What if? Woman who lost father in WWII bomber crash at INL reflects on his life

2 months ago

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Published astatine 4:55 pm, July 24, 2024 | Updated astatine 4:55 pm, July 24, 2024

Photo: All 7 crewmen who died successful nan clang successful 1944. Top near to right: Lt. Robert W. Madsen, Sgt. Louis H. Rinke, and Sgt. Charles W. Eddy. Bottom near to right: Lt. Lonnie L. Keepers, Sgt. George H. Pearce Jr., Lt. Richard R. Pitzner, and Lt. Richard A. Hedges.| Pictures courtesy INL, creation Alex Lemoing, EastIdahoNews.com Video: Roberta Armstrong reflects connected her dad, Lt. Robert W. Madsen

ARCO — Roberta Armstrong has had a bully life but still wonders from clip to clip really it would person been different had her begetter lived.

Lt. Robert W. Madsen of Minnesota died successful a training clang 80 years agone astatine what’s now known arsenic Idaho National Laboratory. It was a training crushed for World War II aviators successful nan early 1940s.

He was 28 years aged erstwhile he died.

Armstrong ne'er met her begetter and grew up proceeding stories astir him from her mother, Dana.

Dana had created 2 scrapbooks of her precocious hubby that are respective decades old.

“She would show maine these stories, and they ever had nan ocular assistance of these scrapbooks that she had kept,” Armstrong said. “After her hubby died, her scheme was to subordinate nan Army Corps. But she discovered she was pregnant, and that was me. My sanction being Roberta is astir apt beautiful obvious. That was my dad’s name, Robert.”

Commemoration event

On June 29, nan U.S. Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office hosted a commemoration arena astatine INL to grant 7 crewmen who died nan nighttime of Jan. 8, 1944.

When Armstrong was invited retired to grant nan unit connected its 80th anniversary, she and her hubby looked astatine each different and said, “We’ve sewage to go!”

They traveled from New Mexico to be nan arena astatine an INL occurrence station. There was a infinitesimal of silence, a position of colors, a inheritance of nan clang and a historiographer who spoke.

Armstrong talked astatine nan event, shared what she knew astir her father, and mentioned her mother had died 10 years ago.

“I’d for illustration to deliberation she is present successful spirit,” she said.

Armstrong brought 1 large scrapbook astir her dada to show group astatine nan event, if they were interested. Inside, location were orders to travel to Pocatello, condolence cards, a missive from nan chaplain successful Pocatello and tons of family pictures.

“He wanted to beryllium a pilot, but I’m not judge what nan communicative is. He either flunked retired of aviator schoolhouse aliases something. So, navigator was thing that he was put into. He graduated from nan navigator schoolhouse down astatine Hondo (Texas) successful November of ’43 and almost instantly was transferred to Idaho for bomber group training,” Armstrong said.

There was moreover a formation log successful nan scrapbook.

“There’s 8 hours successful it. Four hours were successful a trainer, and different 3 hours were successful 2 different versions of a B-24, and past an hr and 5 minutes was successful nan B-24J, which crashed,” Armstrong said.

What happened connected nan nighttime of nan crash

During nan tallness of nan warfare successful 1944, bomber groups and combatant squadrons flying retired of nan Pocatello Army Air Base regularly blasted believe areas connected what was past known arsenic nan Naval Proving Ground westbound of Idaho Falls.

On nan nighttime of nan crash, Madsen was nan navigator connected a B-24J Liberator (#42-73365) arsenic it attempted a bombing run.

According to nan Army’s charismatic report, nan bomber near nan Pocatello Army Air Base, now known arsenic nan Pocatello Municipal Airport, conscionable aft 8 p.m.

Their training was successful mentation for their assumed deployment to support nan Allied effort successful World War II.

Nicholas Holmer, an archeologist astatine INL, said it was acheronian and clear that night. There was a flimsy southwest wind, which is emblematic successful Idaho.

He said location were a bid of bombing and training ranges that were associated pinch nan aerial base.

“Two of them are connected nan INL. They were connected their measurement to 1 of those for a nighttime training run, and thing catastrophic happened,” Holmer said.

The ngo was to driblet believe dummy bombs connected nan Arco High Altitude Bombing Range. This is located connected nan site. The building usability reported seeing nan level astatine 8:50 p.m., and astatine 9:05 p.m., aft nan level made 3 passes astatine 20,000 feet, nan usability reported seeing a flash and proceeding an explosion.

Sheepherders adjacent Middle Butte saw nan level trying to summation altitude earlier going into a spin.

