Lt. Drexel E. Crites

Born 28 October, 1920 in Ripley, West Virginia, Drexel Elmo Crites was one of four children born to Harry and Effie (Ballard) Crites, had two brothers, Ardith and David, and a sister, Iris. For many years his uncle, Oscar and grandfather, Benjamin operated the Crites Clothing Store in Ripley, West Virginia.

In the fall of 1942, while Drexel awaited orders for overseas duty, his 24 year-old brother Ardith, died in the crash of a 48th Bomb Squadron B-25 at Eglin Field, Florida.

Finally assigned to the 79th Fighter Squadron, Lt. Crites survived a crash landing in a P-38 Lightning on 18 April, 1944 and continued on to complete his combat tour. He returned to the US in the fall of 1944 and remained in the reserves as part of the 167th Fighter Squadron, West Virginia Air National Guard.

"We got in a lot of strafing missions," Lt. Crites said in a post-war interview with Dallas C. Higbee of the Charleston Gazette, "but the best was a troop train. I was flying a 51 when we ran across a dilly one day. I started in at one end and kicked rudder enough to make my ship 'walk' to the other end, spraying troops on each side.

"The train stopped when they saw me and men spewed out like rats. I saw a clump of trees and planned a neat little trick for them. After a pass at the train, I came around for another shot and caught these guys in the trees from the rear. It was a picnic."

With the start of the Korean War impending, Crites was called to active duty and re-assigned to Godman Air Force Base in Kentucky, near Fort Knox, as part of the 123rd Fighter Bomber Wing. Originally equipped with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts they soon transitioned to P-51 Mustangs and several pilots from the squadron later saw action in Korea.

On 6 April, 1951 his squadron mate Maj. Woodford "Jock" Sutherland was killed in a crash when air traffic controllers at Eglin Air Force Base cleared two P-51 Mustangs to land on the same runway. When word of the accident reached the base in Kentucky the entire squadron began preparing to attend the funeral services and, on the morning of 8 April, they left aboard two Douglas C-47 Skytrain twin-engine transports.

The skies were overcast but the short flight was uneventful until the two aircraft neared Kanawha County (now Yeager) Airport, in Charleston, West Virginia. Just a few miles from their destination, the transport containing Crites, eight other officers and 12 enlisted men, made the turn for final approach then clipped a tree and slammed into a hillside near Little Sandy Creek, northeast of the airport. It skidded an estimated 400 feet through mud and heavy underbrush before both wings were torn off and it exploded into flames. All aboard were killed instantly except for two officers, who were thrown clear of the wreckage, but later died of severe burns and massive injuries. The impact of the crash was so great that it was difficult to identify each man who was lost. Upon being notified what had happened the other C-47 returned directly to Kentucky.

Thousands of area residents and every surviving member of the devastated squadron attended a full military funeral to mourn those killed. West Virginia Governor Okey Patterson and Charleston Mayor Carl Andrews requested flags be flown at half staff for a week. All but one man aboard the aircraft were from West Virginia, most from the Charleston area. The squadron was, to say the least, devastated and the armament section was hit the hardest losing seven of it's twenty-eight members.

The exact cause for the crash was never determined, but fog was most likely a contributing factor. When the aircraft impacted the hillside both engines were running properly and the pilot, Capt. Edwin K. Whittington, was familiar with the area. Curiously, the plane's cockpit overhead escape hatch was discovered nearly a mile and a half from the crash site. As a result of the crash studies were later made of the area and it was discovered that the top of the mountain contained a magnetic field that could potentially effect the navigational instruments of aircraft on approach to the airport. As a result, a portion of the mountaintop was later removed. The incident remains as West Virginia's worst aviation accident involving a military aircraft. In 2001 a small, black, triangular memorial was erected at Yeager Airport in honor of the servicemen who perished in the crash.

Crites was buried at Cunningham Memorial Park in St. Albans, West Virginia. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal posthumously. Years later his widow, Marguerite, though she had remarried, was laid to rest alongside him.