http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=228249
It just goes to show that with all the recent activity sparked by myself and Mr Duane Crawford,
a local Unionville historian whom I have contacted and am in correspondence with,
that CO11 has been resurrected from the dusty archives of history and is finally
starting to receive the recognition that is due. Hopefully more will follow on this
as the months go by as I think (finally) we have the ball rolling for a memorial.
There is a push at present for one to be erected by the Putnam County
Historical Society. Mr Duane Crawford, local historian, has already donated
money toward this memorial at a recent meeting of the historical society. A
very noble gesture to this not so forgotten (now) tragedy.
4 comments:
The Putnam County Historical Society and Museum in Unionville, Missouri, has agreed to pursue efforts to establish a Flight 11 memorial in Putnam County. A committee will be formed in the near future to determine the specific site and design.
Efforts by the Museum are already underway to raise funds. Anyone wishing to contribute should make checks payable to the Putnam County Historical Society Flight 11 Fund and mail to PC Historical Society, Box 152, Unionville, MO 63565. For questions you can call me, Duane Crawford, at (660) 947-2387 or e-mail me at Crawford@nemr.net. You may also verify these efforts by contacting our newspaper, the Unionville Republican at (660)-947-2222.
Since my last comment on this blog, the daughter of the pilot and the daughter of a passenger have contacted me. I sincerely hope that others will come forward. The family of Maurice Hamilton and I frequently communicate.
For those who do not know, W. Mark Felt was the special FBI agent who investigated the Flight 11 tragedy. He revealed in 2005 that he was Deep Throat, the secret source who told Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward what happened during the Watergate scandal. He died on December 18, 2008.
For any family members of those passengers and crew members who perished in the Flight 11 crash, I encourage you to contact me. My goal is to unite as many as possible. And I will make myself available to any of them who want to visit here.
Duane Crawford said…
This is an updated comment about Flight 11. In my previous blog entries, I somehow failed to mention the Flight 11 display that our Putnam County Historical Society started after I wrote the story and the Hamilton family’s visit. That was just after 9/11.
Because of the interest and caring of the local public, a good number of conscientious citizens have contributed much time to the display. It continues to grow! Mick Mitchell, a 1962 graduate of our local high school, has devoted countless hours to the display. He now lives in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and, like many of us, is emotionally involved in preserving the memories of the passengers and crew members by seeing a memorial built.
I am now in contact with Tina (Brand) Nolan, the daughter of Marcus Brand who was a passenger on the flight. From Kansas City, Mo, Marcus was 27-years-old.
In addition to Fredianne Gray, Tina Nolan and the Hamilton family, both the museum and I continue to receive comments about the crash from citizens who use the Internet, read the newspaper or telephone. Maribeth DeHaven, the treasurer of the museum, and I are filing the comments and will make them part of the Flight 11 display.
Since I write for the Daily Iowegian, a Centerville, Iowa, newspaper, I’ve been asked to write an article for their annual Community Focus addition. I intend to make my story about the renewed interest in building a memorial here. I will mention the contacts I’ve made with Andrew Russell, the aviation enthusiast from New Zealand, who has helped tremendously to ignite an interest in the tragedy. Mention will also be made of family contacts.
I do thank everyone who continues to help in keeping the memories alive.
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As a local writer and historian who lives a short 5 miles from where Flight 11 went down on May 22, 1962, I continue to establish contact with the families and friends of the 45 passengers and crew that unfortunately perished on that fateful day.
My name is Duane Crawford and my e-mail address is Crawford@nemr.net. Since November of 2008, I have indeed heard the stories of a good number of the families and friends who still mourn the loss of loved ones. As a two tour Vietnam War veteran who saw enough pain and suffering on the killing fields of that godforsaken land, my heart goes out to the families and friends who could never live without the sorrowful memories of that crash.
Yes, several of us are diligently trying to have a memorial built to remember those 45 passengers and crew who did not deserve to die. It is a process that will continue. In recent months, I have learned much more about the crash. Enough, in fact, to probably write a book rather than a lengthy six-part series.
My contacts with at least two families indicate that I may eventually write stories about their loved ones on Flight 11,as I did with the Maurice Hamilton family. Each victim had a biography and a future, but the selfish and degenerated nature of Thomas G. Doty prevented them from fulfilling their dreams. I want those innocent victims to be more than a footnote in history. A story about them is the very least I can do.
Yes, I continue to visit the crash site. After 47 years it hasn’t changed much. From that ridge line where the fuselage came to rest, one can see the northern cove of beautiful Lake Thunderhead that was built in the late 1960s and is now a housing development. The place is quiet and serene.
Every time I go there I face to the northeast, because that was the flight path of Flight 11. Though I did not know them personally, I can visualize the faces of those men and women on the plane. And because I’m now in contact with families and friends, I know how much they are still missed.
I hope you all stay in contact with me and, if you aren’t, please send me an e-mail. For every family member, I will send three stories I wrote about Flight 11 during the summer of 2001.
What a fantastic blog for people who love aviation!!! Congratulations!!!
Please visit a portuguese blog which shows aerial pictures from Portugal taken during my flights:
Third Dimension - Aerial Photography from Portugal
Thanks
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