Members of the military stand at attention during the ceremony, as flags wave in the background.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Ceremony marks 74th anniversary of fatal train crash
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A helmet, rifle and boots form a battlefield cross — or fallen solider cross — in front of the monument dedicated to the 33 members of the 109th who lost their lives in the train crash on Sept. 11, 1950. Dog tags hang from the cross in tribute.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Members of the military place dog tags at the foot of the memorial monument in honor of the countless soldiers who have lost their lives in service.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
KINGSTON — A group of soldiers and veterans held a memorial ceremony on Sunday outside the Kingston Armory to honor 33 members of Wilkes-Barre’s 109th Field Artillery who lost their lives in a train wreck on Sept. 11, 1950.
The service marked the 74th anniversary of the crash, which was considered the worst peacetime disaster to ever befall Pennsylvania soldiers, according to speakers at the ceremony.
On that fateful day, after being mobilized for service in the Korean War, members of the 109th Field Artillery were traveling on a troop train heading toward Camp Atterbury, Indiana when the train stopped for repairs around 5 a.m. in Coshocton, Ohio.
A passenger train called the ‘Spirit of Saint Louis’ then collided with the troop train, despite warning devices that had been placed by the train’s crew.
Along with the thirty-three members who were killed, another 278 aboard the train were injured, according to an Interstate Commerce Commission report on the wreck.
The commemoration ceremony also paid tribute to all of the soldiers of the regime who lost their lives during the organization’s 249 history, from those who died during the Revolutionary War to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.
Dog tags were placed at the stone memorial as well as a memorial wreath in honor of those fallen soldiers.
Members of the artillery also placed a white cross near the monument in tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which occurred 51 years following the tragic train crash.
Lt. Colonel Scott Brunnenmeyer shared brief remarks during the ceremony and expressed gratitude and grief over the countless men and women who have given their lives in service of their country.
“Their journey was cut short, but their legacy endures as a poignant reminder of the dangers faced by those who serve.”