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Remember...Richard Francis Hazeltine
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Richard Francis Hazeltine was born June 16, 1921, at Fitzpatrick, Raleigh County, West Virginia, to Francis Harden Hazeltine and Mildred Agnes Boyer Hazeltine. His brother, David Boyer Hazeltine, was eight years older than Richard. Several sources consulted for this biography noted that Richard went by the nickname "Trinadad," although this fact could not be verified. By the time of the 1930 Federal Census enumeration, the family was living on Bigley Avenue in Charleston. In 1940, still in Charleston, the family was living on Mary Street, and Richard was in school but working a part-time job. A city directory entry for 1942 shows that Francis (a carpenter), along with Mildred and Richard (a student), was living at 361 Barber Drive in West Charleston. Richard's draft card of February 16, 1942, shows the same address, and he indicated that his mother was the person who would always know his address. When he registered for the draft, however, he did not indicate student status, but rather stated that he was employed by the Charleston Gazette. (Family information from 1930, 1940, and 1950 Federal Census documents, 1942 Charleston City Directory, and Johnson Family Tree on Ancestry.com.)
Later that year, November 18, 1942, he would enlist in the U.S. Army at Huntington, West Virginia. His assignment was to Company B, 124th Armored Engineers Battalion. Despite his military occupation (armor) being among the most vulnerable, Richard would return to his native state after the war. Writing for the Charleston Gazette, Dallas C. Higbee notes: "Sgt. Richard Hazeltine, top-flight armorer for the [167th Fighter Bomber] squadron went through the Battle of the Bulge in the last war as a member of the Third Armored Division. He was in service 39 months with seven months of overseas service, most of which was in combat. He was an employee of the Gazette before World War II and returned to his job at the end of the conflict." ("National Guard Plane Crash: Victims Logged Many Hours over Fatal Hill," 9 April 1951.) The order of battle of the Third Armored Division is well chronicled. A succinct narrative can be found on the website of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In 1985, that organization, along with the U.S. Army Center of Military History, began a program to honor those divisions that took part in the Allied liberation of Nazi camps. The U.S. Army Center of Military History defines a liberating division as one whose official records show its presence at a camp within 48 hours of the first soldier's arrival. The 3rd Armored Division is among the 36 divisions that have been recognized to date. According to the USHMM website,
Created in 1941, the 3rd Armored Division landed on the Normandy beaches of France in late June 1944, just weeks after D-Day (June 6), the massive Allied invasion of western Europe. The "Spearhead" division advanced rapidly eastward, reaching the German border by mid-September. During the German winter offensive into the Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge, the division was redeployed to Belgium. In March 1945, the 3rd Armored Division advanced into Germany, capturing the city of Cologne and crossing the Rhine River. In April, it advanced eastward into Thuringia and continued the push east until war's end….On April 11, 1945, the 3rd discovered the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp. The division first arrived on the scene, reporting back to headquarters that it had uncovered a large concentration camp near the town of Nordhausen. Requesting help from the 104th Infantry Division, the 3rd immediately began transporting some 250 ill and starving prisoners to nearby hospital facilities. ("The 3rd Armored Division during World War II," United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website, accessed 6 September 2024, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-3rd-armored-division.)
Statistics accompanying this narrative indicate that the 3rd Armored Division suffered 9,243 total battle casualties and 2,147 deaths. Richard Francis Hazeltine was one of the "lucky" ones who returned to the States and to life as he knew it before the war.
| Richard's headstone application shows he was discharged from the Army on February 14, 1946, but he was single, and with the Korean War looming, Sergeant Hazeltine would join the West Virginia Air National Guard. He became a member of the 167th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 123rd Bomber Group. As such, he became a victim in the tragic crash of the C-47 near the Charleston [Kanawha] Airport on April 8, 1951. The squadron, which was training at Godman Air Force Base in Kentucky, was headed for Charleston to attend the funeral of Major Woodford Sutherland, who had been killed in an airplane accident in Florida three days previous. |  |
Much has been written locally about the crash and its aftermath—the Charleston Gazette and Daily Mail offered timely coverage of the event and its aftermath, and other newspapers around the state followed suit. In a practice no longer familiar, newspapers often published an "extra," which allowed for frequent updates on breaking news. The following account, however, is excerpted from the actual accident report:
After reporting over the Charleston Radio Range at 5000 feet on an IFR flight from Godman Air Force Base, Kentucky to Charleston, West Virginia, the pilot was cleared by Charleston Approach Control to descent to 3500 feet, pending approach clearance. . . . [The pilot then indicated a turn procedure.] The procedure turn report was the last radio contact with the aircraft.The C-47 crashed into a hill approximately 1150 feet high located 4.6 miles from the approach end of runway 23 at Kanawha County Airport and 1.07 miles West Northwest of the Outer Marker beacon. Both wings of the aircraft were sheared off on impact by trees. The fuselage came to rest approximately 125 yards from the point of impact and was almost completely consumed by the fire which apparently was instantaneous with collision. . . .
One of the two survivors of the crash was a rated pilot riding as passenger who succumbed to burn injuries within less than 24 hours. The other survivor lived for approximately one week after the crash. The statements of the survivors indicate that they were positioned further aft in the plane than any of the other passengers and it is worthy of note that one of the survivors stated that to the best of his knowledge all the rest of the passengers who suffered fatal injuries had their safety belts fastened. . . .
[Here the report provides numerous technical details regarding the approach pattern and describes the condition of the aircraft on impact, concluding that the damage made the cause of the crash difficulty to determine.]
The report continues:
The fact that both survivors reported seeing the airport a short time before the crash lends credence to the belief that the pilot misread the altimeter and was actually flying at 1300 feet indicated when he reported being at 2300 outbound over the inner locator at 1132C. This altitude would put the aircraft below the 1000 foot overcast and above the 500 foot broken ceiling which would enable the passengers to get a glimpse of the airport through the broken cloud layer.The time lapse of only 2 minutes from the position over the inner located outbound until the procedure report further suggests the actions of this pilot in setting up his approach were distinctly hurried. One wrist watch found in the wreckage was stopped at 1136C, so the time of the accident is assumed as between 1135C and 1136.
While the failure of the ILS equipment might be considered as conducive to the accident, the pilot was aware of the malfunction and planned to make his approach independently of this system. It does not appear therefore that this failure should be considered as a direct cause factor. (Report of AF Aircraft Accident, West Virginia State Archives.)
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While most families held individual private services for their lost loved ones, the entire community rallied to their support when a joint service for all was held at the Charleston Municipal Auditorium on April 10. Local newspapers reported that more than 4,000 attended the joint memorial service, with standing room only for more than 500. S/Sgt. Hazeltine was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery in Charleston, West Virginia. The American Battle Monuments Commission notes that Hazeltine was awarded the National Defense Service Medal. |
Article prepared by Patricia Richards McClure, who gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Syd Edwards, historian who has extensively written about the C-47 crash
September 2024
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
