Mayday Over Wichita (21 page)

Why it took nearly half a century to fully acknowledge the Raggy 42 disaster, why most remained idle while bitterness festered, why hardly any Kansans (in truth, hardly any Wichitans) have knowledge of its occurrence and why so many did so little for so long is a mystery. The seven men serving their nation that morning, and the twenty-three civilians on the ground, deserved more—their lives no less important than any other.

Perhaps, then, a combination of its location in northeast Wichita, declining race relations, civil unrest, social turmoil, apathy, disinterest, resentment, discord, separatism and a multitude of defining events simultaneously occurring in the compact and strife-filled 1960s is to blame. Whatever the reason, the Piatt Street plane crash was quickly and shamefully forgotten.

But thankfully, that time has passed. The city has since grown, and race relations have bettered from their once intolerable state. Laws were enacted to expedite settlements and aid victims of such calamities. Wichita's disaster plan worked and was further enhanced. New families moved into new homes constructed on Piatt Street, and children now frolic on a beautiful playground, where green grass covers the scar of what was once a horrible scene. Off in the distance, a memorial watches over them, ensuring that those who were lost and those who suffered privately for far too long are no longer hidden.

The giants of that era have ceased to roam the earth. They are extinct. The axioms they lived by and left behind are not. As they discovered, it is only by understanding and confronting an unsettled past, no matter how traumatic or ugly it might be, that mankind can take hold of the peaceful present. Clyde G. Stevens, now in his fifties, is headed toward that peaceful present. Clyde was six years old when his father, Dewy Stevens, perished inside of 2037 North Piatt. His father gone and his mother abusive, Clyde was placed in a boys' home for abused and neglected children in Los Angeles, California. He grew up bitter, angry and confused, never knowing who his father was; he bounced in and out of jail as an adult, abused drugs and alcohol, attempted suicide, but eventually—through God's grace, as he declares—received his life back.
⁴²⁰

In 2013, forty-eight years later, Clyde returned to the boys' home and learned for the first time how his father died. He had never heard of any Piatt Street crash. No one ever told him. He was not alone.

Without warning and without question, a montage of pain and intertwining fates fixed together by a defining moment of time on January 16, 1965, bequeathed many with grief. But Clyde now believes that the choice to learn from it and move forward or to remain captive is in his hands. He is no longer hidden by giant shadows or ominous clouds; his existence is no longer defined by tragedy. Faced with the vicissitudes of life, Clyde—among others—has gleaned from the value of forgiveness. The skies, for the first time in his life, are clear. And in Wichita, the forecast, too, is sunnier.

NOTES

1
. Judith Herman,
Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror
(New York: Basic Books, 1992), 1.

C
HAPTER
1

2
. George C. Herring,
America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950–1975
, 4
^th
ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002), 142.

3
. Tonkin Gulf Resolution, Public Law 88-408, 88
^th
Congress, August 7, 1964. General Records of the United States Government. Record Group 11. National Archives.

4
. Steve Larsen,
Heritage and Legacy: A Brief History of the 22
^d
Air Refueling Wing and McConnell Air Force Base
(Office of History 22
^d
Air Refueling Wing, 2006), 16.

5
. Steven L. McFarland,
A Concise History of the U.S. Air Force
, Air Force History and Museums Programs (Fort Belvoir, VA: Defense Technical Information Center, 1997), 59–61.

6
. Larsen,
Heritage and Legacy
, 4.

7
. James L. Crowder, Oklahoma Historical Society, Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base,
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CL017.html
(accessed January 21, 2012).

8
. “SAC Operations Order 83-65 (Lucky Number),” September 11, 1964,
Air Force Report of Collateral Investigation Board
, KC-135 A 57-1442, January 16, 1965 (Wichita, Kansas), Vol. II, Appendix B, quoted in Cornelius P. Cotter's
Jet Tanker Crash: Urban Response to Military Disaster
(Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1968), 2.

9
.
Wichita Eagle
, “Death Toll Climbs to 30 in Jet Tanker Crash in City,” January 18, 1965, 1; Cotter,
Jet Tanker Crash
, 155.

10
. Jeanine Widseth, interview with author, January 26, 2013.

11
. Jon Roe, “Report Reveals Repeated Delays of KC-135 Flight,”
Wichita Beacon
, October 3, 1965.

