– Buzz One Four “Remembrance Ceremony”

I am just back from a wonderful event hosted by the Grantsville Community Museum that honored the 50th anniversary of the crash.  Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this story is the overwhelming energy that people living in the vicinity of the crash put into the rescue and recovery efforts.  While the Air Force couldn’t seem to get out of its own way, the civilians of the area braved the frigid temperatures and knee-high snow banks to search the woods for survivors and help in any way they could.  50 years after the crash, the ordeal is still an important part of the local history, so to honor both the crew members on the plane AND the hundreds of individuals who volunteered to help, several members of the community organized this wonderful event.

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People shared stories and memories of the fateful night that shook the community, and several family members of the other crew members journeyed to the event.

John Josseyln is an amateur historian who created a great website honoring the memory of flight Buzz One Four who also found and recovered what is most certainly the hatch from the B-52 which my grandfather ejected from.  It had been sitting in the forest near the crash-site for over 50 years until John and a group of his buddies pulled it out of the dense woods.  John brought the hatch the 50th anniversary event, which made for a great family photo:

Buzz One Four
from left to right: Tom McCormick Jr, Patricia McCormick, Ben McCormick, John Josselyn, Matt McCormick, Michael McCormick, Jeanne McCormick.

The Cumberland Times-News had a nice article about the event that can be read here.  I was also talked with Jim Vay for WFRB Radio, that interview can be heard here:

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