In a short period of time, on November 11th, the date set aside as Veterans Day will once again be heralded in Fay -
ette County and across the nation. Since the year 2025 is also the 80th anniversary marking the end of World War II, it seems appropriate to men- tion a few coinciding events regarding Army Air crews on training missions that occurred in our area between Decem ber 1941and September 1945.
Some events ended well; some had a far worse ending.
On December 25, 1941, just days after the horrific
bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7th, the La Grange Journal ran a short article about a trag -
ic event in the Muldoon area. It stated that: "Flying Cadet E. R. Patello was instantly killed when his plane, in which he was making a solo training flight, crashed near Lena Switch, a few miles from Muldoon, Thursday night. De- cember 18, 1941 Patello was supposed to have flown from Brooks Field in San An tonio to Temple, Yoakum, and thence to have returned to San Antonio." A local landowner reported hearing a plane fly ing overhead at 10 p.m. and a few minutes later, a crash. A heavy fog in the area was con - sidered the cause of the crash.
The pilot’s body was found in a ravine that emptied into Buck ner’s Creek.
In the April 9, 1942, edition of the La Grange Journal, the horrific crash of another air -
plane was noted. The article stated that: "Three cadets were killed instantly Sunday morning when the airplane—prob- ably a bomber-in which they were riding, became ignited and crashed in the Meyer farm field about two miles from El - linger." The tragic explosion, surmised to have been caused by a fuel leak and an electri -
cal spark, caused the deaths of Lieutenant Charles Richard - son, Sgt. Lawrence Addison, and Sgt. John Caddel. The
Journal reported that the crash site was a sickening sight, a mix of human body parts and airplane remnants.
In the November 19, 1942, edition of the Journal, the following story was reported.
“Within a very short time, at least one hundred local people [in the Ellinger area] gath ered on the Evans estate where an airplane had made a landing in the field." (This is current ly the property of the Banks Ranch, off Highway 71.) "The
airplane had run out of fuel and landed in a hay meadow. The pilot made a radio call to San Antonio, and another plane
brought the necessary fuel to continue the flight." The Jour nal would report several simi- lar stories throughout the Fay -
ette County area concerning military flights forced to land
due to a shortage of fuel. In a similar situation, de- scribed as near the county line between Weimar and Dubina, a belly landing due to engine failure was made by Pilot Al- vin Christensen on June 21, 1943. The airplane was listed
as having substantial/major damage occurring due to the rough landing.
The most tragic event with - in our area occurred outside of nearby Columbus. The Colorado County Citizen would re- port, in its September 30, 1943 edition, that “one of the most tragic disasters in Colorado County for decades occurred Saturday morning [Sept. 25th] when a Flying Fortress [B-17] bomber caught fire and crashed into a big field near the Colo - rado River claiming the lives of all nine members of the crew." The newspaper report ed that the huge bomber, from Kearney, Nebraska, had smoke coming from one of the wings and then crashed on a bot - tomland farm. The deceased
included two crew members from Texas.
On the other hand, a won- derful story of ordinary citi - zens working together to save a pilot occurred at Hallettsville on Wednesday, July 11, 1942, when a cadet on a night flying mission lost radio contact and all lights on his AT-6. Seeing the lights of Hallettsville be- low, he circled the courthouse several times and gunned the engine of his plane. A local ser - viceman on leave recognized that the plane was in trouble, hopped in his car, which had a spotlight, and drove toward the square. Pointing the spotlight toward the plane, the pilot signaled with his motor that he saw the beam of light and be- gan following it. Several cars joined the procession toward an old landing field located in a nearby pasture. Reaching the field, they spaced them selves along the runway and used their light to illuminate it.
Soon, more cars arrived from town and were put into position, enabling the pilot to make a three-point landing without a scratch. Local citizens had saved both the pilot and an ex- pensive aircraft.
These stories illustrate an
almost forgotten way Fayette and nearby counties were af -
fected by the war in Europe and the Pacific. During World
War II hundreds of training accidents throughout our state claimed the lives of young men before they ever faced the en emy.
Sources: Aviation Archaeological Investigation and Research; On the Home Front in World War II, Lavaca County, Texas: The Story of the Downed Flyers from the 9th Annual Alton C. Allen Historical Conference;Wikipedia.
