On July 19, 1943, a B-24 Liberator crashed in the Gunnison National Forest about 27 NE of Gunnison, and perhaps a mile from our present campsite. All ten crew members and one flight surgeon were killed. The site is considered a funerary site since not all remains were recoverable. 

My son and I have attempted to locate the site of the crash twice so far to no avail. As the 70th Anniversary of the accident will be a few weeks away and we will still be in the area, I really like to honor the crew in some way. I'm not sure yet what exactly that will look like, but I do plan on placing 11 small U.S. flags at the site. I'd appreciate any suggestions you might offer, as well. 

Location: 38 45' 55.8" 106 39' 15.0" 
Aircraft: B-24E s/n 41-29027 
Unit: 390th BG 

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A Casper, WY based B-24E (#41-29027) "Liberator "heavy bomber spun out of the clouds and crashed and burned in Taylor Canyon, a rugged, forested area about 25 miles northeast of Gunnison. Structural failure of the tail surfaces either caused complete loss of control or the abrupt pull-out from the initial dive may have caused the failure. No one managed to escape from the aircraft. The aircraft was on a cross county and navigation flight from Casper, WY to El Paso, TX and return. 
2nd Lt. Sherod D. Derryberry, Jr., 0-799541, pilot, age 21, Selma, AL 
2nd Lt. Billy B. Thompson, 0-681250, co-pilot, age 22, Mineral Wells, TX 
2nd Lt. William M. Statler, 0-749458, navigator, age 19, Des Moines, IA 
2nd Lt. James A. Allen, 0-741096, bombardier, age 26, Jackson, TN, married 
S/Sgt. Rocci A. Greco, 31168615, engineer, Hamden, CT 
S/Sgt. James W. Beazley, 13043398, assistant engineer, Dumbrooke, VA 
S/Sgt. Richard D. Yost, 15330353, radio operator, South Bend, IN 
S/Sgt. Richard E. Schaefer, 13116398, assistant radio operator, Colley, PA 
S/Sgt. Romeo P. Berube, 31145424, gunner, New Britain, CT 
S/Sgt. James F. Emerich, 35512863, gunner, Cleveland, OH 
Major Robert C. Quine, 0-337477, flight surgeon, Santa Ana, CA

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No suggestions but that is a damn fine gesture you are planning. For the crew: Here.

Maybe this will help. Good luck and good bull.

http://www.gunnisonhistoricpreservation.org/taylor.htm

Bomber Crash Site

The B-24E Crash Site is located near Forest Service Road 742. The B-24 crashed at the site at about 1145 hours on 19 July 1943. A small clearing in the forest marks the location of the airplane impact. Remains of the bomber are currently located within a 200 foot diameter area at 9008 feet elevation.

All ten members of the crew and one passenger, perished in the crash and their bodies were badly burned by the ensuing fire. The B-24 Crash Site is considered a funerary site; the crash severity and fire resulted in partial interment of the body of one or more crew members. A 50th Anniversary Memorial Service was held at the crash site at 1150 a.m. on 19 July 1993...the service was full military ceremony and about 75 people attended, including family members of those deceased. A bronze marker is now affixed at the site to a granite rock on which the port main strut of the crashed B-24 rests.


Address: 21 miles NE of Gunnison
Legal: Part of Sec 10, T15S,R83W,6thPM
Current Use: Tourist Site
Contact: USFS
Designated: May 2, 2000

Speaking as the nephew of a B-24 pilot, let me wish you good luck and godspeed on your endeavor ...

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According to the Denver Post for 1 July 2001, Mr. Ray Rossman of the Gunnison National Forest (USDA) was involved with placing the memorial on the 50 th anniversary of the crash. Mr. Rossman's title is "Heritage Resources Manager."

Best route : Wreck is located very close beside Forest Road 742, a paved road that runs down the gorge next to the Taylor River below the Taylor Reservoir Dam. Wreck is perhaps 100' above the road. About 300 yards uphill from the boundary of the Lodgepole NFS campground.

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With 100' wingspan, IIRC, I will be interested to see if the wreck is visible in the satellite pics when he finds it and passes us the coordinates.

It's not. I looked for it for a while. The plane was pretty much obliterated on impact.

After much uphill rock scrambling and climbing, we found the crash site this morning. Pictures to come.

awesome! cant wait to see pics! and i hope that family members of those aviators visit the site this summer and see your tribute. I am sure they would be glad to know that people still care about the ones they lost.

[This message has been edited by gigemhilo (edited 6/25/2013 4:00p).]

Cool. Can you pass us the coordinates?

GPS coords 38 45' 55.8"N 106 39' 15.0"W

GPS decimal 38.76550  106.65417

Please excuse the long wait for pics. I have very intermittent 3G/1X data out here in the woods.

