World War II Honoree

Charles P. Armstrong

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Winchester, Massachusetts

Honored By

Jerry Penry

RANK: CAPTAIN. HE WAS A PASSENGER IN A B-17 ‘FLYING FORTRESS’ BOMBER, WHO WAS KILLED APRIL 10, 1945 ON A CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT. THE B-17 CREW WAS ON A ROUND-ROBIN FLIGHT FROM MCCOOK, NEBRASKA ARMY AIR FIELD TO MAXWELL ARMY AIR FIELD, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA. THE MISSION WAS TO PICK UP A STRANDED B-29 BOMBER CREW AND RETURN TO MCCOOK WITH A STOPOVER IN ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI TO PICK UP MORE PASSENGERS. ON THE LAST LEG OF THE FLIGHT BACK TO MCCOOK AND IN THE EARLY MORNING DARKNESS HOURS, THE ‘FLYING FORTRESS’ CRASHED NEAR WELLFLEET, NEBRASKA DUE TO AN INCORRECT ALTIMETER INSTRUMENT SETTING. THE AIRCRAFT WITH 14 AIRMEN ON BOARD STRUCK THE GROUND ON ITS BELLY, SKIDDED FOR A DISTANCE AND DISINTEGRATED, FATALLY INJURING FIVE FLIERS.