Nashville, TN Army Truck Crash, June 1943

18 SOLDIERS DIE WHEN TRUCK FAILS TO ROUND CURVE.

Nashville -- (AP) -- Second Army public relations officers Sunday night disclosed names of 18 soldiers killed and eight injured Saturday night in an army truck crash on the outskirts of Nashville.
Sixteen of the men were dead when removed from the wreckage and two died later in hospitals. The condition of two others, including an army captain, was described as critical.
The accident occurred shortly before midnight as the men were returning to the Middle Tennessee Maneuver area after a weekend leave in Nashville.
The catastrophe was caused apparently by failure of the driver, who was taking a short-cut between two main highways out of the city, to straighten out the truck sufficiently after rounding a curve leading to a one-way wooden bridge spanning the Nashville
Chattanooga and St. Louis railroad.
Smashing through guard rails, the vehicle plunged approximately 30 feet down a bank and on to the railroad tracks, pinning many of the men beneath it.
The following are the names of the dead with next of kin, all of whom have been notified:
Staff Sergeant JAMES W. ATKINSON, Margaret V. H. Atkinson, wife, Morehead City, N.C.
Staff Sergeant BENJAMIN B. ODELL, Mrs. Louise E. Odell, wife, Miami Beach, Fla.
Tech. 4th Gr. FREDERICK PETERSON, Mrs. Marie V. Peterson, wife, Boston, Mass.
Corporal ROBERT C. COOK, Mrs. Mary Cook, mother, Chicago, Ill.
Corporal CECIL S. DENNIS, Mrs. Minnie T. Dennis, mother, Princeton, Mercer County, W. Va.
Corporal THEODORE W. HOUSTON, Mrs. Elizabeth R. Houston, mother, Philadelphia, Pa.
Tech. 4th Gr. BRYCE K. DIXON, JR., Mr. and Mrs. Bryce K. Dixon, Sr., parents, Connelsville, Pa.
Corporal CHALMER D. POOR, Mrs. Dorothy M. Duvall, sister, Edinburg, Ill.
Corporal LEROY K. WILLIAMS, Leroy D. Williams, father, Derry, Pa.
Tech. 5th Gr. JOSEPH R. McLAREN, Mrs. Ann E. McLaren, mother, New Orleans, La.
Pvt. PEARL M. BEANE, Mrs. Alice L. Beane, wife, Tidionte, Pa.
Pvt. JAY W. HAMMOND, Mrs. Ann M. Hammond, wife, Rafton, Pa.
Pvt. FRED J. WILKINS, Mrs. Nettie B. Tussieer, sister, Joplin, Mo.
Pvt. FOREST F. MERITT, Robert E. Meritt, father, Preston, Maryland.
Pvt. DEAN K. ROSSMAN, Mrs. Betty Rossman, wife, Milheim, Pa.
Pvt. 1st Class JAMES H. ALLEN, JR., Mrs. Doris E. Allen, Jr., wife, Kansas City, Mo.
2nd Lieut. FREDERIC R. NOURSE, JR., Mrs. Margaret D. Nourse, wife, Dedham, Mass.

Kingsport Times Tennessee 1943-06-07
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!