1943 — July 12, Nitramon test explosion mishap, Eglin Air Force Base, Pensacola, FL–    17

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-5-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

— 17  Eglin Air Force Base. “Eglin host first explosive safety day.” 7-16-2010.

— 17  Heinze, Justin. “Memorial service honors the ‘Eglin 17’.” Eglin Dispatch, 7-29-2012, p. 4.

— 17  Moran. Explosive Accident Summary: [WW] II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, 1992, 130.

— 17  Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Two…Officers, 15…Soldiers, Killed…” 7-14-1943, p. 5.

Narrative Information

Eglin Public Affairs:  “Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. — In memory of the “Eglin 17,” personnel from the base marked the first ever “Explosive Safety Day” July 12. The day’s events included a memorial at the Air Armament Museum, munitions displays and Explosive Ordinance Disposal robot demonstrations at the base exchange. The date was set apart not only to promote explosive safety awareness, but to remember the greatest loss of life in base history.

“In 1943, 40 pounds of a newly developed explosive called Nitramon detonated during a test fire mission. Nitramon is a compound very similar to the mixture used in the April 1995 Oklahoma City bomb. In what was officially classified as a stump removal training mission, the inadvertent detonation killed 17 and injured another 51 Eglin military personnel. 

“The incident has been made into a movie, which was shown as part of the day’s activities. Retired Col. Allan D. Howser, a survivor of the incident and contributor to the film was on hand at the memorial….

“The DOD Explosive Safety Board is the agency responsible for overall explosive safety compliance and was established in 1928 in reaction to a series of explosive mishaps. The agencies first findings were that potentially disastrous conditions existed at more depots and more mishaps could be expected. Congress established the board to provide oversight of the development, manufacture, testing, maintenance, demilitarization, handling, transportation and storage of explosives, including chemical agents on DoD facilities worldwide….”  (Eglin Air Force Base. “Eglin host first explosive safety day.” 7-16-2010.)

Heinze:  “As each ring of the altar bell diminished into the silence of the church’s vaulted ceiling, another name was spoken and the bell rang anew.  “Peter Brown,” said an airman from one pulpit.  “Thomas Daniels,” came from another pulpit across the dais.  All the names of the “Eglin 17” were read aloud Thursday, July 12, in the Eglin Chapel Center during a ceremony commemorating the 69th anniversary of the deadliest accident in the history of Eglin Air Force Base.

“Some had ages and hometowns attached to the names. Many did not.  Fifteen of the 17 killed were enlisted African-Americans who were part of the 923rd Aviation Engineering Regiment, a segregated unit whose members helped construct the foundation of Eglin in addition to numerous air fields throughout Europe during World War II.  The other two men were white officers.

“Newspapers did not print any names after the accident. For 66 years, in fact, the victims of July

12, 1943, accident were unknown. So too was the cause of death.  “The lives were quickly forgotten in the scramble of war and the attitude of people, especially in this part of the country, toward African-Americans,” said Brig. Gen. David Harris, vice commander of Eglin’s Air Armament Center.

“That was until the Okaloosa County Branch of NAACP and Air Armament Center chief of weapons safety Michael Burke began to dig in 2009.

“Because having minorities in the military was controversial in 1943, the base covered up details of the accident. For decades, the world thought the Eglin 17 were “clearing out stumps” when they were killed by a blast. In reality, they were testing 401 pounds of a volatile new explosive called Nitramon — similar to the properties that would be used in the Oklahoma City bombings in 1995, according to the dcoumentary [documentation?].  The official report of the incident is buried deep in the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and has not yet been uncovered.

“Retired Chief Master Sgt. Luther Mitchell, a historian with the Okaloosa NAACP, said it will require funding and a “community effort” to dig out the report.  The names of the victims were found through extensive research of funeral home records in Pensacola and Okaloosa County.  “Back in 1943, this nation was not living up to its promise of everyone being equal,” Harris said.

“The most dangerous missions were often done by the least experienced individuals.”  Harris pointed to the 1944 tragedy at Port of Chicago in San Francisco, just a year after the Eglin incident, as an example of what can happen when “we forget.” Of the 300 killed there, more than 200 were African-American. ‘Again, the most dangerous jobs were given to those who were least experienced and trained,’ he said. ‘Remember the poet’s words,’ Harris said in his closing comments. ‘Ask not for whom the bell tolls.  It tolls for thee’.”  (Heinze, Justin (Northwest Florida Daily News). “Memorial service honors the ‘Eglin 17’.” Eglin Dispatch, 7-29-2012, p.4.)

Moran: “Eglin AFB…Pensacola, FL…07/12/43…Training…Demolition Blocks…Tree Stumps …17 [dead]…50 [injured].” (Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992, p. 130.)

Panama City News-Herald:  “Pensacola, Fla. July 14 – Bodies of 15 Negro soldiers killed in an explosion Monday afternoon at Eglin Field, Okaloosa county, are in a funeral home here.  Two white officers also were killed by the blast, the cause of which is now being investigated by a board of officers appointed by Brig. Gen. Grandison Gardner, commanding officer of the air force proving ground command….Fifty-one soldiers were injured but none critically.” (Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Two White Officers, 15 Negro Soldiers, Killed in Explosion.” 7-14-1943, p.5.)

Sources

Eglin Air Force Base. “Eglin host first explosive safety day.” 7-16-2010. Accessed 4-29-2013 at: http://www.eglin.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123213807

Heinze, Justin. “Memorial service honors the ‘Eglin 17’.” Eglin Dispatch, 7-29-2012, p. 4. Accessed 4-29-2013: http://www.pcnh-d.net/archives/2012/EglinDispatch/2012_jul_20/A4.pdf

Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992. Accessed 4-19-2013: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA507027

Panama City News-Herald, FL. “Two White Officers, 15 Negro Soldiers, Killed in Explosion.” 7-14-1943, p. 5. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=34822069&sterm