Military Monday - Plane Crash!

Capt. Calvin Franklin Kemp, born 30 Oct 1931, died 19 Apr 1964, Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio.  There were several different versions of the military plane crashed that killed Calvin & his fellow servicemen.  Calvin was a third cousin once removed from my husband Mark.

I had found his death certificate (#024679 Wilmington Co., Ohio) which indicated that Calvin died in the crash of a military aircraft in a field about 6 miles NE of Wilmington, Ohio.  Usually a plane crash means there is a news story somewhere.  So I went on the hunt and promptly found the one above. 

According to his death certificate, his injuries were multiple and apparently extreme.  He lived about 4 hours from the time of the crash until his death.   The informant on his death certificate was the Air Force Base Mortuary officer, D. L. Barse.  Despite the fact that Calvin is shown as missing in the listing of deceased above, in the article below it does state that he survived but died during the night.

Below is a transcription of the above article.

                       AF Probes Fatal Collision in Ohio; Landing Suspect
 Wilmington, O. (AP) - Air Force officers were still trying to determine yesterday why two C119 "flying boxcars" crashed Saturday night, killing 17 men.
  A spokesman at the Clinton County Air Force Base said it appeared that the two planes might have collided while on their approach to the air field.
  A commission from the Tactical Air Command headquarters at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia flew in yesterday to begin an immediate investigation. 
   The crash occurred shortly before 9 pm on flat farmland about five miles north of here.  Both planes were based at the Clinton County field here.
   Two survivors from among the 19 men on board the planes were reported in "fairly satisfactory" condition. 
   Originally, three survived the fiery crash, but one of those died during the night at Clinton Memorial Hospital here.
   The planes had been on a regular weekend paratroop training mission.  Nine of the men, all paratroopers, were members of the Second Special Service Group of First Special Forces, 20th Army Corps, From Ft. Hayes, Columbus.
   Others on the plane were crew members attached to the 907th Troop Carrier Group, 302nd Troop Carrier Wing, at Clinton.  Nine were Air Force Reservists and one was in the regular Air Force, assigned to the Ninth Air Force and based at Shaw Air Force base in South Carolina.
   Each plane carried a five man crew.  Four paratroopers were in one C119 and five in the other. 
   One survivor reportedly was a paratrooper who was able to get his parachute open in time.
   One plane crashed only a few hundred yards from the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Hook, who were playing cards with Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bennett of Springfield.
    Hook said they heard an explosion.  He and Bennett raced to the scene in an effort to lend aid.
    "They were lying all over with their parachutes partly open," Bennette said of the victims.
   Some of the service men were burned inside the wreckage of one plane.  The other did not catch fire.

 **Cleveland Plain Dealer, 20 APR 1964, Pg. 6