Michael A. Murray
Sergeant
United States Army Finance Corps
Michael A. Murray, the son of Josephine Wade Murray, was born on 23 September 1954 in Henderson, Kentucky. The family would remain in Henderson for 11 years old, then moved to Washington, Indiana.
Michael attended West End Elementary, Washington Junior High School, and Washington Senior High School. While in high school, Michael was on the track team his freshman, sophomore, and junior years; played football his freshman and sophomore years; and was a member of the Hatchet basketball team his sophomore and senior years. He also participated in various intramural sports. Michael graduated from Washington Senior High School in 1972.
After graduation, Michael enlisted in the Indiana National Guard. After his basic and advanced individual training, Michael returned to Washington and worked on the railroad. In 1974, he joined the active Army and would eventually be station in Germany, South Korea, San Francisco, California, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
On 5 June 1968 (while assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s 101st Finance Company at Fort Campbell, Kentucky), Michael would become part of the Middle East Peacekeeping Mission in the Sinai with the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO). This international peacekeeping organization, made up of contingents from ten nations, had been established under terms of a protocol between Egypt and Israel signed on August 3, 1981. The MFO has had the mission of implementing security provisions contained in the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. On 11 December, Michael and the rest of the Middle East Peacekeeping Mission from Fort Campbell boarded Arrow Airlines Flight 1285 (a DC-8-63 charter flight) in Cairo, Egypt; with a planned technical stop in Cologne, Germany and brief refueling stop in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. On the morning of 12 December 12, at 0645 local time (0515 EST), the plane crashed just after takeoff form Gander International Airport. All on board perished as a result of the impact or the post-crash fire, which, fed by the contents of the stricken aircraft’s full fuel tanks, took local fire fighters nearly four hours to bring under control and approximately thirty hours to completely extinguish. The firefighters were hampered in their efforts because of the rugged terrain, which initially prevented more than one fire truck at a time from being used. Word of the crash spread quickly throughout Fort Campbell and the numerous news agencies’. Official news of Michael’s death came when a soldier from Fort Benjamin Harrison (located at Indianapolis, Indiana), arrived at the Murray household at 9 p.m. on 13 December. Mrs. Murray and other family members attended the memorial service for victims of the crash at Fort Campbell on 16 December. Also attending the memorial service was President and Mrs. Regan, who hugged and greet Mrs. Murray.
A member of the Beulah AME Church in Washington, Michael was survived by his mother; three brothers Darrel, Steven, and Charles; and three sisters Jacqulin Morris, Linda Staples, and Charlotte. Also surviving were five aunts, two uncles, one great uncle, two nephews, four nieces, and several cousins.
Source of information:
1. Ancestry.com. Kentucky Birth Index, 1911-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, USA; MyFamily.com, Inc., 2005. Original data: Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. Kentucky Birth, Marriage, and Death Databases: Births 1911-1999. Frankfort, Kentucky, USA: Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.
2. Washington Times Herald (Washington, Indiana), 16 December 1985, page 1.
There are two memorials dedicated to the devastating Gander, Newfoundland crash. The Silent Witness Statue and the Cross of Sacrifice at Gander. The main memorial is at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
The Silent Witness Statue has two children holding olive branches and one of the peace keeping soldiers in between the two children holding their hands. The olive branches stand for the peace keeping mission the troops where on. The Cross of Sacrifice stands near the Silent Witness. The cross has a piece of the emergency exit door, from the aircraft, in bedded in it. On the door piece is the inscription “Rendezvous with Destiny.” The statue stands in a clearing made by the plane when it crashed.
At Fort Campbell, Kentucky is Gander Grove officially known as Task Force 3-502 Memorial. On this memorial are the names of the two hundred forty-eight Screaming Eagles who where killed in the crash. There is also a brief description of the event and a Bible verse on the memorial. The Bible verse is Isaiah 10:30-31, which reads “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles." Two hundred forty-eight trees are in perfect formation with plaques in front of them to honor those who died.
