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Remember...James Eros Creasey
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James Eros Creasey was born July 17, 1929, at Cabin Creek in Kanawha County, West Virginia, to Henry Lewis Creasey and Myrtle C. Dudding Creasey. James had one sister, Ruth Creasey Hastings (1920-1980), and one brother, Robert Bertram Creasey (1922-1996). Another sister, Edith Marcelene (1925), died in infancy. It should be noted that many accounts of the C-47 crash spell his surname as Creasy.
Little is known of the early life of James Creasey. Growing up in Cabin Creek, it is likely that he attended East Bank High School. He was a cousin of basketball great Jerry West, his aunt being Cecile Sue Creasey West. Sad to note, another cousin—David Lee West, Jerry's brother—was killed in the Korean War, so James's death was a double tragedy for the Creasey family. The 1950 Federal Census shows that James was not married and worked for a chemical company. However, a history of the 167th Airlift Squadron indicates he was an employee of Libby-Owens-Ford Glass Company. The history also notes he was survived by his wife, Ardith Stanley Creasey.
| With the Korean War looming, it was likely that James Creasey would be drafted, so, like many of his comrades in arms, he chose to enlist. He ended up in the 123rd Fighter Bomber Group of the 123rd Fighter Bomber Wing of the 9th Air Force and rose to the rank of sergeant. Thus, he would have been training for deployment to Korea when his unit boarded their flight on April 8, 1951, at Godman Air Force Base, Kentucky, for the brief flight to the Kanawha [Charleston] Airport, where they would deplane to attend a funeral service for Major Woodford W. Sutherland. Two planeloads took off from Godman; only one would return, and 21 of those mourning airmen would themselves be mourned. The C-47 in which they were flying crashed short of the airport; 19 were killed immediately, and the two survivors died in the days following. |  |
Much has been written locally about the crash and its aftermath—the Charleston Gazette and Daily Mail offered timely coverage of the event and its aftermath, and other newspapers around the state followed suit. In a practice no longer familiar, newspapers often published an "extra," which allowed for frequent updates on breaking news. The following account, however, is excerpted from the actual accident report:
After reporting over the Charleston Radio Range at 5000 feet on an IFR flight from Godman Air Force Base, Kentucky to Charleston, West Virginia, the pilot was cleared by Charleston Approach Control to descent to 3500 feet, pending approach clearance. . . . [The pilot then indicated a turn procedure.] The procedure turn report was the last radio contact with the aircraft.The C-47 crashed into a hill approximately 1150 feet high located 4.6 miles from the approach end of runway 23 at Kanawha County Airport and 1.07 miles West Northwest of the Outer Marker beacon. Both wings of the aircraft were sheared off on impact by trees. The fuselage came to rest approximately 125 yards from the point of impact and was almost completely consumed by the fire which apparently was instantaneous with collision. . . .
One of the two survivors of the crash was a rated pilot riding as passenger who succumbed to burn injuries within less than 24 hours. The other survivor lived for approximately one week after the crash. The statements of the survivors indicate that they were positioned further aft in the plane than any of the other passengers and it is worthy of note that one of the survivors stated that to the best of his knowledge all the rest of the passengers who suffered fatal injuries had their safety belts fastened. . . .
[Here the report provides numerous technical details regarding the approach pattern and describes the condition of the aircraft on impact, concluding that the damage made the cause of the crash difficulty to determine.]
The report continues:
The fact that both survivors reported seeing the airport a short time before the crash lends credence to the belief that the pilot misread the altimeter and was actually flying at 1300 feet indicated when he reported being at 2300 outbound over the inner locator at 1132C. This altitude would put the aircraft below the 1000 foot overcast and above the 500 foot broken ceiling which would enable the passengers to get a glimpse of the airport through the broken cloud layer.The time lapse of only 2 minutes from the position over the inner located outbound until the procedure report further suggests the actions of this pilot in setting up his approach were distinctly hurried. One wrist watch found in the wreckage was stopped at 1136C, so the time of the accident is assumed as between 1135C and 1136.
While the failure of the ILS equipment might be considered as conducive to the accident, the pilot was aware of the malfunction and planned to make his approach independently of this system. It does not appear therefore that this failure should be considered as a direct cause factor. (Report of AF Aircraft Accident, West Virginia State Archives.)
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Another group of airmen traveled in a separate plane, but upon notification of the crash, they returned to Godman. A joint memorial service for the West Virginia casualties was held at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston. |
Sgt. Creasey was interred in Montgomery Memorial Park at London in eastern Kanawha County. His family's choice of headstone depicts an airplane in flight, the last remembrance of the young man who never got to live out his dreams.
Article prepared by Patricia Richards McClure, who gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Syd Edwards, historian who has extensively written about the C-47 crash
June 2024
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
