Barrow County GaArchives Photo Tombstone.....Hale, Emmett J. 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
James McNamara JamesEMc@att.net November 17, 2010, 9:12 am

Cemetery:           Statham Cemetery
Name:               Emmett J. Hale

Date Of Photograph: November 11, 2010
Photo can be seen at:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/barrow/photos/tombstones/statham/hale24589ph.jpg
Image file size: 108.8 Kb

From: History of Redstone Arsenal

On 27 June 1944, all three crewmen were killed in the crash of a B-26 Martin 
Marauder. The bomber left the arsenal airstrip with a full load of bombs, which 
were to be dropped on various targets located within the installation's proving 
grounds. After attaining an altitude between 3,000 and 4,000 feet, the plane 
developed engine trouble. Directed by the officer in charge to make any 
available landing, the pilot attempted to set down on the Huntsville-Athens 
Highway (now known as US 72), but an embankment on each side of the road made 
the landing impossible without the plane being maneuvered more than available 
engine power would permit.	

Although he initially refrained from dropping any of the bombs on board because 
of the number of farm houses located in the vicinity, the pilot eventually 
released one 500-pound bomb some distance from the point of impact in an attempt 
to lighten the plane's load and regain altitude. An eyewitness to the accident 
stated that the plane caught fire while still airborne, then crashed in a cotton 
field north of the highway, about nine miles outside of the city of Huntsville, 
Alabama. Upon impact, the plane was enveloped in flames which caused the bombs 
to explode. Killed in the crash were 1LT Emmett J. Hale, pilot; 2LT Jerome 
Loeffler, bombardier; and SGT Antone Valim, engineer. Lieutenant Hale had been 
among the first group of AAF officers stationed at Huntsville Arsenal in 1943.

On 10 August 1944, the east-west road connecting Rideout Road with the 
Huntsville Arsenal Airport was named Hale Road in honor of Lieutenant Hale. The 
Officers' Picnic Park was named Loeffler Park in memory of Lieutenant Loeffler 
on 18 November 1944. Sergeant Valim was honored on 20 April 1945 when the 
Huntsville Arsenal reservoir, located on the west slope of Madkin Mountain, was 
renamed Valim Reservoir.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/barrow/photos/tombstones/statham/hale24589ph.txt

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