Dyersburg, Tenn.–Sixteen airmen died in a training mission in 1945 and a historical marker was placed in Dyer County today commemorating the site. The Dyersburg/Dyer County Chamber conducted a ribbon-cutting with the Dyer County Historical Society and Dyer County Bicentennial Committee.
Flying a training mission on the 24th of Jan. of 1945 two B-17 Flying Fortress bombers from Dyersburg Army Airfield, located at Halls, Tenn. collided in mid-air, killing 16 airmen.
One plane crashed southeast of this location near the I.C.R.R. track killing all ten onboard. The 2nd bomber flew on northeast two miles further where four men managed to parachute to safety, but the remaining crewmen were killed when the last bomber fell from the sky.
This would be the last fatal crash flown from the base.