“One of nan tail rudders came disconnected of nan aircraft, and it conscionable ended up plummeting down, and it was truthful violent, it burned instantly, and nary of nan crewmen were capable to escape,” Holmer said.

Although nan origin of nan clang was ne'er determined, aviator correction was not suspected, Holmer told EastIdahoNews.com.

“Historic documents bespeak that nan preflight checks by nan mechanic recovered nan craft to beryllium sound and fresh for flight. Standard aesculapian checks of nan unit besides recovered them to beryllium good rested, successful bully wellness and successful bully spirits,” Holmer said.

A clang squad from nan aerial guidelines removed nan larger pieces of wreckage.

“I think, ultimately, nan astir important point is conscionable remembering nan sacrifice of these group and anyone who has ever fixed to their country,” Holmer said.

Discovering nan crash

Marc McDonald is simply a Pocatello historiographer pinch Project Remembrance. The statement began astir 20 years agone arsenic a measurement to merge pilots, archeologists, historians and outdoorsmen who shared an liking successful aviation archeology.

McDonald learned nan clang tract had remained undisturbed and forgotten for 70 years.

In January 2014, he contacted archeologists astatine INL and told them he thought location mightiness beryllium a World War II airplane clang tract there. A squad was assembled successful nan spring, and McDonald sewage a transcript of nan mishap report.

“The Air Force mishap study said it was 5 miles from wherever we really recovered it. So that was a situation backmost then. Record-keeping wasn’t good. We utilized photos from nan mishap report, which were really bad … photocopies and besides aged aerial photos that were taken successful nan ’50s,” McDonald said.

“We benignant of matched up photos pinch nan terrain and picked 3 apt spots and came retired present and checked them out. On nan 3rd try, we recovered it,” he continued.

There were still pieces near behind.

“They near a batch of mini pieces lying astir and immoderate individual effects too,” McDonald said.

A 1935 precocious schoolhouse people ringing pinch initials was recovered astatine nan clang site. McDonald tried to fig retired who it belonged to.

“In 2014, retired of nan blue, I received an email from Marc. He was telling maine they had been moving astatine this tract and they had recovered this people ringing and could I thief him place it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t,” Armstrong had said.

It was later discovered that it was connected to a unit personnel named Sgt. George H. Pearce Jr. The ringing was returned to Pearce’s girl Nancy Gavalis of Bristol, New Hampshire. She visited nan clang tract respective years ago. Read a erstwhile INL article astir it here.

McDonald sewage a granite marker made and placed connected nan tract to grant nan unit members.

He told EastIdahoNews.com he was gladsome to link pinch nan descendants of nan clang victims and was happy to person met Armstrong successful personification recently.

“We are present coming to retrieve history, to sphere it, and possibly to study from it,” McDonald said astatine nan commemoration event. “We’re present to grant 7 bully men whose lives were trim short successful nan work of their country.”

The memories of her father

Armstrong had ne'er been to nan clang tract retired connected nan Idaho sage desert. She traveled to it nan time earlier nan commemoration event. She saw nan granite marker pinch nan pursuing names inscribed connected it:

Lt. Richard A. Hedges
Lt. Lonnie L. Keepers
Lt. Robert W. Madsen
Lt. Richard R. Pitzner
Sgt. Louis H. Rinke
Sgt. Charles W. Eddy
Sgt. George H. Pearce Jr.

For Armstrong, seeing nan area was much acquisition and informative alternatively than emotional. She believes her mother would person had a different guidance than she did.

“I deliberation they were very profoundly successful love, and she missed him … I think, each of her life, moreover though she remarried. In fact, erstwhile she died, she wanted to beryllium buried adjacent to him. So they’re buried successful a cemetery successful Minnesota,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong described what she saw.

“The tract is pristine. The bluish solid is still blue, and nan orangish solid is still orange,” she said. “It was benignant of weird to deliberation that a portion of my dad’s azygous aliases thing mightiness still beryllium connected that site.”

Learning astir her dada done history, scrapbooks, nan clang tract and her mother’s stories, Armstrong said she admires him.

“(He) came crossed arsenic a feline who was going to college, and he decided that he needed to serve,” she said.

Seeing what she saw astatine INL has fixed her immoderate closure because she now understands much astir really nan clang happened and really her begetter died. But she still asks nan question: what if?

“I mean, we each return a batch of roads successful our life. It benignant of is what it is. I for illustration wherever we’re at, but I still would person liked to person known him,” Armstrong said.