THE WALL OF FACES

From a GHHS graduate, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Dear Lt Gary Leach, Thank you for your service as a Navigator, Electronic Warfare Officer. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Happy Spring! For many of us, we have begun Lent. The time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.

I still think about you after 50 years.

On July 27 1969, a U.S. Air Force Boeing B-52D Stratofortress strategic bomber (#56-0630) from the 17th Bomb Wing, 4133rd Bomb Wing, Strategic Air Command, crashed into the Pacific Ocean following the failure of the starboard wing after takeoff from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. All eight personnel aboard were killed. The lost crewmen included aircraft commander MAJ Edward W. Wyatt, co-pilot CAPT John A. Albasio, radar navigator CAPT Donald J. Maccio, navigator CAPT Edward A. Miskowski, electronic warfare officer (EWO) 1LT Gary P. Leach, and gunner TSGT Clinton E. Tibbetts. The two other U. S. Air Force personnel reportedly on board the aircraft were LTC Robert H. Barr and TSGT Richard Piskula. The wing loss occurred about the time the nose wheel left the ground during takeoff. Eyewitness accounts reported that the plane continued momentarily in level flight, then made a violent bank below the sight of the cliff at the end of the runway, crashing into the ocean. Aircraft commander CAPT Wyatt attempted to eject, and his chute was found either fully or partially deployed. His remains were recovered. The remains of the four other crewmen and one passenger were also recovered. However, neither Leach’s nor Barr’s bodies were found. Tibbetts was posthumously promoted to Master Sergeant. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, aviation-safety.net, and web.archive.org]

First Lieutenant Gary Paul Leach, Served with the 393rd Bomb Squadron, 4133rd Bomb Wing (Provisional), Strategic Air Command (SAC).