Leicester, Massachusetts – August 21, 1948

     On Friday, August 20, 1948, seven military aircraft left Mitchell Field on Long Island, N. Y., bound for the Worcester Airport in Worcester, Massachusetts to take part in an airshow over the weekend.  As one of the aircraft, (An F-61 “Black Widow”), neared Worcester Airport, the pilot, Lt. Col. Vinton E. Broidy, 33, radioed that he was having engine trouble.  A short while later the aircraft crashed and burned on a hill near the airport killing him instantly.     

     Lt. Col. Broidy had been in the service since 1939, and had served with the Air Transport Command in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II.  He’s buried in Arlington National Cemetery. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49220017/vinton-e-broidy

     Sources:

     The Evening Star, (Washington, D. C.) “District-Born Pilot Killed As F-61 Crashes In Massachusetts”, August 22, 1948