At 12:17 AM on June 15, 1947, a U.S. Army Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber strayed off course during a severe storm and crashed on nearby Hawks Mountain. All twelve crewmembers perished. Assigned to the 43rd Bomb Group, the crew was on a Strategic Air Command training mission from Tucson, Arizona, to Bedford, Massachusetts. The dead were 1st Lt Robert G Fessler, pilot, of Madison, Wisconsin; 2nd Lt Wilfred E Gassett, copilot, of Brockton, Massachusetts; 2nd Lt Cesare P Fontana, navigator, of W. Springfield, Massachusetts; S/Sgt Oliver W Hartwell Jr, engineer, of Wells, Maine; S/Sgt Sylvester S Michalac, radar operator, of Summithill, Pennsylvania; T/Sgt Clayton K Knight, radio operator, of Knoxville, Tennessee; T/Sgt Paul H Fetterhoff, central fire controller, of Shreveport, Louisiana; Cpl Robert H Clark, gunner, of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts; S/Sgt John J O'Toole, gunner, of Queens Village, New York; M/Sgt D D Jack, gunner, of The Dalles, Oregon; Cpl Harry Humphrey, gunner, of Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Pfc Robert M Stewart, passenger, of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.