B-17G "Flying Fortress" and P-47D "Thunderbolt" Crash, 1944

The bombsight the Army combed these fields for was a guarded secret. Bombardiers swore an oath in training to protect it, crews handed it over to a bomb vault after each mission, and each M-9 sight cost $8,800. Some 72,000 M-9s were built for the Army Air Forces alone. Yet the secret had leaked before the war began. Herman W. Lang, a Norden company employee, reportedly reconstructed the plans from memory on a 1938 visit to Germany. He was arrested in 1941 with the Duquesne spy ring and sentenced to 18 years.

What the plaque says

B-17G "Flying Fortress" and P-47D "Thunderbolt" Crash, 1944 On September 8, 1944, P-47 "Thunderbolt" fighters from the Bruning Army Air Field conducted training attack maneuvers with two formations of B-17 "Flying Fortress" bombers from the Sioux City Army Air Field. When one P-47 attempted to terminate its mock attack, it collided with the left wing of a B-17, rup- turing the bomber's fuel tank. Both planes exploded. Most of the B-17 wreckage landed on the Milo Buzek, Dea Baldwin, and Henry Nezda farms, 9 miles south and ¼ mile east of Milligan. The tail section fell on the Lester Krupicka farm. Military officials conducted an extensive search to recover the B-17's top secret Norden bombsight. The P-47 crashed on the Reinhart Schielke farm, 9 miles south and 1 mile west of Milligan, and its pilot, 2nd Lt. John T. McCarthy, was killed. Of the B-17 crewmen, Cpl. LeNoir A. Greer, Cpl. Walter A. Divan, Pfc. Reuben L. Larson, and Pvt. Albert L. Mikels survived, while 2nd Lt. William F. Washburn, 2nd Lt. Bernard I. Hall, 2nd Lt. Lyle C. Baxmann, F/O George A. Budovsky, Cpl. John E. Tuchols, and Pvt. Henry C. Sedberry lost their lives. Milligan Memorial Committee/Milligan Public Library Nebraska State Historical Society, 2010 Families of the Crewmen and Friends of the Community

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• BT-13B "Valiant" and P-47D "Thunderbolt" Crash, 1944 — steps away
• Two B-24 "Liberators" Crash Near Milligan, 1943 — steps away
• The Blizzard of 1888 — steps away
• The Pioneer Chapel and Český Bratří Cemetery — 1.1 mi