26 ARE KILLED IN CRASH OF ARMY PLANE.

Truckee, March 20 -- (UP) -- The bodies of all 26 army and navy officers and enlisted men killed in the explosion and crash of a C47 transport yesterday were recovered today from snowdrifts and twisted aluminum wreckage in mountains 11 miles north of here.
An army board of investigation from the Stockton Air Base is on the spot here probing the ghastly remains in an effort to determine the cause of the crash -- one of the worst peacetime plane disasters in history.
The casualty list lincludes several high ranking army and navy officers and many enlisted men who were enroute to separation centers for discharge.
One of the passengers was Lieutenant Commander LLOYD S. STARK, 38, son of former Governor LLOYD C. STARK of Missouri. STARK had resided in Menlo Park, and was enroute to his family home in Louisiana, Mo.
Exploded In Midair.
The plane was enroute from Stockton to Denver, Colo., when, according to eye witnesses, it "exploded like a puff of fire" and spun crazily into the 6,000 foot pine covered Sierra Nevada mountainside, scattering bodies and wreckage over a half mile area.
Bodies were thrown out with such force they were buried deep in hard, ice crusted snow drifts. Others were caught in the unrecognizable remains of the fuselage which left a nine foot depression in the snow and soft earth that looked like a bomb crater.
The main part of the plane crashed 20 feet from the tail section and sheered off a 70 foot pine tree.
The bodies were taken to the home of MR. and MRS. CLAIRE HEATER of Hobart Mills, a lumbering village about nine miles north of Truckee. HEATER saw the crash.
Saw Wing Break Away.
"The first thing I saw was this great big flame and then I heard the explosion," HEATER said. "I saw one wing and one motor break away and sort of flutter down. The other motor was still running, I think. Then the main body spiraled down, breaking into pieces."
The plane was found about three hours later by a searching party led by H. I. SNIDER, Truckee forest ranger. Ambulances and trucks from McClellan Field, Sacramento and Auburn were brought to the scene to recover the bodies.
Plane Flying Low.
Other witnesses said the plane was flying in a westerly directon when it exploded. Normally, it would be flying toward the east. They said it was flying low. It was not snowing at the time of the crash.
STEVE APIAN, an employe of the Southern Pacific Railroad and former Sacramento Bee reporter who was one of the first persons to reach the scene, said he saw bodies scattered for half a mile from the wreckage.
"I never saw anything so horrible in my life," he said. "The bodies at the scene were just a bunch of kids. Army officers told me they were kids who were getting out of the army."
The army gave the following list of passengers and crew members of the plane:
Machinist's Mate Third Class LYLE C. DYKES, Morrill, Neb.; Hospital Apprentice First Class RICHARD O. EHLERS, Midway, Ut.; Captain DONALD A. BRIDE, Cincinnati, O., Seaman Second Class RAYMOND L. SCHNEIDER, Cuero, Tex.; Lieutenant Commander L. S. STARK, Menlo Park, Calif.; Quartermaster Third Class FLOYD R. SUNDGREN, Salina, Kan.; Lieutenant Colonel CLYDE M. TAYLOR, Washington, D. C.; First Lieutenant ERVIN P. CUE, McMinnville, Ore.; Storekeeper Third Class MAURICE L. BOSE, Terre Haute, Ind.; Yeoman Second Class CHARLES R. BRANASS, Chicago; Private GLENN P. DICKERSON, Chattanooga, Tenn.; Corporal WILLIAM T. WOODHOUSE, Yardley, Pa.; Seamen Second Class PASQUAL IULUICCI, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Motor Machinist's Mate Second Class MELVIN S. VAN RIPER, Vestal, N. Y.; Lieutenant FRANK W. DAVIS, Canton, Tex.; Ensign GINO C. CALETTI, Colusa, Calif.; Electrician's Mate Third Class STEPHEN R. KIRSCH, Cedarhurst, N. Y.; Seaman First Class GERALD P. UDELL, Philadelphia, Pa.; Quartermaster Third Class ROBERT A. McGEE, Mantua, N. J.; Lieutenant JOHN C. SHAW, East Orange, N. J.;
First Lieutenant JAMES E. MILTON, Stockton, Calif.; Second Lieutenant RICHARD F. SIMPSON, Thomaston, Ga.; Captain RICHARD K. YOUNG, pilot, Stockton; First Lieutenant LOUIS N. DUESING, copilot, Stockton; Sergeant ANTONE J. ESGRO, flight clerk, Denver, Colo.; Private WILLIE B. WILSON, St. Louis, Mo.

The Fresno Bee California 1946-03-20
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!