. He had been overseas since last August. Besides his wife, he leaves his mother, Mrs. Jennie Sorrento of 152 Bow St., Everett, and six brothers, Corporal James, now with the Air Force in England; Francis, Joseph, Patrick, Andrew and Anthony, all of Everett; and three sisters, Ann, Carmella and Rose.

Airman Gay enlisted on Feb. 15, 1952, after attending Brighton High School. He received his training at Sampson, N.Y., and Keesler Field, Miss. He left for Korea shortly after spending the Christmas holiday at home last year. He leaves his mother, a sister Roberta, 8, and a brother, Richard, 16.

Airman Miner, one of nine children, would have been 21 years old Sunday. He served as ground crewman with the 36th Fighter Bomber Squadron. His parents had received a letter from him early this week in which he expressed fears that they might have been injured in the tornado.

The father of a daughter, Donna, 1, Technical Sergeant Nassif had served five and one-half years in the Air Force. He had mentioned Airman Miner in one of his letters to his wife, as being with him in Korea.

Private Canney was the master of the Lewis Nute Grange in Milton, N.H., before entering the service on March 26, 1952. In a letter received by his parents Wednesday, he said he expected to be home in August.

Airman Peloquin had been married less than a month when he was sent to Korea in January. His wife had received a letter from him yesterday, shortly before being notified of his death. He told of having a “wonderful time” while on leave in Japan.

Milton Soldier Killed in Plane Crash Near Tokyo

MILTON – A 19-year-old Milton soldier was one of the 129 American servicemen killed Thursday in the crash of an Air Force C-124 Globemaster, near Tokyo. The Defense department last night announced that Pfc. Sherman C. Canney, son of Mr. and Mrs. Victor T. Canney of Main Street, Milton, was one of seven New Englanders among the victims.

Private Canney, since August 1952, had been serving in Korea with the 622nd Engineers Maintenance Company and was returning from an eight-day leave in Japan when the tragedy occurred. He is one of five servicemen sons of the Canneys.

The youth was born in Rochester, but had resided most of his life in Milton, where he was graduated from Nute High School in 1951. He was a member and past master of Nute grange, having held the distinction of being the grange’s youngest master. He entered the Army in March, 1952, enlisting at Rochester and receiving his basic training at Ft. Dix, NJ.

Survivors besides his parents are four brothers, Pfc. Herbert R. Canney, a Korean veteran, now stationed at Mitchel Field, Long Island; Pfc. Vincent P. Canney, attached to the 646th Aircraft Radar Company, Highland, N.J.; Robert B. Canney, paratrooper in World War II, now of Meredith, Conn.; and one sister, Miss June Canney of Milton.

Body of Soldier Arriving Friday: Pfc. Sherman Canney Air Crash Victim in Japan

The body of Pfc. Sherman Canney, 19, of Lebanon, Me., who was killed June 18 in the crash of a huge C-124 Globemaster at Tachikawa, Japan, will arrive at Rochester, Friday evening, in charge of an Army escort. A delegation of local veterans will meet the evening train bearing the body and will accompany the Edgerly funeral coach to his home in Lebanon.

Funeral services for the young man, one of five sons of Mr. and Mrs. Victor Canney of the Lebanon side, Milton, who served in the armed forces, will be held, Monday morning, from the Sacred Heart church, Milton, with the pastor, Rev. Henri Brodeur, officiating. Burial will be in the Prospect Hill cemetery, Lebanon.

Pfc. Canney, who would have reached his 20th birthday this month and was due for an early return to the U.S. was killed while returning to Korea from a leave in Japan. He enlisted in March, 1952 and received his basic training at Fort Dix, N.J. He was a member of the 622nd Engineer Aviation Maintenance Co. at Suwon, Korea, at the time of his death.

Full Military Honors for Pfc. Sherman Canney

Full military honors were accorded Pfc. Sherman Canney whose body arrived here from Japan, Friday night, escorted by M/Sgt. William Jacquest of Oakland, Cal. A high mass of requiem was held at the Sacred Heart church, Monday morning, at 9 o’clock, with Rev. Henri A. Brodeur officiating. Rev. Bernard J. O’Rourke of Jamaica Plain, Mass., a friend of the Canney family, assisted.

