Central City in Merrick County, Nebraska — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

EC-121 Shoot Down Incident

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 23, 2022

1. EC-121 Shoot Down Incident (left panel)

Inscription.

EC-121 Shoot Down Incident. . , The EC-121 shoot down incident occurred on April 15, 1969 when a U.S. Navy EC-121 reconnaissance plane was shot down by a North Korean Mig-21 aircraft over the Sea Of Japan. The plane crashed into the ocean 90 nautical miles off the North Korean coast. All 31 Americans onboard were killed resulting in the largest single loss of U.S. Aircrew during the Cold War era. The plane was over international waters on a routine flight. The North Korean action was deliberate. However, then U.S. President Nixon did not react but did resume reconnaissance flights. , The EC-121 incident is just one of many military incidents wherein American veterans have served but are not officially identified with a specific conflict or war. In this incident the crew had been flying most of its missions out of Danang, South Vietnam. However this mission was flown from their home base at Atsugi, Japan. Because the incident occurred outside of the Vietnam War theater area and the flight did not leave from Vietnam. The 31 crew members are not listed on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. , Combat veteran, Darrell Widman. from Chapman. Nebraska served with the crew on the EC-121 aircraft until just three months prior to the shoot down. In February 1969 he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy. This monument has been donated by Mr. Widman to recognize the crewmen he served with just prior to their loss. , EC-121 Shoot Down Incident Casualties , Navy Officers , LT John (N) Dzema . LT Dennis Baird Gleason . LCDR James Howard Overstreet . LT Peter Philip Perrottet . LTJG Joseph Richard Ribar . LT John Halleck Singer . LTJG Robert Joseph Sykora . LT Robert Frank Taylor . LTJG Norman Elbert Wilkerson, Navy Enlisted , ADR2 Louis Francis Balderman . AT1 Stephen Curtis Chartier . AT1 Bernie Joel Colgin . ADR1 Ballard Franklin Connors, Jr. . CT3 Gary Ray DuCharme . ATN3 Gene Kenneth Graham . AEC LaVerne Albert Greiner . ATR2 Dennis Joseph Horrigan . ATN2 Richard Henry Kincaid . ADRC Marshall Harry McNamara . ATR2 Timothy Harlan McNeil . CT3 John Alexander Miller, Jr. . CT1 John Howard Pots . AMS3 Richard Thomas Prindle . CTC Frederick Arthur Randall . AT1 James Leroy Roach . CTC Richard Earl Smith . CT3 Philip David Sundby . AT1 Richard Edson Sweeney . CT2 Stephen Joseph Tesmer . ATN3 David Monroe Willis, Marine Corps Enlisted , SSGT Hugh M Lynch, For those who have served in combat, the innocent know not the price of freedom

The EC-121 shoot down incident occurred on April 15, 1969 when a U.S. Navy EC-121 reconnaissance plane was shot down by a North Korean Mig-21 aircraft over the Sea Of Japan. The plane crashed into the ocean 90 nautical miles off the North Korean coast. All 31 Americans onboard were killed resulting in the largest single loss of U.S. Aircrew during the Cold War era. The plane was over international waters on a routine flight. The North Korean action was deliberate. However, then U.S. President Nixon did not react but did resume reconnaissance flights.

The EC-121 incident is just one of many military incidents wherein American veterans have served but are not officially identified with a specific conflict or war. In this incident the crew had been flying most of its missions out of Danang, South Vietnam. However this mission was flown from their home base at Atsugi, Japan. Because the incident occurred outside of the Vietnam War theater area and the flight did not leave from Vietnam. The 31 crew members are not listed on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Combat veteran, Darrell Widman. from Chapman. Nebraska served with the crew on the EC-121 aircraft until just three months prior to the shoot down. In February 1969 he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy. This monument has been donated by Mr. Widman to recognize the crewmen he served with just prior to their loss.

EC-121 Shoot Down Incident Casualties
Navy Officers
LT John (N) Dzema • LT Dennis Baird Gleason • LCDR James Howard Overstreet • LT Peter Philip Perrottet • LTJG Joseph Richard Ribar • LT John Halleck Singer • LTJG Robert Joseph Sykora • LT Robert Frank Taylor • LTJG Norman Elbert Wilkerson

Navy Enlisted
ADR2 Louis Francis Balderman • AT1 Stephen Curtis Chartier • AT1 Bernie Joel Colgin • ADR1 Ballard Franklin Connors, Jr. • CT3 Gary

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Ray DuCharme • ATN3 Gene Kenneth Graham • AEC LaVerne Albert Greiner • ATR2 Dennis Joseph Horrigan • ATN2 Richard Henry Kincaid • ADRC Marshall Harry McNamara • ATR2 Timothy Harlan McNeil • CT3 John Alexander Miller, Jr. • CT1 John Howard Pots • AMS3 Richard Thomas Prindle • CTC Frederick Arthur Randall • AT1 James Leroy Roach • CTC Richard Earl Smith • CT3 Philip David Sundby • AT1 Richard Edson Sweeney • CT2 Stephen Joseph Tesmer • ATN3 David Monroe Willis

Marine Corps Enlisted
SSGT Hugh M Lynch

For those who have served in combat, the innocent know not the price of freedom

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • War, Cold • War, Korean • War, Vietnam. A significant historical date for this entry is April 15, 1969.

Location. 41° 6.3′ N, 98° 0.057′ W. Marker is in Central City, Nebraska, in Merrick County. It is on 28th Street just east of 17th Avenue, on the left when traveling east. The marker is located at the south end of South Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2805 17th Avenue, Central City NE 68826, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this

EC-121 Shoot Down Incident (<i>right panel</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 23, 2022

2. EC-121 Shoot Down Incident (right panel)

marker is in Eastern Nebraska, in the Platte River Valley,

and in Greater Grand Island.

It is also in the American Midwest,

in the Corn Belt,

and on the prairies.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 12 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Honoring All Who Served (here, next to this marker); Veterans Memorial (approx. 0.6 miles away); 9-11 Memorial Clock (approx. 0.8 miles away); Heber Hord House (approx. 0.8 miles away); Lone Tree (approx. one mile away); The Mormon Trail (approx. one mile away); Chapman Cemetery GAR Marker (approx. 10.1 miles away); Clarks Veterans Memorial (approx. 11½ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Central City.

Also see . . . 1969 EC-121 Shootdown Incident (Wikipedia).

Excerpt: At 07:00 local time of Tuesday, 15 April 1969, an EC-121M of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) took off from NAS Atsugi, Japan, on an intelligence-gathering
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 23, 2022

3. EC-121 Shoot Down Incident Marker
Looking north through South Park.
reconnaissance mission. The aircraft, Bureau number 135749, c/n 4316, bore the tail code "PR-21" and used the radio call sign Deep Sea 129. Aboard were 8 officers and 23 enlisted men under the command of LCDR James Overstreet. Nine of the crew, including one Marine NCO, were Naval Security Group cryptologic technicians (CTs) and linguists in Russian and Korean. The plane was an adaptation of a Lockheed Super Constellation and was fitted with a fuselage radar, so the primary tasks were to act as a long range patrol, conduct electronic surveillance, and act as a warning device. During the first three months of 1969 nearly 200 similar missions had been flown by both Navy and U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft off North Korea's east coast without incident.

(Submitted on April 28, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on April 28, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 28, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 466 times since then and 142 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 28, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.