Premier in McDowell County, West Virginia — The American South (Appalachia)
Transport Plane Crash Memorial
Photographed by Mark Parker, July 11, 2026
1. Transport Plane Crash Memorial (left flank)
Dedicated to the memory of the officers and men of the US Army who sacrificed their lives adjacent to this site in a transport plane accident on July 1, 1942
In Memoriam
2nd Lt Walter D Faught Jr Paris Texas 2nd Lt Edwin A Harness La Porte Indiana 2nd Lt Harry E Haney Selma Kentucky Stf Sgt Archie W Chamblin Leavenworth Kansas Stf Sgt Russell A Carter Topeka Kansas Stf Sgt Salvatore T Barone Mt Morris New York Stf Sgt Joseph S Cholewa Racine Wisconsin Stf Sgt Leon A Olin Big Timber Montana Stf Sgt Horace M Dickerson Hannibal Missouri Stf Sgt George R Eversull Stuart Iowa Stf Sgt Leo T Colburn Tuscaloosa Alabama Stf Sgt Anthony W Belcher South Point Ohio Corp Bartola P Purpura Watertown New York Corp Kermit S Masters Sheldon Missouri Corp Clandins W Haywood Ambler Pennsylvania Pfc Denver W Koeppe Bryan Ohio Pfc Lester S Erickson Superior Wisconsin Pvt Edward F X Carr Philadelphia Pennsylvania Pvt Chester F Petrowski Auburn New York Pvt Elmer J Campbell Stanley Virginia Pvt Elmo G Edmonds Payson Illinois
Erected by the employees and management of the Premier Pocahontas Collieries Company of Premier W VA. in humble tribute to all who gave all that we be free.
Erected 2017
this page online
Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Disasters • War, World II. A significant historical date for this entry is July 1, 1942.
Location. 37° 25.301′ N, 81° 38.534′ W. Memorial is in Premier, West Virginia, in McDowell County. It is on Coal Heritage Road (U.S. 52) 0.1 miles east of Bull Dog Hollow Road, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 16712 Coal Heritage Rd, Premier WV 24878, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this memorial is in the Southern Coalfields. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Bushwhackers in McDowell (approx. 2.9 miles away); McDowell County Veterans Memorial
Photographed by Mark Parker, July 11, 2026
2. Transport Plane Crash Memorial (center column
Also see . . .
1. Army Transport Crashes Near Premier: July 1, 1942. West Virginia Public Broadcasting report on the 75th anniversary of the crash
Just after noon on July 1, 1942, a troop transport plane crashed and burst into flames on a mountainside about four miles from the McDowell County seat of Welch, located near the community of Premier.(Submitted on July 21, 2026, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina.)
All 21 members of the U.S. Army Air Corps aboard the plane were killed.
The crash occurred during a heavy rainstorm with thick fog. However, the crash was caused by a mechanical malfunction. While flying at an altitude of about 500 feet, the transport lost a wing, plummeted into a community garden, and ended up in a ravine. Debris was scattered on the mountainside for nearly 200 yards. It was the first fatal plane crash in McDowell County history.
2. Plane Crash in McDowell County.
Photographed by Mark Parker, July 11, 2026
3. Transport Plane Crash Memorial (Right flank)
Home Archives & History Arts Historic Preservation Museums(Submitted on July 21, 2026, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina.)
West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History
Collage Image
Plane Crash in McDowell County
Welch Daily News
July 6, 1942
Welch Honors Memory Of 21 Dead Soldiers
Impressive Service Held Here Sunday
Flag-Draped Caskets Line Station Platform
A salute was fired.
Taps were sounded.
And thus ended Welch's special tribute Sunday evening to 21 United States Army men who died Wednesday in an airplane crash at Premier. Scene of the service, first of its kind in the history of McDowell county, was the local Norfolk and Western Railway station.
War's stark realities of death and destruction were brought closer home to the hundreds of onlookers who came to pay homage to the dead soldiers just before they were to be sent to their homes by train.
Scheduled to begin at 6 o'clock crowds began filling the roped-off section of the station by 5:30. Surrounding lawns of the World War Memorial building and McDowell county court house were filledto capacity fifteen minutes before the service began.Photographed by Mark Parker, July 11, 20264. Full View of Transport Plane Crash Memorial
Photographed by Mark Parker, July 11, 2026
5. Street view of Transport Plane Crash Memorial from Coal Heritage Rd.
Apartment buildings are to the right
Photographed by Mark Parker, July 11, 2026
6. Rear view of Transport Plane Crash Memorial looking east on Coal Heritage Rd
Credits. This page was last revised on July 22, 2026. It was originally submitted on July 21, 2026, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 10 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on July 21, 2026, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
