Mar 20, 1980
By LARRY LAWRENCE
The tribute of a squadron commander who is a veteran aircrewman set the tone Wednesday for memorial services at the Dyess Air Force Base chapel honoring six members of the 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing.
They died Friday in the crash of a C-130 transport in Southeastern Turkey.
Protestant services were conducted for Lt. Col. Benjamin H. Barnette, Maj. Michael L. Jones, Capt. Richard J. Wagner, Staff Sgt. Patrick L. Cypher and Airman 1st Class Howard K. Watkins. A Catholic mass was said for Sgt. George W. Moreau.
In an eulogy prepared by members of the wing, Lt. Col. Gene Hollrah, commander of the 772nd Tactical Airlift Squadron, lauded the men for their service and dedication to family, to each other, to the nation and to God. He noted their similarities and their differences.
"While they were among us, they seemed no different than other men...yet, they were as different as night from day. They were an aircrew; men of different means and background, bound together by a machine, a mission, and a spirit few men have known or can ever hope to know."
Friends and associates of the fliers came from home, from their offices and from the flight line to fill the chapel to overflowing long before the hour of the service. The fact that life and duties go on was reflected by those attending. Flight suits and fatigues mingled in the chapel with blue uniforms and civilian dress.
Hollrah, who as a navigator has logged thousands of hours of flying time, touched on the motivations, the hopes and aspirations of the airmen. He said their individual bravery and sense of personal duty made them willing to face up to the tough tasks of each day.
"With warmth and a sense of humanity, they carried out their duties, determined to see them through to a successful conclusion. Each possessed the unfailing formula for mission accomplishment those key elements of patriotism, self-respect, discipline and self-confidence, he continued.
He emphasized the great respect each held for the others when he said: "If ever you remember the security and love you felt when as a child you were rocked softly to sleep, then you know the tremendous trust they held in each other.
"...If ever you have watched the Stars and Stripes dip tug at the lanyard while from somewhere deep within a shiver of proud belonging welled up in your breast, then you know the endless love they had for God, country and the brotherhood of free men.
"They were an aircrew, called home by a loving creator when their work was finished. We must believe that their individual spirits live on in a place much better than this life and that the spirt that bound them together lives on in each of us present here today," he said.
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