MUSINGS
By Jack Kopstein
IN MEMORIAM
The Trumpet will be heard on High
The Dead shall live, the living die
And their Music will un-tune the Sky
US Navy Band Air Disaster in 1960
It has been 49 years since the shock and sadness of when America’s top-notch corps of military musicians of the United States Navy Band lost their lives in an air accident in Brazil on February 25, 1960. President Eisenhower called the crash extremely tragic as it wiped out the cream of the Navy band’s orchestra, which some said could take its place with the greatest of the world’s symphony orchestras. Nineteen of the orchestra members perished, including one of the leaders, Lt. J. Harold Fultz. The group were scheduled to have played at a dinner that evening in honour of the President of Brazil. It cast a pall over the entire visit, the first by a seated President of the United States. “President Eisenhower was extremely upset and saddened as he knew band members personally,” said White House press secretary Jim Haggerty.
Most of the newspapers in the United States selected a United Press International backgrounder to describe the work of US Navy musicians. The article said in part,
Most of the members are enlisted men who fought their way to the top in extremely tough competition. The band is faced with the task of replacing the entire orchestral contingent of strings. In doing so, it will follow the same high standards in effect since 1925. That was the year the Navy band came into existence, under an act of Congress signed by President Calvin Coolidge.
The conductor of the Navy band in 1960 was Commander Brendler, who had held the post since 1937. He was with the larger contingent at Buenos Aeries when the crash occurred. The remaining band members were grief stricken.
A memorial stained glass window was erected in the Christ Church in Rio de Janeiro and dedicated on September 24, 1961. The Chief of the US Naval Mission in Brazil unveiled the memorial which read “TO THE GLORY AND MEMORY OF THE MEN OF THE US NAVY WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE AIR DISASTER FEBRUARY 25th 1960.”
The following is a list of the UNITED STATES NAVY BAND that perished in this terrible accident.
Assistant Leader LT Johann H. Fultz
MU2 William F. Albrecht
MUC Elmer L. Armiger
MUC Henry Bein
MU2 Milton C. Bergey
MU1 Robert L. Clark
MU1 Anthony M. D’Amico
MUS Albert J. Desiderio
MU1 Reyes S. Gaglio, Jr.
MU1 Richard D. Harl
MU1 Gerald R. Meier
MUC Raymond H. Micallef
MUC James A. Mohs
MUC Walter M. Penland
MUC Earl W. Richey
MUC Jerome Rosenthal
MU1 Vincent Tramontana
MU1 Roger B. Wilklow
MUC Jefferson B. Young
18 Responses for "Jack’s Musings: US Navy Band Disaster of 1960"
April 15th, 2009 at 6:52 am
Thank you so much for the article on the loss of nineteen Navy Band members in 1960. How well I remember that day as I was stationed at the Navy School of Music in Anacostia. It was, indeed, a very sad day. I have reflected on that day many times in the last 49 years. Thank you so much for your article.
God bless
Harold Childs
April 15th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Harold,
Thank you for you kind words.
May 10th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I am very interested in this
May 26th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Interesting site, but much advertisments on him. Shall read as subscription, rss.
July 11th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
I was trying to find the name of the church in Rio de Janiero that dedicated a memorial stained glass window in memory of the bandsmen when I came across this article. I was 10 years old when my father(Earl Richey) was killed in that plane crash. I can’t believe 49 years have passed. One of the blessings of having a father as a musician is whenever I hear the French horn, it’s as if I hear his voice. It’s very comforting to me. Thank you for this article.
Dawn Richey Moyer
July 13th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Dawn,
Thank you for taking the time to read the article! Feel free to pass your comments onto Jack Kopstein jack@militarymusic.com the author of the article. I’m glad we could help you find the information you were looking for! Thanks again for reading!
Eric Scism
August 18th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
My grandfather was one of the musicians in the crash. Walter M. Penland. I have found a few articles but nothing like this one thank you so much!
September 7th, 2009 at 9:25 am
I grew up in Washington, D.C. and my Dad, when I was a kid, always pointed out a dock area along the Potomac river (or should I say a place where a doc used to be) ..and some adjacent stone steps – not too far from the Lincoln Memorial – in which he would sit to destress from his job and listen to a wonderful “military band” as he called it (he was an immigrant who spoke in broken English). He talked about how they no longer played after a “terrible air crash in which all were killed” and he further went on to say it was Eisenhower’s band (obviously some of those facts weren’t straight – but this is also my childhood memory at play) …but I always remembered him talking of this and how sad he was at the loss… and that the band no longer played on that doc area (he ALWAYS pointed it out as we drove by). I had never heard of any of this myself through news or anything as I grew up …but this was of course before the internet. So just today YEARS later …I had remembered this… and thought “Hey I can probably look up what this was all about” ..and sure enough here it all is. It’s nice to have this and have the connection to all of it in memoriam to all of those that passed away (including my Dad who is long since passed on too).
