21 OR MORE DIE IN OHIO WRECK.

MANY INJURED AS FAST TRAIN HITS TROOP CARS.

Newcomerstown, O. -- A fast Pennsylvania railroad passenger train ploughed into the rear of a standing troop train during a heavy fog early today, killing at least 21 National Guardsmen.
LT. COL. FRANK TOWNSEND, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., commanding officer of the Pennsylvania National Guard troops aboard the train, said 13 bodies were carried from the wreckage, four died at hospitals, and the bodies of four more soldiers were still in the wreckage. The state highway patrol, however, placed the death toll figure at 25.
COL. TOWNSEND said 44 were injured. All of the dead and most of the injured were members of the 109th Field Artillery Battalion, Pennsylvania National Guard, enroute to Camp Atterbury, Ind., to begin training under Federal Service. The Pennsylvania Guard was one of four militia divisions recently called into Federal Service for the Korean War.

3 Cars Demolished.
Three cars of the troop train, carrying 655 troops, were demolished when the Spirit of St. Louis, enroute from New York to St. Louis with 240 passengers, rammed the rear of the stalled troop carrier at Isleta, five miles west of here. The first unit of the twin-unit Diesel pulling the passenger train plunged into a creek and two cars on the Spirit of St. Louis were derailed. They did not overturn, however, and none of the passengers aboard the passenger train was injured seriously.
Witnesses said the troop train stopped west of a signal when a steam valve controlling the train's air brake system apparently snapped. Crewmen had just placed flares at the rear of the disabled troop carrier when the Spirit of St. Louis plunged out of the dawn and smashed into the end of the standing train.
The first unit of the Diesel knocked the rear coach into the air, then struck the second coach, shearing it to floor level. The Diesel's second unite then crashed into the rear of the third coach, knocking it at right angles to the track, before coming to rest against the fourth coach.

Bodies In Field.
Bodies of the dead men were stretched out in a field alongside the Pennsylvania right-of-way until Army officials ordered them removed to Coshocton Funeral Homes. The injured were taken to hospitals in Coshocton, Cambridge, Dennison and Dover.
The Army withheld names of those killed pending notification of next of kin.
MAJ. GEN. D. B. STRICKLAND, commander of the 28th Division, flew to the scene by National Guard transport from Camp Atterbury to direct activities. ADJ. GEN. FRANK B. WEBER of Pennsylvania also was at the scene.
Some 130 unites of blood plasma were rushed to Isleta from the Columbus Red Cross office as surviving guardsmen pitched tents and prepared to bivouac in nearby fields.
The American Red Cross at Washington said it has sent a disaster team and supplies of whole blood to the scene of the wreck. Red Cross headquarters also advised all persons wishing to make inquiries about friends and relatives who may have been involved in the accident to make inquiries through their local Red Cross chapters.
Railroad spokesmen said the troop train left Wilkes-Barre, Pa., at 2 p.m. yesterday and pulled out of Pittsburgh at 1:35 a.m., EDT. today.
The 12-car Spirit of St. Louis left New York at 6:10 p.m., EDT yesterday on its regular daily run and was due in St. Louis at 1:30 p.m., EDT today. It had stopped at Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh, and was headed for Columbus, Ohio, when the crash occurred at approximately 6:30 a.m., EDT.
Guardsmen aboard the troop train were from Scranton, Carbondale, Wilkes-Barre, Berwick and the entire northeastern Pennsylvania area.

Most In Last Car.
SGT. JOSEPH WARHOLA, of Simpson, Pa., who was standing in the washroom of a car about eight cars from the rear of the troop train, said most of the dead and injured were believed to have been riding in the last car of the Indiana-bound train.
WARHOLA said there were two jolts when the crash occurred. He was thrown against a wall by the first jolt.
Two other troop trains preceded the one which was wrecked. One left Columbus at 1:27 a.m., EST, for Camp Atterbury and the other pulled out of Columbus at 4:38 a.m. EST.

The Chronicle-Telegram Elyria Ohio 1950-09-11

Killed In The Wreck:
Service Battery:
CORP. CARL W. ARMBRUSTER.
CORP. JOHN L. BARNA.
PVT. WILLIAM R. DISBROW.
CORP. JOSEPH E. FLETCHER.
PFC EDWARD W. GALLAGHER.
PVT. WALLACE R. LUDWIG.
WO JAMES F. McGINLEY.
SGT. BERNARD S. OKRASINSKI.
CORP. THOMAS M. OSTRASZEWSKI.
PVT. WILLIAM F. TIERNEY.
CAPT. ARTHUR J. THOMAS.
RCT. THOMAS W. WALLACE.
Battery B.
PFC LEONARD BALONIS.
RCT. EUGENE CARR.
SGT. JOHN W. COX.
RCT. WILLIAM J. DOUGHERTY.
SGT WILLIAM C. EDWARDS.
RCT. HUGH L. FARGUS.
PFC. HAROLD HANDLOS.
PFC CLYDE P. HARDING.
PFC MARTIN F. HORNLEIN.
PFC RONALD J. JACKSON.
SGT. LESTER J. KUEHN.
CORP. LARRY L. LUZENSKI.
RCT. FRANK C. MARTINEZ.
RCT. CHARLES NORTON.
PFC RAYMOND PUDLOWSKI.
RCT RICHARD A. ROYER.
RCT. WILLIAM F. SOBERS.
WO WILLIAM M. WELLINGTON.
SGT. GILBERT B. WHARTON.
PFC EDMUND ZABICKI.
PFC DONALD C. ZIEKER.

List Of Injured:
PFC EDWARD BILSKI.
CORP DAL. D. DAUBERT.
PFC DEAN DAUBERT.
PFC JOHN J. DOUGHTERY.
SECOND LT. MERLE R. EDWARDS.
CORP. FRANCIS D. FISHER.
CORP. LEONARD FLECKNOE.
CORP ARTHUR GIAMPA.
CORP. CYRIL G. GULIUS.
PFC FRED D. HAWKE.
SGT. JOSEPH J. KUDRAK.
CORP NICHOLAS MARSHALL.
CORP CARL O. METZGER.
SGT. KENNETH MISHKELL.
LT. EARL W. PHILLIPS.
PFC FRANCIS X. QUAREQUIO.
CORP. JOHN D. ROOPER.
PFC ROBERT ROWLES.
CORP. JAMES SAMPSON.
PVT. JAMES SAUERWINE.
PVT. ROBERT H. SCHELL.
CAPT. ROBERT SHORTZ.
CORP JOHN SIMONSON
SGT. RAYMOND TALMADGE.
CORP. ROBERT J. THOMPSON.
PFC FRANK TOWH.
CORP. LEONARD J. WALKOVIAK.
PFC ALBERT WILLIAMS.
PFC WILLIAM YESIRVIDA.
CAPT. FRANCIS R. BRANNAN.
M/SGT. ROBERT ROBERTS.
SFC LAWRENCE ROBERTS.
SGT. GEORGE YANCK.
PFC JOSEPH DIMIRCO.
PFC DONALD FORIET.
PFC THOMAS GALLAGHER.
PFC WILLIAM HALL.
CORP. LEWIS A. COMPTON.
RCT. RAMON MARTINEZ.
__________________

Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!