Best way to find it: Go to mile marker 15 on Taylor River Road/FS 742. Park across the road in the fishermen's parking. Go about 25 yards downstream from MM 15 and you will see a stack of rocks in the woods on your left. Above the rocks is a tree with survey tape around it. Follow the route marked with survey tape around trees. You will be climbing uphill about 200 feet on loose soil with some rocks. You will be using both hands and feet as you climb. It is steep.

The trail to the site is visible on Google Maps, but the site is tree-covered.

First view of the site:


Sorry about the orientation:


My son reading the plaque:


The memorial plaque, along with various objects people have left. The most poignant are the various gear and uniform buckles people had found around the crash site.


A look downhill from above the site (please excuse the orientation):


More debris. The large objects are the main landing gear struts.

I guess giving a crappy CD of Jim Morrison poetry to the dead is the ideal way to get rid of it, they can't give it back or can they...?????

I thought that was odd too!

Thanks, reeb88 !

3 friends from A&M and Austin crashed after WW2 and have never been found - 2 in Gulf, one in Alaska.

The Jim Morrison CD makes me want to wretch. Unless it says on the back in a marker that it's given in honor of Jim Morrison's father, who was a U.S. Navy Admiral in WWII.

The Lizard King with his dad on the bridge of the Bonhomme Richard. Dad was at Pearl Harbor and a key figure in the Tonkin Gulf Incident. There is a certain irony in that picture, the day the ship was decommissioned, dad was the keynote speaker, while his son died in Paris.


[This message has been edited by BQ78 (edited 7/10/2013 12:18p).]

BQ78...Interesting Picture.
Any idea what year that might have been taken?

Jan. 1964

My great grandfather was a b26 Martin marauder pilot and was shot down off the coast of Sicily by German me109's.

I have the macr detailing where he went down two miles off the coast and eye witness accounts but to my knowledge nothing has ever washed ashore or been found. His name is listed on the tablet of the missing at the American cemetery in nettuno Italy.

Today being the 70th Anniversary of the crash, my son, my dad and I climbed up to the crash site and left a memorial that my son and I had made, and joined in moment of prayer for the deceased. I will post pictures when I can get near 3G data again.

My dad and I.

Very classy thing for you to do.

Awesome!

Reading this thread prompted me to check out a copy of Steven E. Ambrose's The Wild Blue / The Men & Boys who flew the B-24s Over Germany, which follows the lives of a few dozen men as they volunteer for the Army Air Forces and train to be pilots, co-pilots, bombardiers, navigators, flight engineers, radio operators and gunners on the B-24, and are eventually assigned to the 15th Air Force in Italy. It's an excellent chronicle of lives and events.

The training was hazardous, due in no small part to the B-24 arguably being the most difficult airplane in the American arsenal to fly. Harder to take off, land, or fly than the B-17, according to Ambrose, who characterized it as “sternly unforgiving.” No sudden moves allowed, because response time had to be calculated. The former pilots he interviewed remarked that the aircraft could not be trimmed and constantly had to be “horsed around,” meaning continuous adjustment of the control yoke with the left hand (and arm) and adjustment of the throttles with the right. The old joke was that you could tell a B-24 pilot by the finely developed muscles in his left arm.

During the course of the war, says Ambrose, some 34,946 airmen died in accidents (this would include all aircraft types). During 1943, 830 airmen died in B-24 accidents while training in the U.S.

I beg to differ with Stephen E. Ambrose but "the most difficult airplane in the American arsenal to fly" was the B-26 Marauder.

It was called "The Widow Maker."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder

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It was called "The Widow Maker."

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Among other colorful nicknames, such as the "Baltimore W****" (no visible means of support)

At least the B-26 pilots generally didn't have to fly in close formation at 30,000 feet ...

from the Wiki article:

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After entering service with the U.S. Army, the aircraft received the reputation of a "Widowmaker" due to the early models' high rate of accidents during takeoff and landings. The Marauder had to be flown at exact airspeeds, particularly on final approach and when one engine was out. The 150 mph (241 km/h) speed on short final was intimidating to pilots who were used to much slower speeds, and whenever they slowed down below what the manual stated the aircraft would stall and crash.

The B-26 became a safer aircraft once crews were re-trained and after aerodynamics modifications (increase of wing span and incidence, to give better take off performance, and a larger fin and rudder). After aerodynamic and design changes, the aircraft distinguished itself as "the chief bombardment weapon on the Western Front" according to a United States Army Air Forces dispatch from 1946. The Marauder ended World War II with the lowest loss rate of any USAAF bomber.

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Loss rate over Europe doesn't mean it was easy to fly. I,'ve never heard of the B24 being difficult to fly.

Amazing-

my paternal grandfather was a LT pilot on B-24s out of Foggia Italy for the 15th Air Force in 1943-44.

19th or 15th?

JR_83 said:

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19th or 15th?

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15th

I am pretty positive that my grandfather was in this unit based on a crew member sent me photos of them in training in 1943:

Vulgar Vultures of the 15th Air Force