B-52 Bomber Crash

B-52 BOMBER CRASH OVER LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY
~ In 1971 ~

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News Article:
"38 years ago, B-52 crash claimed nine lives near former Big Rock Point."

B-52 Memorial Plaque

IN MEMORIUM

99TH BOMBARDMENT WING/SAC
WESTOVER AIR FORCE BASE, MASS.
346/348 BOMBARDMENT SQUADRONS
THE FOLLOWING B-52 CREW MEMBERS GAVE THEIR
LIVES ON A TRAINING MISSION OVER LAKE MICHIGAN
JANUARY 7, 1971

LT. COL. WM B. LEMMON
MAJOR GERALD W. BLACK
CAPT. JOHN B. WEAVER, JR.
1ST LT. DOUGLAS BACHMAN

LT. COL. JOHN M. SIMONLY, JR.
MAJOR DONALD F. ROUSSEAU
CAPT. JOEL HIRSCH
1ST LT. DENNIS D. FERGUSON

TECHNICAL SERGEANT JERRY M ACHEY

The B-52 Crash Memorial is located on the Lake Michigan Shore Roadside Park
north of Charlevoix MI on US 31.
At the time of the crash, the Big Rock Point Nuclear Plant was very nearby.
(The nuclear plant has since been dismantled.)

The SAC Air Force Base was in Emmet County, right across the road from Charlevoix County.
The road goes right up the hill next to the gas station-market.

The crash occurred 3 to 5 miles straight north of Big Rock Nuclear Plant in Lake Michigan,
so more in the direction of Charlevoix County, than Emmet County.

23 September 2014 ~ Photo by Karla Howard Buckmaster

~ SONIC BOOMS ~
PERHAPS A FOREWARNING OF THE ULTIMATE EXPLOSION TO COME

31 July 1963 ~ Petoskey News Review

2 August 1963 ~ Petoskey News Review

9 August 1963 ~ Petoskey News Review

13 August 1963 ~ Petoskey News Review

11 January 1967 ~ Petoskey News Review

~ B-52 Bomber Crash ~

8 January 1971 ~ Petoskey News Review

11 January 1971 ~ Petoskey News Review

12 January 1971 ~ Petoskey News Review

14 January 1971 ~ Petoskey News Recview

Click on article below to enlarge for easier viewing...

14 January 1971 ~ Petoskey News Recview

15 January 1971 ~ Petoskey News Review

15 January 1971 ~ Petoskey News Review article continued at right...

15 January 1971 ~ Petoskey News Review article continued from left...

26 July 1971 ~ Petoskey News Review

1978 Detroit Free Article Below: The flight pattern for the Bombing Game over Bay Shore did not stop with the
1971 B-52 Bomber Crash over Little Traverse Bay.

3 December 1978 ~ Detroit Free Press

~ Bay Shore Radar Site Shut in October 1984 ~

3 October 1984 ~ Petoskey News Review article continued below...

3 October 1984 ~ Petoskey News Review article continued from above...

Additional information can be found regarding the Radar Site on the "Bay Shore" web page of
the "Northern Mich~Mash Preserve" web site.

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