12
. Widseth interview.

13
. Ibid.

14
. Ibid.

15
. Ibid.

16
. Ibid.

17
. Letter from James K. Musshel to Mr. and Mrs. Henri J. Kenenski, January 18, 1965.

18
. Letter written by Daniel E. Kenenski, May 16, 1964.

19
. Irene Hubar (Kenenski), telephone interview with author, January 16, 2013.

20
.
Wichita Eagle and Beacon
, “Miami Youth Among Crewmen Killed in Crash,” January 17, 1965.

21
.
Wichita Beacon
, January 21, 1965.

22
. Roe, “Report Reveals,”
Wichita Beacon
, October 3, 1965.

C
HAPTER
2

23
. Air Force Report, II, 7, 120, Testimony of Captain Sidney S. Buswell, tanker scheduler, 70
^th
Bomb Wing, quoted in Cotter,
Jet Tanker Crash
, 5.

24
. Ibid.

25
. Steve Sells, “KC-135A Jet Has Record of Reliability,”
Wichita Beacon
, January 17, 1965.

26
.
Wichita Eagle and Beacon
, January 17, 1965.

27
.
Eagle
, “Air Force Delve for Cause of Crash,” January 19, 1965.

28
. Air Force Report, II, 7, 84–87, Testimony of Captain Sidney S. Buswell, tanker scheduler, 70
^th
Bomb Wing, quoted in Cotter,
Jet Tanker Crash
, 3; Widseth interview.

29
.
Wichita Eagle
, January 13, 1965.

30
. Ibid., January 14, 1965.

31
. Ibid.

32
. USAF Technical Sergeant Brandon Blodgett, interview with author, November 21, 2012.

33
. Air Force Report, II, 7, Testimony of Chief Master Sergeant R.H. Grant, the noncommissioned officer in charge, Tanker Flight Line Section, 70
^th
Organizational Maintenance Squadron, Clinton-Sherman AFB, Oklahoma, quoted in Cotter,
Jet Tanker Crash
, 3.

34
. Cotter,
Jet Tanker Crash
, 5.

35
. Second Air Force Accident/Incident Report, “History of Flight 57-1442,” 1965, 1; “Maintenance Group Report,” 9.

36
. Ibid., “Transcript of Tape Between McConnell Tower and Aircraft, Raggy 42.”

37
. Martin Van Creveld,
The Age of Air Power
(New York: Public Affairs, 2011). See 191–213 for development of the jet engine in the U.S. Air Force.

38
. National Research Council, Committee on Analysis of Air Force Engine Efficiency Improvement Options for Large, Non-fighter Aircraft, National Research Council,
Improving the Efficiency of Engines for Large Non-fighter Aircraft
(Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2007), 50.

39
. Sells, “KC-135A.”

40
. Air Force Report, I, 133A-34, quoted in Cotter,
Jet Tanker Crash
, 5.

41
. Ibid., 5.

42
. Second Air Force Accident/Incident Investigation Report, “Crash Time Information: KC-135 (Raggy-42),” January 28, 1965 (emphasis added).

C
HAPTER
3

43
. Ed Knowles, “Eye Witnesses Relate Tragic Story,”
Topeka Capital Journal
, January 17, 1965. Ms. Williams lived diagonally across the intersection of 20
^th
and Piatt and two houses down from where the plane fell.

44
. Bill Hirschman, “Day Will Not Die for Those Who Watched in Horror,”
Eagle
, January 16, 1985.

45
. Ibid.

46
. Sonya House, interview with author, November 29, 2012.

47
. Tim Kidd, “Witnesses Recall It as a Fiery Hell,”
Wichita Beacon
, January 16, 1975.

48
. Larry McDonough, telephone interview with author, January 18, 2013.

49
. Ibid.

50
. Earl Tanner, telephone interview with author, March 4, 2013.

51
. Connie Close, “Witnesses Tell Versions of Tragedy,”
Wichita Eagle
, January 17, 1965.

52
. Knowles, “Eye Witnesses.”

53
. Victor Daniels, interview with author, November 24, 2012.

54
. Knowles, “Eye Witnesses.”

