Two Oklahomans were named Saturday as among the nine airmen
killed last Wednesday in the crash of an airforce C-47 near
Anchorage, Alaska.
They were identified as Capt. William R. Badget, Bluejacket,
Craig county, and Sgt. Percy Cockrell, 24, Colcord, Delaware
county.
The plane—with one wing missing and afire—roared out of an
Alaskan rainstorm and crashed within 100 yards of a civil
aeronautics administration town near Anchorage, airforce
officials said. The plane disintegrated on contact. Only
five of the nine victims were identified Saturday by the
airforce.
Capt. William R. Badgett, 31, pilot of the plane, was a
veteran of 56 combat missions over Italy during World war
II. He was stationed at Elmendorf airforce base, near
Anchorage. His wife, Mary, and two children, Mary Jane, 3,
and William R., 18 months, live at Spenard, a suburb of
Anchorage.
From The Oklahoma, 8/26/1951
Donated by:
Emily Jordan
