Ceremony commemorates 70th anniversary of tragic plane crash

The rain was falling down hard around midnight on June 17, 1947 as 5-year-old David Benoit and his parents trudged home through a minefield of street puddles after spending an evening with neighbors.

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2017-06-19 / Front Page Tweet Ceremony commemorates 70th anniversary of tragic plane crash By ALLAN STEIN Eagle Times correspondent For your convenience, you may read this story after 4 seconds The Vermont Civil Air Patrol Color Guard took part in a ceremony on Saturday, June 17 in recognition of the 70th anniversary of a tragic accident in which a B-29 bomber crashed into Hawk's Mountain. — COURTESY OF DEE STERRET The Vermont Civil Air Patrol Color Guard took part in a ceremony on Saturday, June 17 in recognition of the 70th anniversary of a tragic accident in which a B-29 bomber crashed into Hawk's Mountain. — COURTESY OF DEE STERRET PERKINSVILLE — The rain was falling down hard around midnight on June 17, 1947 as 5-year-old David Benoit and his parents trudged home through a minefield of street puddles after spending an evening with neighbors. Benoit recalled first hearing a strange, loud rumbling noise in the sky over Perkinsville. Then, like someone flinging open the morning curtains, the sky went from coal-black to broad daylight. No one knew at that moment that a B-29 bomber carrying 12 crewmen had just crashed along the wooded northern slope of Hawk’s Mountain. There were no survivors. “It was late at night. The whole sky lit up like daylight. I couldn’t figure out what was going on,” said Benoit, now 75. “Sorrow. I couldn’t believe something like this could happen.” On Saturday, more than 50 people gathered on the Perkinsville green to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the B-29 crash. It was the worst aviation disaster in Vermont history. The plane, laden with fuel, was on a training mission flying from Tuscon, Arizona to Bedford, Massachusetts, but lost its way in a heavy rainstorm. At about 1,000 feet, the heavy bomber circled Perkinsville, flying so low the engines rattled windows and awoke the residents. The plane crash at 12:07 a.m. sent up strange flashes of light that lit the sky. Springfield firefighters and residents raced up Hawk’s mountain, but it took hours to reach the crash site and the victims. Rebecca Tucker was 9 years old when the tragedy struck. Her father, Phil Woodbury, and two other men were the first to run up the mountain to the crash site, she said. “I was in bed. It was pouring rain,” Tucker said. “It was all very scary. The war was over, but they still had big planes like that.” The crewmen were severely burned and couldn’t be helped. Their plane lay in flames, with its mangled parts strewn all over the crash site. Some of the parts remain in their original locations to memorialize the tragedy. “You can still see the parts. Nature surrounds it, but it’s a historic site. It is obvious that a devastating crash occurred,” said Perkinsville Historical Society member Ginger Wimberg. Historical Society members Marita Johnson and Jeff Pelton were key organizers of Saturday’s ceremony that took place at 2 p.m., followed by a hike to the crash site up the rugged terrain. The ceremony included opening remarks from aviation historian Brian Lindner and a reading of the history of the flight by aviation historian Tom Hildreth, including a Vermont Civil Air Patrol color guard and taps. Pastor Will Hunter offered a prayer and a recitation of the poem “High Flight.” Pilot Walter Striedieck performed a flyover and dropping of a memorial black ribbon on Hawk’s Mountain to commemorate the tragedy. A documentary video of the 60th anniversary dedication of the historical marker placed on the green in 2007 was aired in the vestry of the Perkinsville Church. Robert K. Knight of Knoxville, Tennessee was just 3 years old when his father, Technical Sgt. Clayton K. Knight, the radio operator, was killed in the B-29 crash at the age of 25. On Saturday, Robert Knight, his wife and two sons, were counted among the honored guests at the ceremony that included Robert Zapffe, son of B-29 pilot 1st Lt. Robert G. Fessler and David Whitcomb, cousin of the plane’s engineer, Sgt. Oliver W. Hartwell Jr. “It’s beautiful. I have told people these are the most wonderful people I can imagine,” Knight said of his hosts in Perkinsville.