55
.
Wichita Sunday Eagle and Beacon
, January 17, 1965; Kathy Sipult, “After 5 Years, Cold Day of Fiery Death Is Vivid,”
Wichita Eagle
, January 16, 1970.

56
.
Wichita Eagle
, January 15, 1995.

57
. Tim Brazil, “Whole Ground on Fire,”
Wichita Eagle and Beacon
, January 17, 1965.

58
. Jim Lapham, “Escape Is Hopeless,”
Kansas City Star
, January 17, 1965.

59
. Cotter,
Jet Tanker Crash
, 103.

60
. Ibid., 19.

61
. Brazil, “Whole Ground on Fire,”
Wichita Eagle and Beacon
, January 17, 1965.

62
.
Wichita Eagle
, “Remember,” January 22, 1996.

C
HAPTER
4

63
. Ellen Anderson, “Faith, Their Victory,” 1965. Mrs. Anderson was a survivor of the crash and sent this poem to the families of the crewmen. It was provided to the author by Irene Hubar.

64
.
Wichita Eagle and Beacon
, “Time Can't Erase Bad Memories,” January 16, 1985.

65
.
Wichita Beacon
, February 15, 1965.

66
.
Wichita Eagle
, January 15, 1995; Bob Linder, “Empty Soap Box Spared Her Life”
Wichita Eagle
, January 16, 1967.

67
. Clarence William Walker, interview, March 1969, Shriver Papers.

68
. Frank H. Carpenter and Leonard H. Wesley Jr., “Community Response to Tragedy: A Case Study of the Air Crash of January 16, 1965 in Wichita, Kansas,” Department of Political Science, Wichita State University, May 21, 1965, University of Delaware, Disaster Research Center Library, 8.

69
. Ibid.

70
.
Wichita Beacon
, February 15, 1965.

71
. Ibid., January 16, 1985; Brazil, “Whole Ground on Fire.”

72
.
Wichita Eagle
, January 15, 1995.

73
.
Wichita Eagle and Beacon
, “Dash Through Blazing Grass to Escape Death,” January 18, 1965.

74
. John Husar, “Rush of Terror Greets Reporter,”
Wichita Eagle and Beacon
, January 17, 1965.

75
. Connie Close, “Minister at Crash Tells of Child Burning to Death,”
Wichita Eagle
, January 18, 1965.

76
.
Wichita Beacon
, February 15, 1965.

77
.
Wichita Eagle and Beacon
, “Time Can't Erase Bad Memories,” January 16, 1985.

78
. Ibid.

79
.
Wichita Eagle and Beacon
, January 24, 1965.

80
.
Wichita Beacon
, February 15, 1965.

81
. House interview.

82
. Ibid.

83
.
Wichita Eagle
, “Dash Through Blazing Grass To Escape Death,”January 17, 1965.

84
.
Wichita Beacon
, January 16, 1985.

85
. Wichita Fire Department Official Report, January 16, 1965, Kansas Firefighters' Museum Archives.

86
.
Wichita Beacon
, February 15, 1965.

C
HAPTER
5

87
. Fire Chief Tom McGaughey, “Fire from the Sky Over Wichita,” Disaster Research Center Library, University of Delaware, 1.

88
. Video footage by
KAKE News
, January 16, 1965, tape #FO907, box #F050, Special Collections, Ablah Library, Wichita State University;
Capital Journal
, January 17, 1965.

89
. Retired Deputy Fire Chief Earl Tanner, telephone interview with author, March 7, 2013.

90
. Dan Garrity and Gary Lester, “Depression Made Firemen of McGaughey,”
Wichita Eagle
, November 22, 1968.

91
. Cotter,
Jet Tanker Crash
, 14.

92
. McGaughey, “Fire from the Sky,” 1.

93
. House interview.

94
. McGaughey, “Fire from the Sky,” 3.

95
. Ibid., 4.

96
. Ibid., 5. There is a one minute discrepancy here with the time of 9:30 a.m. and 9:31 a.m. Although the official WFD report notes the crash time at 9:30 a.m., the air force and the media reported 9:31 a.m. as the official crash time of Raggy 42.

97
. Ibid., 4.

98
. Tanner interview.

99
. McGaughey, “Fire from the Sky,” 4.

100
. Ibid., 3–4.

101
. Cotter,
Jet Tanker Crash
, 27–28.