ARIA 61-0328 Memorial
On that fateful early morning day of May 6, 1981, the Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft, ARIA 61-0328, lifted off from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Fairborn, Ohio, on a training mission. An hour later, all 21 aboard perished in a fatal crash over a farmer's field in Walkersville, Maryland.
Later that year, placement of a bronze plaque inscribed with the names of those who perished along with the planting of 21 flowering crab apple trees took place at the National Museum of the Air Force Fairborn, Ohio, with each tree representing a crew member or passenger.
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
Mary Elizabeth Frye
In Memoriam
Captain Thomas Edward Bayliss
Born 26 December 1950
Aged 30 Years
Chatham, Virginia
Staff Sergeant Joseph Thomas Brundige Junior
Born 15 January 1949
Aged 32 Years
Republic, Pennsylvania
Staff Sergeant Michael Wayne Darling
Born 3 October 1955
Aged 25 Years
Salina, Kansas
Staff Sergeant Douglas Alan Dibley
Born 23 June 1953
Aged 27 Years
Englewood, Ohio
Major Joseph Charles Emilio
Born 19 September 1945
Aged 35 Years
Long Beach, New York
Mrs. Peggy A. Emilio
Born 9 October 1946
Aged 34 Years
Wife of Joseph Emilio
Captain Donald Vincent Fonke
Born 26 November 1949
Aged 31 Years
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Mrs. Linda M. Fonke
Aged 30 Years
Wife of Donald Fonke
Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Barnes Frederick
Born 18 October 1941
Aged 39 Years
Pottstown, Pennsylvania
First Lieutenant Charles Edward Gratch
Born 13 September 1956
Aged 24 Years
Oneida, New York
Staff Sergeant Timothy Lane Harris
Born 9 April 1955
Aged 26 Years
Tarboro, North Carolina
Staff Sergeant George Milton Henninger
Born 5 February 1948
Aged 33 Years
Batavia, Illinois
Technical Sergeant Gregory Clayton Hodge
Born 12 July 1950
Aged 30 Years
Zana Point, California
Second Lieutenant Clayton Floyd Jones
Born 22 March 1957
Aged 24 Years
Granbury, Texas
Captain Walter Thomas Lusk
Born 27 December 1946
Aged 34 Years
Lawrence, Kansas
Senior Master Sergeant Larry Dean Middleton
Born 1 September 1946
Aged 34 Years
Jasper, Tennessee
Airman First Class Randall Charles Moffett
Born 2 September 1961
Aged 19 Years
Oil City, Pennsylvania
Chief Master Sergeant Eddie Wayne Presley
Born 8 May 1941
Aged 39 Years
Winter Haven, Florida
Staff Sergeant Glenn Samuel Resides Junior
Born 23 November 1955
Aged 25 Years
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
Mr. Michael W. Riley
USAF Veteran
Born 3 June 1956
Aged 24 Years
Trotwood, Ohio
Technical Sergeant Larry Gene Wetzel
Born 19 March 1947
Aged 34 Years
Freeburg, Illinois