December 22nd, 2009 at 1:38 pm
My father, Hy Shulman, was a violinist in the Navy Band at the time of this crash. He was scheduled to go on this trip, but as I recall, he had the mumps and couldn’t go. My mother always said she had an awful premonition about the trip, and begged my father not to go! Had he gone, I would not have been born 19 months later!
December 22nd, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Debbie,
Wow! Talk about a mother’s intuition! Thank you for sharing your story. It’s always great to hear from the family of our military band’s members.
-Eric
March 25th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Thank you for this article!! My father, Jim Clark (James W.Clark), was a trombone player in the band at that time (Ret.1969?). I remember him telling me he was disapointed because a band member ( name?) just in front of him got the last seat on that plane. He would have to go by ship, a longer trip. He and the other band members got the news of the planes crash, if I rember correctly, while aboard ship. He said he felt guilty for years. I was born in 1962. Jim passed a few years ago. Thanks to everyone who posted here! I am also a musician and I am proud of my father and his band, the United States Navy Band. signed, Victor J. Clark vjmkclark@verizon.net
March 25th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Victor,
That is amazing! I’m sure your father was disappointed at the time, but wow that’s amazing that by chance he was not on that plane. Just incredible! We love hearing about these stories! Thanks for sharing.
-Eric Scism
April 27th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
I still remember the day the phone rang to deliver the tragic news and our lives changing forever. Thank you for keeping the memory of these talented navy musicians alive for posterity. It is unbelievable that 50 years have passed.
May they rest in peace.
Juanita Gaglio
May 30th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
I was only 8 years old, but I can still remember the panic in our family
when they heard about the crash. The details were fuzzy, but everyone figured my Grandfather was on that plane as he was the Conductor.
It turned out that my Grandfather was in Buenos Aeries with a larger contingent of the band. Sadly it was Lt. Johann H. Fultz the assistant leader and 18 others who lost their lives…….but the Band plays on.
Robert Brendler
Rockville, Maryland
August 1st, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Thank you for this! I have to humbly say, my father, Sonarman 2nd class Frederick Earl Wilson, was one of the three survivors who sat in the tail section that fateful day. He does not talk much about it, however when the Navy Band plays to this day, he becomes solemn and has a far away look in his eye, especially when they play Eternal Father Strong to Save. Thank you again!
October 3rd, 2010 at 4:22 pm
My father, TM Chief Robert Fillmore Osborne, was one of the naval men killed on that fateful day, February 25, 1960, in Rio de Janeiro. Dad caught a hop on the Naval plane carrying President Eishenhower’s band members because he wanted to get back home to his wife and three children in Norfolk, VA.
TM Chief Robert Osborne had been called up for a “top secret mission” on an U.S. Navy Advisory Group sent to Argentina to assist the South American government in anti-submarine warfare during the Cuban Crisis. He was not allowed to tell his wife where he was going or when he was getting back home.
I will never forget that day of the crash; I along with my sister & brother were home sick with chicken pox. There was a news flash and my mother screaming that she was sure that our father was dead; then her frantic calls to Little Creek Naval Base, the TV station, and the newspaper, trying to get information. It would be hours later when the phone rang and the first name read off the list of the men killed was my father’s name. Mom broke down and then there were Naval men knocking on our door to console my mother. The school teachers from Little Creek Elementary brought me, my sister & brother consolatory letters from our classmates.
There was a day for memorial services on my father’s ship, USS Sierra, and then the burial service that we attended at Arlington National Cemetery on a very cold and windy day. Dad was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full Military Honors, nine grave sites down from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. At the time of his death, TM Chief Robert Osborne, was 39 years old with 2 years left before retiring from the Navy.
Our lives would never be the same again. I had just turned 8 years old (December 30) and my sister & brother had just turned 7 years old (Janunary 11) at the time of his death. My mother never remarried.
Robert Osborne was a wonderful father that left me with many great memories. The love that he had given me sustained me through many bad times; it had a tremendous influence with how I raised my children.
October 4th, 2010 at 8:48 am
What an amazing recount of that day’s tragedy Olivia! Thank you for sharing your story with us. It’s so amazing to hear all the different ways this story affected so many people’s lives in different ways.
March 22nd, 2012 at 12:03 pm
My father, Sonarman 2nd Class F. E. Wilson was one of the three survivors. I was born 4 days after the memorial at Christ Church in Brazil. My heart goes out to the families who lost their sons, brothers, fathers, grandfathers on that tragic day. God Bless.
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