Burial was in the Prospect Hill cemetery. A squad composed of members of the Oscar Morehouse Post, A.L., fired a salute and Taps was sounded. The bearers were four brothers of the deceased, Robert Canney, Cpl. Herbert Canney, Edgar Canney and Pfc. Vincent Canney; a cousin, Kenneth Haseltin, and a classmate, EM 3/c Lloyd Perkins. Edgerly and Son was in charge of the arrangements.

The service was attended by service groups, students of Nute High School, members of the Grange, and numerous friends.

Pfc. Canney, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Victor Canney, was killed June 18 near Tokyo when a C-124 Globemaster in which he was flying back to Korea at the expiration of a leave in Japan, crashed. He was nearly due to return to the United States on rotation when the tragedy occurred.

He would have been 20 years old this month. He enlisted in March, 1952, trained at Fort Dix, and then was sent to Korea with the 622nd Engineer Aviation Maintenance Company.

He leaves his parents, Victor and Isadore (Tanner) Canney; four brothers, Robert, Cpl. Herbert, Edgar and Pfc. Vincent, and a sister, June Canney.

Will Miss Sherman

Not included in the regular news account of the tragic end of Pfc. Sherlman Canney, because objective reporting does not allow sentimentality, was the friendly and affectionate regard in which we all held the boy. His quick smile and genuine friendly nature is something not seen too often. Next to the youngest among five boys, he yet seemed to be the personality upon whom the remainder of the group hinged. I am sure all of Milton and all who knew him will join in offering to the family, “May God help you in your sorrow.”

In Memoriam

Pfc. Sherman C. Canney
Killed in Japan Air Crash
June 18, 1953 – 1961
World’s Worst Air Disaster 129 GI’s Dead

Somewhere back of the sunset
Where loveliness never dies,
He lives in the land of glory
Mid the blue and gold of the skies.
And those who have known and loved him,
Whose passing has brought sad tears,
Will cherish his memory always
To brighten the drifting years.

Sadly missed and lovingly remembered by –
Mr. and Mrs. Victor T. Canney, Robert, Captain Herbert, Edgar, Vincent and June, and Friends

Canney Photo Album

Sherman Canney's Photo Album
(Click a small picture for a larger view.  If you want, click the first picture, or any picture, and sit back and watch a slideshow... pictures will automatically change in 10 seconds.)

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Passenger List

[The KWE would like to post information about each of the following persons who perished in the Globemaster crash.  If any family members or friends have information to share about any of the crash fatalities, we encourage you to contact Lynnita@koreanwar-educator.org.]

• Adkins, Robert C.
• Agnew, Arthur W.
  Airman First Class Agnew was a member of the 8th Field Service Squadron, U.S. Air Force.  Airman First Class Agnew was awarded the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
• Anderson, Donald J.
  Airman First Class Anderson was a member of Headquarters, 51st Fighter Interceptor Group, U.S. Air Force.  Airman First Class Anderson was awarded the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Korean War Service Medal
• Arnold, Richard D.
  Airman Second Class Arnold was a member of the 35th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter-Bomber Group.  Airman Second Class Arnold was awarded the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Korean War Service Medal.
• Athey, Verl C.
  Verl C. Athey was born November 24, 1916, a son of Harvey Everett and Mina Aletha Theobold Athey.  He was in World War II and Korea.  Major Athey was a member of Headquarters, 51st Fighter Interceptor Group, U.S. Air Force. Major Athey was awarded the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Korean War Service Medal.  He was survived by his brother Marvin S. Athey, and sisters Eunice Isabelle and Myrna Ardith.  He is buried in Wauneta Cemetery, Chase County, Nebraska.
• Atkins, Robert C. Jr.
  Airman First Class Atkins was a member of the 35th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter-Bomber Group.
• Basham, James R.
  Airman Third Class Basham was a member of the 8th Supply Squadron, 8th Fighter Bomber Group.
• Bass, Phillip E.
  Private First Class Bass was a member of Headquarters and Service Company, 802nd Engineer Aviation Construction Battalion.
• Battani, Geno A.
  Airman First Class Battani was a member of the 80th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter Bomber Group.  He was 22 years old.  Geno was survived by his father, Adolph, employed by Woods Bros., Des Moines; a sister, Mrs. Ray Girton of Madrid, IA; and a brother, George, also of Madrid.
• Bell, Earl H.
  Private First Class Bell was a member of Company B, 802nd Engineer Aviation Construction Battalion.
• Boston, John T.
  Airman Third Class Boston was a crew member of a C-124A Globemaster transport with the 22nd Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group stationed at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan.
• Bottelbergue, Richard A.
  Private First Class Bottelbergue was a member of Company B, 802nd Engineer Aviation Construction Battalion.
• Braswell, Charles L.
  Private First Class Braswell was a member of Company A, 802nd Engineer Aviation Construction Battalion.
• Brennan, Mark J.
  In Greenwich, Connecticut, Mark Brennan from Kiltimagh, Co. Mayo joined his sister Helen, brother Martin and John (Gerry) Gannon, a neighbor from home.  Two and a half years after emigrating, Mark was drafted in August 1951.  Trained as an antiaircraft artillery gunner in Ft. Bliss, Texas, Brennan was assigned to the 78th AAA Battalion stationed at Suwon Air Force Base, South Korea.  He died, age 23, in the June 1953 crash of a C-124A Globemaster cargo plane ferrying him back to his base in Korea after a week of R&R leave in Japan.
• Brinegar, Rufus L.
  Technical Sergeant Brinegar was a member of the 35th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter-Bomber Group.
• Brown, Thomas W.
  Private First Class Brown was a member of the 919th Engineer Aviation Maintenance Company.
• Broyles, Gerald D.
  Private First Class Broyles was a member of Company B, 802nd Engineer Aviation Construction Battalion.
• Burke, James
  Private First Class Burke was a member of Company B, 802nd Engineer Aviation Construction Battalion.
• Burt, George B.
  George B. Burt, Schroon Lake, New York, was born in 1931.  When he died in the airplane crash, he left a wife and a baby he never saw.  Private First Class Burke was a member of Company B, 802nd Engineer Aviation Construction Battalion.

