On February 25, 1944, a B-17G bomber from the Grand Island Army Air Field crashed half a mile east of here on the Langenheder farm, killing nine aboard. The Grand Island base served as a training location for aircrews before they left for overseas. The bomber was on a training flight in the early morning, crashed shortly after takeoff, slid through the field, struck a berm beside an irrigation ditch, and exploded. Those killed were 2nd Lt. John T. McMillen of Cleveland, Ohio; 2nd Lt. Kenneth E. Pierce of Brownsville, Vermont; F/O Alfred R. Flock of Boise, Idaho; S/Sgt. Glen M. Cox of Newport, Kentucky; S/Sgt. Donald J. Vitale of Crockett, California; Sgt. John M. Robertson of Atlanta, Georgia; Sgt. Stanley S. Sala of Cohoes, California; Sgt. Lloyd D. McNeil of Somers, Iowa; and Sgt. Edward Machos of Manchester, New Hampshire. Pilot 1st Lt. Howard T. Talbert was the lone survivor. More than 15,500 Army Air Forces airmen died in nearly 6,350 air crash training accidents in the U.S. during World War II.