Memorial bench for C-130 droppers in the courthouse

By Kate Shunney

Morgan County's courthouse is now a memorial location for the victims of the accident of Air National Guard Training at Fairview Drive east of the city center.

Alice Lantz, a member of the air force, led the efforts, the pilot and the crew of the C-130, known as “Decoy 81”, to place a public monument, which during a training exercise in October 1993 placed an electrical line with a high voltage and plunged to the ground, all killed on board the flight.

The crew included Alfred J. Steinberger III, Lieutenant Colonel, 45, from Leesburg, Va.; Dallas O. Adams Jr., Capt., 32, by Upper Marlboro, Md.; Frederic E. Jones, Staff Sgt., 24 from Martinsburg; James T. Hintchman, Staff Sgt., 31 from Inwood; George F. Griffith, Master Sgt., 56, from Moorefield; and John R. Funkhouser, Technical Sgt., 32 from Martinburg.

Lantz was witness to the crash and knew the crew that was killed. She has spent several years collecting money and designing the monument with the help of families and colleagues.

In January, the commissioners of Morgan County approved the banking of the bank in front of the courthouse.

On Thursday, May 15th, Gingrich Memories delivered MarbleBank and put them on with a crane between two of the three flag masts in front of the courthouse.

The 800-pound bank is one of two public monuments-one of others will be a historical marker that is stopped at the Fairview Drive at the location of the crash, Lantz said last week. A ceremony for the task of the marker takes place later in the year.

“Although the tragedy of the accident of Decoy 81 took place almost 33 years ago, it is reminded and mourning by many residents, which served with the crew members who, as fire and Ems, not only reacted by Morgan County, but also numerous surrounding cities and of course the families of the crew.

The placement of the bank enables everyone to see them, and a place where you sit, reflect, pray and surround themselves by the wonderful men we have lost, ”Lantz said about the efforts to remember the crew.