Maine's Deadliest Plane Crash Is Remembered, 65 Years Later

John Kierstead first learned about the crash as a child, and recently, he has been collecting stories from survivors and witnesses. He doesn't want the crash site to be forgotten.

On July 11, 1944, an army bomber flown by 23-year old Philip Russell of South Portland crashed into the Redbank Trailer park in South Portland. 19 people died, including Russell and his copilot. The other 17 victims were on the ground, most of them young mothers and children.

Russell was trying to land at the airport in Portland. His wife and 3-month old child were there to greet him. He never met his little girl.

Roger Thibault, who lives in Acton, saw the crash when he was 14 years old. Just a few minutes earlier, he had been sitting at the Redbank Trailer Park with a friend, chatting. But Thibault had to go to the store for his mom. He said, "As I came out of the store, I heard this plane and looked up and there was a plane coming down sideways...Terrific fireball. Some people were saying they might have had some incendiary bombs in there, which I don't know. but it was an explosion you could see for a ways."

Thibault said he never saw his friend again, and he'll never forget the horror of watching people pick through the rubble the next day. "I saw a man pick up a shoe... baby's foot was still in it," Thibault said.

Thibault is among the witnesses and survivors who plan to attend a memorial ceremony for those killed in the crash this Saturday. Kierstead has organized the event, as he is trying to raise money for a memorial to the victims. The city of South Portland has donated land on Westbrook Street, across the street from the site. And a local artist has drawn up plans for the memorial itself. Kierstead needs $10,000 dollars more to make the memorial a reality.