Each day working in the woods is an adventure - some more remarkable than others - and we find ourselves discovering new things, even in areas where we often frequent. We are treated to constant natural changes due to the shifting seasons, extreme weather events, and simply the passage of time. We also stumble across reminders of human activity - old stone walls, cellar holes, remnants of long dormant farming and logging tools, along with less romantic evidence of other excursions (aka beer cans).
Somberly, our team has begun finding small pieces of metal debris from an aircraft wing and fuselage, strewn along a large stretch of land up on our ridgeline, which is part of the Cold Hollow Mountain range. Upon investigation, this appears to be from a US Air Force B-47 Stratojet crash that occurred over 60 years ago on June 12, 1958. The training flight originated from Hunter Air Force Base in Georgia en route to Loring AFB in Maine and was flying on instruments in poor weather. Unfortunately none of the crew of four survived. We’ve yet to discover it, but in 2002 a plaque was placed in a tree in the 5-acre debris field memorializing the crew:
Public information on these men is hard to find, but we have learned that Lt Jannarone was 25 yrs old from Nutley, NJ. An avid athlete and scholar, both in high school and at Princeton University, he married his high school sweetheart who was pregnant at the time of the crash. In 1959 his high school established the Lt Paul Jannarone Memorial Trophy for scholar-athletes. Also Hunter AFB created the Craven Memorial Trophy to be awarded each year to the top combat crew in their honor.
We’ll continue to respect and appreciate their ultimate sacrifice, as we work in this beautiful yet unforgiving forest.