• Robert & Doris Wedding Day (Click picture for a larger view)

  Bushong, Robert
  Robert Bushong, son of A.W. and Edna Bushong, was married to the former Doris J. Shelley of Lititz, PA.  His wife later married Wilbur Neff, and they had two sons, David & Phillip. Doris passed away several years ago. Wilbur is still alive, and he has now remarried. Wilbur never tried to sever ties with the Bushong family. Robert's nephew Steve Troutman was in his early teens before he discovered how Dave and Phil were "cousins".  Robert Bushong is buried in the Lititz Moravian Cemetery.

• Canney, Sherman C.
• Canyon, Peter
  Airman First Class Canyon was a member of the 31st Air Police Squadron, U.S. Air Force. On June 18, 1953, he was a passenger on a C-124A Globemaster transport traveling from Tachikawa Air Base, Japan to Korea. He was killed when the aircraft crashed about three miles from Tachikawa. Airman First Class Canyon was awarded the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
• Carforio, Louis V.
• Case, James W.
  Staff Sergeant Case was a member of the 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Castor, Calvin Ray
  Airman First Class Castor was a member of the 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Church, William L.
  First Lieutenant Church was a crew member of a F-86F Sabrejet fighter with the 12th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 18th Fighter Bomber Wing.
• Cottle, Edward K.
  Airman First Class Cottle was a member of the 39th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group.
• Crenshaw, Horace Jr.
  Airman Third Class Crenshaw was a member of the 39th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group.

• Raymond Cross

  Cross, Raymond
  Corporal Cross was a member of the 51st Installation Squadron, U.S. Air Force. From Philadelphia, PA, he was born on December 27, 1933.

• Crough, James N. Jr.
• Dawson, Norman L.
  Private First Class Dawson was a member of the 662nd Engineer Aviation Maintenance Company.
• Ervhart, Roy Jr.
• Evans, Wayde Daryl
  Born January 1, 1921, Wayde Daryl Evans was from Ottumwa, Kansas.  Sergeant Evans was a member of the 78th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons) Battalion, U.S. Army. He was survived by wife Lena and three children.  The eldest child was Gary Evans.
• Fitzgerald, Mac Lee
  First Lieutenant Fitzgerald was a member of Headquarters, 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Fletcher, Johnnie R.
  Private First Class Fletcher was a member of Company A, 802nd Engineer Aviation Construction Battalion.
• Floyd, Walker Ellis
  Staff Sergeant Floyd was a member of the 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Fogelhut, Marvin J.
  Sergeant First Class Fogelhut was a member of the 78th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons) Battalion, U.S. Army.

