60 Years Ago This Week A Bomber Went Down In This Southern Minnesota Town
It was 60 years ago this week that a B-47 Bomber carrying its crew of 4 airmen crash-landed in a field near Comfrey Minnesota, all 4 men aboard were killed in the crash. The site of the crash is marked with a solitary wooden sign that simply reads B-47 Site.
It was February 20, 1963, the B-47 was coming back from a training run that took it over Heron Lake after it took off from its Air Force Base located in Lincoln Nebraska. The mission was to simulate a high-speed, low level bombing mission. Once the plane got over Heron Lake the mission was to bring the plane back up to a normal flying altitude in the sky when the multiple engined B-47 had according to the Sleepy Eye News a "right outboard engine mount failed, and the engine spun around the wing, putting the aircraft into an uncontrollable spiraling descent."
The men who were killed in the crash were identified as "Capt. Donald L. Livingston, First Lt. Michael R. Rebmann, First Lt. Thomas J. Hallgarth and Lt. Col. Lamar Ledbetter."
The crash was so intense it left a 25-foot deep crater that was 50-feet wide. If you chose to visit the site, it is located on private land but there is a wooden marker near the site. According to the Sleepy Eye News "anyone wishing to visit the B-47 Memorial Marker is encouraged to visit Comfrey’s North Park or the crash site just three miles north on Co. Rd. 16 (old Hwy. 258); turn left (west) on 130th St. and proceed three-fourths of a mile."