Quitman County Democrat
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Front Page
Monument dedication services April 3 in Kansas for eleven airmen killed in 1943 plane crash
A monument honoring 11 flyers, including a young Quitman Countain, killed in a 1943 crash of a B-24 four-motored bomber in a field in Kansas will be dedicated in ceremonies April 3 outside Osborne, Kansas where the crash occurred.
A memorial service for Staff Sgt. Bobby Sorrels Sanford of Marks and the 10 other airmen from around the country was held in Osborne in October 2003. The monument to be dedicated this April will be placed in the field where the cross-country training flight ended in tragedy so many years ago.
At a meal and get-together following the dedication, at least one member from each serviceman’s family will be asked to speak.
A number of Mississippians, as well as out of state members of the Sanford family, plan to attend.
The monument itself is being created by Rich Linton of Stambach Monument Works in Osborne. According to Mr. Rothenberger, it will be a modest yet stately memorial standing four feet high and six feet wide. The stone will be a centerpiece of rare green granite that just arrived all the way from China on March 9, with a border of light gray granite.
The green granite will feature a brief synopsis of the events of the night of 22 September 1943 and will also list the names of the eleven Army Air Force servicemen who lost their lives.
The top of the gray granite border will feature an engraved B-24 bomber. The left and right bordering gray granite will feature the 1943 era emblems of the U.S. Army, the 8th Army Air Force, the 34th Bomb Group, and the 391st Bombing Squadron.
Copied from The Quitman County Democrat, Thursday, March 18, 2004
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