• James Jackson Folks

  Folks, James Jackson
  From Inverness, Florida, James was born on May 9, 1930.  Private First Class Folks was a member of Headquarters and Service Company, 802nd Engineer Aviation Construction Battalion.

• Gardiner, Raymond W.
  Airman First Class Gardiner was a member of the 51st Communications Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Garza, George G.
  Airman First Class Garza was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 51st Air Base Group, U.S. Air Force.
• Gay, Francis M.
  Airman First Class Gay was a member of the 8th Communications Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Goodroe, Herman G.
  Airman First Class Goodroe was a member of the 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Groff, Robert E.
  Staff Sergeant Groff was a member of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, U.S. Air Force.
• Gutierrez, Narcisco Jr.
  Airman First Class Gutierrez was a member of the 51st Field Service Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Hadley, Raymond E.
  Airman Third Class Hadley was a member of the 8th Maintenance and Supply Group, U.S. Air Force
• Hallas, Robert E.
  Airman First Class Hallas was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 8th Air Base Group, U.S. Air Force.
• Hamilton, Albert R. Jr.
  My father was Lt. Albert R. Hamilton, Jr.  I was 18 months old when he was killed in the C-124 crash in June of 1953.  I never knew him and my mother never spoke of him.  I have gaping holes in my heart where his memory should be. - Terry Mathews, Winnsboro, Texas
• Hardy, Henry L.
  Airman First Class Hardy was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 51st Air Base Group, U.S. Air Force.
• Harrington, John M.
  Airman First Class Harrington was a member of the 35h Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter-Bomber Group.
• Hartzler, Thomas
  Corporal Hartzler was a member of the 662nd Engineer Aviation Maintenance Company.
• Heal, Bruce S.
  Airman Second Class Heal was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, U.S. Air Force.
• Hollis, Andy Jr.
  Airman Second Class Hollis was a member of the 51st Motor Vehicular Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Hora, August W.
  Corporal Hora was a member of the 662nd Engineer Aviation Maintenance Company.
• Hornsby, Walter F.
  Airman First Class Hornsby was a member of the 8th Motor Vehicular Squadron, 8th Fighter Bomber Wing.
• Hunter, Samuel W.
  Airman First Class Hunter was a member of the 25th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter-Interceptor Group.
• Hyde, Samuel F.
  First Lieutenant Hyde was a crew member of a F-86F Sabrejet fighter with the 12th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 18th Fighter Bomber Wing.
• Ives, Richard E.
  Airman Third Class Ives was a member of the 36th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter-Bomber Group.
• Jones, Ernest D.
  Airman Third Class Jones was a member of the 16th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter Interceptor Group.
• Jordan, John H. Jr.
• Kelley, Thomas P.
  Staff Sergeant Kelley was a member of the 8th Air Police Squadron, 8th Fighter Bomber Wing.
• Kennedy, Paul E. (Co-pilot)
  Major Kennedy was a veteran of World War II. In Korea, he was the co-pilot of a C-124A Globemaster transport with the 22nd Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group stationed at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan.
• Kirsnis, Raymond J.
  First Lieutenant Kirsnis was a member of the 1993rd Airways and Air Communications Service Mobile Communications Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Kissell, George H.
  Staff Sergeant Kissell was the engineer of a C-124A Globemaster transport with the 22nd Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group stationed at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan.
• Klein, Robert J.
  Airman First Class Klein was a member of the 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Knotts, James R.
  Staff Sergeant Knotts was a member of the 8th Air Police Squadron, 8th Fighter Bomber Wing.
• Kolb, Isidore E.
  Private First Class Kolb was a member of the 662nd Engineer Aviation Maintenance Company.
• Lee, Clarence M. Jr.
  Airman Third Class Lee was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 51st Air Base Group, U.S. Air Force.
• Leicht, Donald E.C.
  First Lieutenant Leicht was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Lenhardt, Leroy W.
  Airman First Class Lenhardt was a member of the 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Lockwood, Maurice G.
