Montana’s most devastating air disaster happened on November 30th, 1992, in Harlem, Montana. Since then, the Harlem community came together to create a monument and a ceremony to honor the Airforce members who lost their lives in the crash.
Darwin Zellmer along with Harlem Mayor at the time of the crash Victor Miller initiated the monument and ceremony.
Darwin Zellmer recounts that process.
“I said, you know Vic, we gotta do something for these boys and their families. Yeah, he says I agree, and he said I already got a call from Francis Bardanouve our State Representative who was in legislature in Helena, and he said he has offered to start an account at the bank so we can do something for these boys. He asked if I would be co-chair on the committee to get something going, and I agreed 100 percent that I would. So, with that, that was the start of the memorial right after the crash, the next day. From then on it materialized into a beautiful memorial with the dedication ceremony taking place on May 30th after the November 30th crash.” – Darwin Zellmer
Now this year, 30 years to the day after the crash, a well-attended ceremony was held at the memorial in remembrance.
