In God We Trust
KWE Note: The Veterans Administration's official dates for veterans to receive Korean War time-frame benefits is June 27, 1950 to January 31, 1955. Hence this page of 1955 airplane crashes.
On this date a B-47E (#52-029) collided with B-47 (#51-7006) over Lake Charles, Louisiana during a routine refueling training flight. It crashed into the Gulf of Mexico about 30 miles south of Cameron, Louisiana. B-47 #51-7006 made it back to base safely, but one of the three crew members bailed out and was not found.
Fatalities #52-029:
Crump, Capt. David O. (co-pilot) - He was survived by his wife Marcella, and six children all under the age of eight: David, Phillip, Raymond, Hilda, Eilleen, and Dennis. He was lost at sea. His wife Marcella became a well-known photographer who documented Ajijic life in Mexico.
Eggleston, 1Lt. Rodney Paul (observer) - Lieutenant Eggleston was born in 1928 and was a 1946 graduate of Levelland High School. He entered the Air Force in August of 1950 in his senior year while attending Texas Tech. His wife was Nancy and he was a father. He was lost at sea.
Pierson, Maj. Jean S. (aircraft commander) - From Danville, Indiana, he was lost at sea.
Fatality #51-7006:
Gemery, 1Lt. Matthew (observer) - Lieutenant Gemery was born in 1917. He and his wife Mary D. Gemery (1915-1989) had a daughter, Barbara Sue Gemery (1949-2005).
Returning #51-7006 crew:
Carroll, Maj. Sterling T. (aircraft commander), Port Arthur, Texas
Shiver, Capt. Morris E. (co-pilot), Albany, Georgia
On this date a Boeing B-47 Stratojet crashed and exploded in a wheat field in north central Oklahoma, killing all three crewmen aboard. The plane, from McConnell Air Force Base, Wichita, Kansas, disintegrated into hundreds of pieces after the explosion in a farm area near the Kansas border.
Fatalities:
Andrew, Capt. Wayne Ewing (aircraft commander), Yellow Springs, Ohio - Captain Andrew was born January 21, 1920, in Montgomery County, Ohio, the son of John Howard Andrew (1878-1976) and Alma Blanche Darst Andrew (1886-1972). He was married to Doreline Hamra (1913-1977). His siblings were Mildred Lucille Andrew Unglesby (1918–2020), Helen Elise Andrew Ballard (1921–1988), Francis Darst Andrew (1922–2018), and Ruth Agnes Andrew Sliphorst (1926–2005). He served in the Ohio National Guard in 1939-1940, and enlisted August 19, 1942. He is buried in Bristow Cemetery, Bristow, Oklahoma.
Berry, Capt. William C. (observer), Dayton, Ohio - Captain Berry was born March 17, 1919 in Berea, Kentucky. Captain Berry and his wife Jeanne Marian (1922-2011), had four children. They are buried in Dayton Memorial Park Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.
Cook, 1Lt. Joseph Charles (co-pilot), Sunland, California. - Lieutenant Cook was born December 22, 1924, in Chicago, Illinois. He marriedAlma LaVerne "Mickie" Clark Cook (1928-1993) and they had a son, Charles Terry Cook (1953-2016).
Lockheed TV-2 #136880 crashed ten miles northeast of Bishop Muni Airport, Texas. There were two occupants and one fatality.
Fontenot, Ens. Robert Dale "Bob" (fatality) - Ltjg. Fontenot was born March 09, 1930, the son of Sidney Joseph Fontenot (1905-1963) and Mary Alice Burras (later Riehl) (1910-2003). He was married to JoAnne Maria Tartarella (later Frey) (1931-1980), and they were parents of a daughter, Lisa Michele Fontenot. His siblings were Mrs. Burton (Mary Edith Fontenot) Ziegler (1928-2008) and Julie Fontenot Landry. Bob Fontenot is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Crowley, Louisiana. He was a 1953 graduate of the US Naval Academy.
Signorelli, Martin Joseph (injured) - He was the instructor on the fatal flight, and he parachuted to safety. On December 15, 1959 he was a test pilot for Republic when he trashed into the Atlantic Ocean on a training mission, losing his life.
The US Navy's Super Constellation #131639 departed Stephenville (Canada) on a flight to Patuxent River NAS (NHK). While over Prince Edward Island the crew reported that two engines were out. A Boeing B-29 Superfortress escorted the plane back towards Stephenville, but lost visual contact with the plane. It crashed into the sea and all 13 men onboard were lost. The Korean War Educator is still searching for the names of other crew members.
Fatalities:
Coram, John Robert - He was born November 20, 1927, in Columbus, Ohio, a son of Robert Baker Coram and Carrie Ernestine Dungan Coram. He married Donna Jean Fleming in Franklin, Ohio, on August 04, 1950. She was born July 12, 1929 in Thurston, Ohio. She later married Robert R. Young. She died September 01, 2010 in Springboro, Ohio and is buried in Forest Cemetery, Circleville, Ohio. John Robert Coram had a brother Robert L. Coram (1931-1996) and a sister Mary Ellen (born 1933).
Egan, John L. - He was born July 02, 1918, in Everett, Massachusetts, a son of David Egan (1895-1983) and Mary Theresa Scannell Egan (1893-1971). He was the brother of David Joseph Egan (1921-1986) and the father of John L. "Johnnie" Egan, a US Air Force veteran (1943-2018).
Fulmer, Leu Relle Jr. - Born July 15, 1923, in Little Rock, Arkansas, he was the son of Leu Relle Fulmer Sr. He was married to Marion Ruth Jackson. He was the recipient of a Silver Star in World War II and was thenrecalled to the Navy in 1952. In 1950 he graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.