In the early afternoon of January 10, 1945, a B-25C airplane from Greenville Army Air Base in Greenville, South Carolina, crashed in a field near the intersection of present-day Godfrey Road and Walton's Mill Road in the southwestern part of Morgan County during a low-altitude rendezvous mission at 500 feet. Witnesses reported the airplane was flying below altitude and very close to the trees, and Army Air Forces reports said that after striking a tree it crashed to the ground and burst into flames. Witnesses also reported smoke coming from the plane before the crash, suggesting mechanical failure, and the official report filed with the AAF Office of Flying Safety identified a possible loss of power in the right engine as a contributing factor, though the underlying cause was listed as unknown. Those killed were Lt. Calvin Elden Stocking, 21, pilot, of Greenville, South Carolina; Lt. Samuel James Strong, 21, co-pilot, of Bakersfield, California; Lt. Frank H. Bartels, 25, bombardier-navigator, of Ronceverte, West Virginia; Cpl. William E. Thrash, 20, engineer gunner, of Murphreesboro, Arkansas; and Cpl. Robert Deana Rogers, 19, radio-gunner, of Maplewood, New Jersey.