— 19 Coggins. Tennessee Tragedies: Natural, Technological…Societal Disaster…. 2011, p. 310.

— 19 East Liverpool Review, OH. “Truck Crash Toll Hits 19.” 6-14-1943, p. 10.

— 19 National Safety Council. Accident Facts 1970 Edition. Chicago, IL: NSC, 1970. p. 63.

Narrative Information

June 5: “Nashville, Tenn., June 5. — (IP) — A Nashville Tennessean reporter said he and Capt. Clarke Painter of the military police counted the bodies of 16 soldiers killed near here tonight when a large army truck in which they were riding crashed through a bridge over a railroad right-of-way, falling 50 feet to the tracks below. Ten men injured in the accident were taken to the hospitals.” (Helena Independent, MT. “Soldiers Killed.” 6-6-1943, p. 2.)

June 7: “Nashville, Tenn., June 7. – (INS)….Eighteen soldiers were killed and eight were injured when a truck carrying troops crashed through a bridge and plunged 25 feet to a railroad track below….The dead in the truck crash as announced by 2^nd Army headquarters were: [18]

Staff Sgt. James W. Atkinson, Morehead City, N.C.;

Staff Sgt. Benjamin B. Odell, Miami Beach, Fla.;

Tech. 4^th Gr. Bryce W. Dixon Jr., Connellsville, Pa.;

Tech 4^th Gr. Frederick Peterson, Boston, Mass.”

Cpl. Robert C. Cook, Chicago;

Cpl. Cecil S. Dennis, Princeton, W.Va.;

Cpl. Theodore W. Houston, Philadelphia;

Cpl. Chalmer D. Poor, Edinburg, Ill.;

Cpl. Leroy K. Williams, Derry, Pa;

Tech. 5^th Gr. Joseph R. McLaren, Pittsburgh, Pa.;

Pfc. William A. Oltmann, New Orleans, La.;

Pearl [or Perl] M. Beane, Tidioute, Pa.;

Pvt. Jay W. Hammond, Refton, Pa.;^[1]

Pvt. Fred J. Wilkins, Joplin, Mo.;

Pvt. Forest F. Merrill, Preston, Md.;

Pvt. Dean K. Rossman, Milheim, Pa.;

Pfc. James H. Allen Jr., Kansas City, Mo., and

2^nd Lieut. Frederick R. Nourse Jr., Dedham, Mass….”

(El Paso Herald-Post, TX. “20 More Killed During Maneuvers.” 6-7-1943, p. 3.)

June 7: “Private Fred J. Wilkins, 33-year-old Joplin soldier, was one of 18 soldiers killed in a crash of an army truck late Saturday near Nashville, Tenn. Eight others were injured. The group was returning to a maneuver area after a week-end leave when the truck crashed through a bridge rail and down a 30-foot embankment. The vehicle left the road on a curve leading to a one-way bridge spanning a railroad track.

“Sixteen were dead when the bodies were removed from the wreckage and two later died at hospitals. Condition of two of the remaining injured was reported as still critical….” (Joplin News Herald, MO. “Joplin Soldier Among 18 Dead in Truck Crash.” 6-7-1943, p. 1.)

June 7: “Nashville, Tenn., June 7. – (INS) — Twenty deaths in two separate accidents involving soldiers over the weekend today brought to 47 the number of fatalities in the first seven weeks of the current second army maneuvers. Eighteen soldiers were killed and eight were injured when a truck carrying troops crashed through a bridge and plunged 25 feet to a railroad track below….

“The ill-fated truck was carrying soldiers to Bivouac from midnight leave when the crash occurred on the Woodycrest road bridge over the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis railroad four miles south of Nashville….” (New Castle News, PA. “Army Maneuvers Take Heavy Toll of Soldiers’ Lives.” 6-7-1943, p. 8.)

June 11: “Nashville, Tenn., June 11 – The death of Capt. Gordon B. Free of Bainbridge, O., here Thursday raised to 19 the total fatalities resulting from the crash of a big army truck through a bridge over a railroad Saturday night. Sixteen of the soldiers were killed outright and two more died Sunday.” (East Liverpool Review, OH. “Truck Crash Toll Hits 19.” 6-14-1943, p. 10.)

Sources

Coggins, Allen R. Tennessee Tragedies: Natural, Technological and Societal Disasters in the Volunteer State. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2011. Google partially digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=SfK6aBuqohQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

East Liverpool Review, OH. “Truck Crash Toll Hits 19.” 6-14-1943, p. 10. Accessed 1-31-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/east-liverpool-review-jun-11-1943-p-30/

El Paso Herald-Post, TX. “20 More Killed During Maneuvers.” 6-7-1943, p. 3. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=202244894&sterm=truck+nashville+army

Helena Independent, MT. “Soldiers Killed.” 6-6-1943, p. 2. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=5326000&sterm=truck+nashville

Joplin News Herald, MO. “Joplin Soldier Among 18 Dead in Truck Crash.” 6-7-1943, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=167309221&sterm

National Safety Council. “Greatest Number of Deaths in a Single Motor-Vehicle Accident.” Accident Facts 1970 Edition. Chicago, IL: NSC, 1970. p. 63.

New Castle News, PA. “Army Maneuvers Take Heavy Toll of Soldiers’ Lives.” 6-7-1943, p. 8. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=57590760&sterm

[1] Home listed elsewhere as Crafton, PA. (New Castle News, PA. “Army Maneuvers Take Heavy Toll of Soldiers’ Lives.” 6-7-1943, p. 8.)

1943 — June 5, Army truck crashes through bridge over railroad near Nashville, TN — 19