The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

On the night of November 30, 1992, 9 miles north of Harlem, Montana 13 airmen were lost when two C-141B Starlifter Cargo Planes collided. The airmen were stationed at McChord Air Force Base in Great Falls and were on a low-level refueling exercise. The tragic event was covered nationally, and the country mourned the lives of those Airmen killed while serving their country. The response from the residents of Harlem and the surrounding communities was memorable, efficient and remarkable by what they were able to put together to show their support for the Airmen and their families.

Francis Bardanouve was a Representative in Helena, Vic Miller was the Mayor of Harlem and Darwin Zellmer was at the scene the night of the crash taking picture and helped in the search for victims. The next day Zellmer turned in his film to Miller who took possession as a representative for the United States Air Force. "I reached out to Vic and Frances stating that the community needed to do something for the 13 victims and their families," stated Zellmer. "Vic stated that he had already been contacted by Frances and a fund was already established at the Bank of Harlem to raise money to pay tribute to the families." The Bank of Harlem opened up a zero-charge account which it has maintained for the past 30 years even through the changing of Bank Presidents. All this took place within the first 24 hours.

Within the following week a committee was formed, and they began brainstorming ideas to best pay tribute to the victims. Mary O'Brien was instrumental early on, serving as the Secretary/Treasurer of the committee. Frances and Darwin were Co-chairs of the committee. Eventually the group settled on the Harlem Memorial Site and had all the planning, logistics and funding done and completed by Memorial Day 1993. The crash site memorial was completed in the summer of 1993. All but one family was contacted and present at the dedication, The one family happened to be a split family and notification was delayed.

At the dedication ceremony there were over 800 people present, including a large military Contingent on south main street in Harlem. The area between main street and the intersection was blocked off and a military fly over was performed with the missing man formation being highlighted. "All of this was put together with free will donations and volunteer help, and with no government involvement," said Zellmer. "Money came from all over Montana, including the families, as well as military personal. The labor was done by a tremendous community effort involving folks from Malta to Havre including both business and individuals. Donations of all the concrete and the labor were also received. The stones all came from the Snake Butte Quarry on Fort Belknap as we were graciously granted authorization from the Tribe to acquire them for the memorial."

The memorial sites have been maintained by volunteers through the years, "Basically the committee asked people in the community to adopt a stone for each of the airmen. Some have maintained that obligation for the entire period. Others have moved on, left the community, or otherwise become incapable of maintaining the stone. In those cases, the stone was passed on to be maintained by another family," added Zellmer.

With the 30-year anniversary fast approaching the Airman Memorial committee is reaching out to the local communities for suggestions on how to best recognize this significant anniversary. "We are open to any and all suggestions in making this a memorable moment for the families.

Brad and Lynn Eister, left with Dwain and Olive Lavinder, Airmen Memorial Committee members. Brad is the brother of Captain Mark Alan Eister of Langdale, Alabama, one of the Airmen Killed in the November 30, 1992 crash.

Through the years many of the families have stopped by the memorial in Harlem as well as the crash site memorial and to a tee all have left with a tremendous amount of thanks to the community for their gracious commitment to memorializing this tragedy. Just last week we had the brother of one of the victims visit and look through all of my memorabilia regarding the memorial and he was left in awe by the support shown by the community. He just couldn't believe that people locally would take the time to recognize someone from Alabama that they didn't even know in that way," said Zellmer.

We really want to keep the committee active and going in the years to come and are hoping that some younger people have an insightful way to honor the memorial this fall and encourage them to become part of the committee. If you have a suggestion for the committee, please contact Darwin Zellmer at 406-945-5591. Donations from the Airmen's families as well as military personnel and folks involved in building the memorial have funded the committees' efforts through the years. The committee had 17 members originally. Today the committee includes just eight members, all original. To keep the memorial maintained will most certainly require the next generation to become a part of the memorial committee. Rhawney Hopkins was a flower girl at the original dedication on Memorial Day, 1993. Rhawney along with Steve Hopkins, or a member of the family has decorated the main stone at both sites annually for each year since.