1944-47 Army B-29 Crash Kills 12 Large Congressional Archive

Unique historical Congressional / Armed Forces / Aviation / Kansas archive of over 80 pages of documents most of which are signed by Kansas Politicians of the early 20th Century including: Senator Arthur Capper [KAN] (Governor of Kansas from 1917-1920); Rep Clifford R. Hope [KAN]; Senator Clyde M. Reed [KAN]; Governor Frank Carlson; Senator Alexander Wiley [WIS] Chairman Committee on the Judiciary...
Also contains an appreciation letter to the victim hand signed by Thomas F. Dewey on National Republican Committee letterhead thanking Rep Otis Hatfield for his assistance with his 1944 Presidential Campaign. As news traveled slower in these days, this letter reached the O.H. Hatfield after the accident.
With 12 fatalities (10 Aboard/2 Ground), this Aircraft accident ranks as one of the top three World War II "friendly fire" accidents by the US Army. It is possible that it was the most severe Army Aircraft accident on home soil during the second world war - research on this topic is continuing and updates will be shared. For some reason this crash is not well known and this is probably self-evident as (1) The Pilots of the B-29 were "showing off" and (2) the fact that the accident killed a former Kansas State Representative and a very active member of the Republican party in the State of Kansas (3) just after the 1944 Presidentential elections which O.H. Hatfield was the Head of his county's Republican National Committee and (4) the gruesome cremation killing of Jay Dean Settles, the infant grand child would have outraged the American public...yes...that would have been very embarassing for the War Effort and in my opinion, the Censors made sure this was buried just outside the pages of history books. The State Archive of Kansas was unfamiliar with this plane crash - it was "new to them". Includes dozens of signed correspondence, Army J.A.G. correspondence documents, Congressional Documents and several Western Union Telegrams, etc. Reasonable offers considered - contact us...
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