by Kate Shunney
Morgan County’s Courthouse is now a memorial site for the victims of the 1992 crash of an Air National Guard training flight on Fairview Drive just east of the downtown area.
Fellow Air Guard member Alice Lantz led the effort to place a public memorial to the pilot and crew of the C-130, known as “Decoy 81,” which clipped a high tension electric line during an training exercise in October of 1992, and crashed to the ground, killing all aboard the flight.
The crew included Alfred J. Steinberger III, Lt. Col., 45, of Leesburg, Va.; Dallas O. Adams Jr., Capt., 32, of Upper Marlboro, Md.; Frederic E. Jones, Staff Sgt., 24 of Martinsburg; James T. Hinchman, Staff Sgt., 31 of Inwood; George F. Griffith, Master Sgt., 56, of Moorefield; and John R. Funkhouser, Technical Sgt., 32 of Martinsburg.
Lantz witnessed the crash and knew the crew who perished. She has spent several years raising money and designing the memorial with help from the families and fellow Guard members.
In January, the Morgan County Commissioners approved the placement of the bench in front of the courthouse.
On Thursday, May 15, Gingrich Memorials delivered the marble bench and set it in place with a crane, between two of the three flag poles at the front of the courthouse.
The 800-pound bench is one of two public memorials – another will be a historical marker set on Fairview Drive at the site of the crash, Lantz said last week. A ceremony to dedicate the marker will be held later in the year.
“Though the tragedy of the Decoy 81 crash happened almost 33 years ago, it is remembered and mourned by many local residents, those who served with the crew members, those who responded as Fire and EMS from not only Morgan County but numerous surrounding towns and of course the families of the crew.
The placement of the bench allows for everyone to see it and a place to sit, reflect, pray and feel surrounded by the wonderful men we lost,” Lantz said of the effort to remember the crew.