  Private First Class Lockwood was a member of Company A, 802nd Engineer Aviation Construction Battalion.
• Lowry, Donald E.
  Airman First Class Lowry was a member of the 8th Maintenance Squadron, U.S. Air Force.
• Lucas, Leonard J.
  Airman First Class Lucas was a member of the 8th Supply Squadron, 8th Fighter Bomber Group.
• Marshke, Lawrence B.
  Private First Class Marshke was a member of the 919th Engineer Aviation Construction Battalion.
• Mathieu, Edmond A.
  Private First Class Mathieu was a member of the 78th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons) Battalion, U.S. Army.
• Mayo, Kenneth P.
  First Lieutenant Mayo was a member of the 8th Medical Group, 8th Fighter Bomber Wing.  He was one of two Iowans to die in the air crash.  He was a flight surgeon.  According to an Iowa paper, Dr. Mayo's mother was Mrs. Edna C. Mayo, an employee of the registrar's office at Iowa State College.  The only child of parents who were separated, Dr. Mayo was reared in Ames, Iowa by his mother and grandmother, Mrs. Ed Coe.  He was 27 years old on June 3, 1953.  He was married on October 18, 1952 to Carolyn Ann Flodin of Burlington, Iowa, a member of his graduating class at S.U.I.  She was employed at Iowa Ordnance plant in Burlington.  The newspaper stated, "Gordon Gammack, Des Moines Register and Tribune war correspondent who returned recently from Korea, said Friday he had visited several times with Lieutenant Mayo at a Korean jet air base.  Gammack characterized Mayo as 'an exceptionally fine youthful medical officer.'"
• McAninch, Darrell E.
  Airman Third Class McAninch was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, U.S. Air Force.
• McCorkle, Robert D.
  Major McCorkle was the pilot of a C-124A Globemaster transport with the 22nd Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group stationed at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan.
• McCurtain, Isaac M.
  Airman Third Class McCurtain was a member of the 80th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter Bomber Group.
• McHenry, John A.
  John McHenry was from Canton, Ohio.  He was born on March 21, 1929.
• McLaird, Paul R.
• Mihalic, Raymond M.
• Miller, Vernon W.
• Milner, Obie E.
• Miner, Kenneth A.
• Mixon, Bobby C.
• Modenese, Eugene M.
• Moran, Francis E.
• Mouton, Raoul P. Jr.
• Myller, Ulrich
• Nassif, Donald H.
• Nellermoe, Dale L.
• Painter, Donald I.
  Airman Second Class Painter was a member of the 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, U.S. Air Force.  On June 18, 1953, he was a passenger on a C-124A Globemaster transport traveling from Tachikawa Air Base, Japan to Korea.  He was killed when the aircraft crashed about three miles from Tachikawa.  Airman Second Class Painter was awarded the Korean Service Medal and the United Nations Service Medal.
• Peloquin, Raymond H.
• Pool, Warren R.
• Powell, Archie L. Jr.
• Powers, Michael F.
• Rensashe, Joseph
• Riles, Leonard L. - Leonard L. Riles enlisted in the Air Force in February of 1952 and was sent to Korea in November 1953. He was survived by his widow, Sally Scobey (formerly Sally Henfling) from San Rafael, CA. They were married in February of 1952. Riles was a native of Sebring, Florida.
• Roberson, David Jr.
• Rose, James A.
• Rudolph, Donald R.
• Schaeffer, Warren J.
• Schrock, David A.
• Sheets, Richard L.
• Simpson, Edwin J. Jr.
• Simpson, Thomas S.
• Smith, Burton B.
• Smith, Charles C.
• Sorrento, Nicholas S.
• Stacy, William P.
• Staring, John H.
• Steele, Carl Cole
  Carl Steele was a graduate of Winchester, Kentucky High School and served in the Air Force for five years.  After serving in Japan for eighteen months as an Airman First Class, he was killed on June 18, 1953, in an airplane crash near Tokyo, Japan, that claimed 129 lives.  Steele had been flight engineer of a C-124A Globemaster transport with the 22nd Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group  Awarded many medals for his service in Korea, he was survived by his wife, Mrs. Beatrice McGuire Steele, his mother, Mrs. O.F. Baxter, his sisters, Betty Joan Steele (Berger) and Mrs. Georgia Barnett, as well as five brothers, Fred, Luther, Charles, John, and Travis Steele.
• Stopyra, Bartholomew
• Sturdavant, James L.
• Taft, George C.
• Tartaglione, Samuel J.
• Thompson, Primas Jr.
• Tupper, Donald P.
• Van Alen, Robert G.
• Voruz, Herbert G. Jr. (pilot)
• Wade, Thomas E.
• Weaver, Franklin E.
• Wickman, John R.
• Wilkie, Johnny
• Wilson, George V.
• Wright, James R.

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