Plane Crash

March 12, 1943

Grant County, Arkansas

34.22.801 N  092.26.401 W

At this place these nine U.S. Army fliers from Smokey Hill Army Air Fields, Salina, Kansas while in the performance of duty to their country, went down with their flying fortress and were killed at 4 p.m. March 12, 1943.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we shall remember them.

George H. Davis
2nd Lt.
Dubuque, Iowa
Pilot

Robert V. Turchetto
Nutley, New Jersey
Co-pilot

Peter K. Ikanovich
Bisbee, Arizona
T/Sgt.

Arthur N. Potter
Sutton, Mass.
S/Sgt.

Philip E. Niewolak
Dunkirk, New york
2nd Lt.
Bombdr.

Leo E. Dolan
St. Louis, Missouri,
Nav.
T/Sgt.

Dewitt H. Tyler
Porterville, California
S/sgt.

David E. Secorski
Detroit, Michigan
S/Sgt.

Kenneth D. Cain
Hobbs, New Mexico
S/Sgt.

March 13, 1943

Arkansas Gazette:
Several Dead in Plane Fall Near Sheridan

Wreckage Burns Fiercely After Crash

Sheridan, March 12, - A heavy United State army bomber fell nine miles
north of Sheridan and two miles from Highway 35 (Sheridan - Benton)
shortly after 5 p.m.
Unofficial reports were that the plane carried a crew of 11. Spectators
said they could count four bodies in the burning wreckage. It was
believed possible that some of the members of the crew might have
parachuted to safety.

The big ship was seen ablaze before the crash. Residents of the vicinity
told Sheriff W.B. Paxton that they were attracted by several explosions,
then saw the blazing plane falling. It came to earth on an unpaved
country road. It still was blazing late tonight. A loud explosion was
heard immediately after the plane crashed.

Board of Officers from Adams Field to Scene

Capt. EP. Asmus of Adams Field Little Rock, and other officers composing
a board of inquiry arrived about an hour after the crash. A dozen
soldiers from Adams' Field were posted around the wreckage to keep
spectators away. Additional soldiers were called from Little Rock later
in the night.

Rain had been falling all day and it was pitch dark when the plane fell.
However, the blazing wreckage lighted up the area for a considerable
distance.

No efforts have been made to remove the bodies from the plane late
tonight because of the extreme heat. It was said that the fire may not
be extinguished until after midnight.

Army officers declined to reveal the take-off point of the ship, but said
that it came from "a northern field," and was en route to a field in
Florida.

Several hundred persons had reached the scene before the army officers
arrived and posted a guard.

If any of those aboard the airplane parachuted from the blazing plane, it
was said they probably would not be found before morning, because of the
darkness.

At this place these nine U.S. Army fliers from Smokey Hill Army Air Fields, Salina, Kansas while in the performance of duty to their country, went down with their flying fortress and were killed at 4 p.m. March 12, 1943.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we shall remember them.