Pease Air Force Base – November 5, 1964

Pease Air Force Base – November 5, 1964

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

     On November 5, 1964, five U.S. Air Force KC-97 tanker planes were scheduled to take off from Pease Air Force Base as part of an airborne refueling training mission.  The first three took off successfully, however the forth aircraft crashed and exploded on take off, scattering debris across the Pease golf course, and nearby Route 101.  All five crewmen aboard were killed.

     They were identified as:

     (Pilot) Capt. Robert Louis Thompson, 33, of Vernon, Connecticut.

     (C0-Pilot) Capt. Michael Peter Valavon, 27, of Jersey City, New Jersey.

     (Navigator) 1st Lt. Larry C. Dennis, 25, of Richmond, Virginia.

     (Boom Operator) S/Sgt. Gerald William Schulz, 32, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

     (Flight Engineer) S/Sgt. Richard Earl Towle, 36, of Kittery, Maine.   

     The men were assigned to the 100th Air Refueling Squadron. 

     Two civilians, a mother and her daughter, were slightly burned when the accident occurred.  They had been sitting in a car on Route 101 watching the aircraft take off. 

     Sources:

     (Spokane, Washington) The Spokesman-Review, “5 U.S. Airmen Crash Victims”, November 6, 1964

     Unknown newspaper, “Five Killed In AF Tanker Crash, November 6, 1964

    

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