Crew E180 Memorial

Friends, Family and Fellow KI Sawyer Alumni, Honestly, I’ve been thinking about this for several months now, trying to come up with the right words to say. On 31 January 1989 we lost part of our family in a tragic aircraft accident at Dyess AFB, TX. Our crew left KI on their way to the Pacific - who knew that was the last time we would see them. Over the years, I have read many stories from those that served with this group and one thing has always been true – the vow we took that even though they were gone, Crew E 180 would not be forgotten. Years ago, a memorial was put in place at KI to honor the memory of those who lost their lives in that tragic accident. Unfortunately, since the base has closed, the memorial has fallen into a state of disrepair. Time and the elements have taken their toll and we need your help to get this back into the shape it deserves to be to properly honor the memory of our fallen family. Our plan is to move the existing rock and plaque to an area near other memorials so that it will be in a position to be better maintained. We’d also like to change the words on the plaque and remove the reference to the maple trees that were planted. The trees were a great idea, but most have not survived the Sawyer winters and in the new location of the memorial they will not work. The Sawyer museum will hold the funds we collect and the money will be used to purchase the new plaque and to ready the site for the memorial. We need to move the large boulder that will hold the plaque and to pour a concrete base to support it. The project should run in the neighborhood of $3,500 to complete. I would hope we could easily do that and any extra funds will be used to maintain the memorial and to help the museum with their operating expenses. We hoped the museum website would have been updated in order to accept direct donations for this project. But as of right now, it has not been updated. So I have opened an account on the website gofundme.com.  I have thoroughly investigated this site and it is very reliable. You can also go to the museum website for information on how to send donations by check. Please go to this link (http://www.kishamuseum.org/index.php) for that information. Once you are at the site, please go to the "Giving" section. When the site is updated, you will find a scroll down menu and a place to contribute to the E 180 memorial project. It’s been over 25 years since that tragic accident. Please take time to reflect on all of those great memories of these 10 young men that lost their lives that day. I know they are gone, but I am certain they have not been forgotten. Respectfully, Scott Harris, CMSgt USAF (Ret) Inline image 1