Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
GRETCHEN LOESER, of Iola, Wis., applies stain to a wooden post on Saturday that holds a plaque at the B-47 Crash Site memorial.
By TOM STANKARD
Hurley - Over 50 years ago, a B-47 Stratojet disappeared from radar during a low-level training mission approximately 10 miles south of Hurley.
Three months later, another aircraft disappeared near the same area, a densely wooded place about 3 miles east of U.S. 51. The planes were part of the Air Force's 40th Bombardment Wing from Forbes Air Force Base in Topeka, Kan.
The missions took place because the area's terrain is similar to locations that were anticipated bombing sites during the Korean War.
Curt Myers, of Hurley, retired from the service about four years ago, after being in the U.S. Army, the Army Reserves and the National Guard over a span of 35 years.
The crash site is not far from the intersection of trails 13 and 13c near Island Lake, Myers said.
In 2004, Greg Landretti, of Black Earth, Wis., and Bruce Jackson, of Bessemer, Mich., built a B-47 model and placed it at the crash site.
Myers said he wanted to continue to fix up the memorial and formed a B-47 Crash Site Preservation Committee.
Over time, the committee cleared a trail leading to the memorial and assembled a wooden pergola. They put a seat from one of the planes in front of the pergola and placed the model plane on it. They also built a two-foot high rock wall in front of structure. There is debris from the planes scattered around the pergola.
Next to the pergola, there are several plaques recapping the crash and identifying the servicemen involved. There is an American flag, a POW/MIA flag and a Wisconsin state flag waving on three flag poles next to benches across from the pergola.
On June 28, 2014, about 100 people visited the memorial for a ribbon cutting ceremony. Recently, shrubs were planted behind the flag poles.
Myers said the committee is happy to maintain the memorial and make improvements.
He said the committee is working on a five-year plan for the memorial to attract more people. On Saturday, the committee worked hard and finished constructing a picnic shelter near the memorial.
The committee plans to lay blacktop for flooring of the shelter and add more benches, a grill and a cement picnic table.
Myers said he hopes the shelter's additions will be completed by Memorial Day. The committee also has plans for bathrooms to be constructed across from the shelter.
Myers said the memorial "allows us to do something good for these guys and their families."
"At the same time, it gives our community a little something for people to come up here to," he said.
