At the Arlington National Cemetery Karen O'Sullivan and her sister Cynthia Marcum, right, bring flowers to the gravesite of their father MUC Raymond H. Micallef. Marcum's daughter Alexandra Marcum trails behind them.
February 25, 2010 marked the 50th anniversary of a plane crash that killed 19 U.S. Navy Band members
and 42 others in Brazil.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Karen O'Sullivan and her sister Cynthia Marcum lay flowers at the base of their father's headstone at the Arlington Cemetary, Va. More than 100 members of the present Navy Band and relatives of the victims gathered to honor the band members, 14 of whom were laid to rest next to one another in Arlington National Cemetery.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Members of the U.S. Navy Band participate in the memorial service. It was the first such tribute in the half-century since the crash, which is now largely forgotten.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Pat Harl fights back tears during the service. Her husband played trumpet in the Navy's concert orchestra. The group's plane crashed en route to Rio de Janeiro, where they were to play at a U.S. embassy reception. The Navy Band's concert orchestra was never reformed.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
There were a few tears Thursday, and recollections of very bad times, as the latest generation of band members stood at attention in gold-buttoned dark overcoats, and the band's ceremonial unit played the Navy Hymn.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Bob Sissons, a member of the band who had friends who died in that crash, pays tribute as a sailor stands next to a wreath of lilies and mums.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Fourteen of the 19 who died had been buried at Arlington National Cemetery; the other five were buried elsewhere.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
An archive photo of the Navy Band Members who died. Many of the musicians had graduated from elite music schools and played with symphony orchestras. Most were in their thirties and had young families.
Courtesy Of U.s. Navy Band-Courtesy of U.S. Navy Band
Leit. J. Harold Fultz was assistant leader of the band. The Feb. 25, 1960 disaster came at the height of the Cold War, and the members of the Washington-based band were front-line cultural warriors. The trip to South America was known as "Operation Amigo."
Courtesy Of U.s. Navy Band-Courtesy of U.S. Navy Band
Caskets arrive home after the crash. Phyllis Daw, 77, was married to bandmember Walter M. Penland at the time; they were expecting their fourth child. "I look back on it now and I think, 'I don't know how I got through that,' " she said.
Courtesy Of U.s. Navy Band-Courtesy of U.S. Navy Band
This archive photo includes 18 of the 19 band members killed in the accident, in which the Band's stubby four-engine Navy transport plane collided with a twin-engine Brazilian airliner. Wreckage from the two planes plummeted into Guanabara Bay; the collision killed 61.
Courtesy Of U.s. Navy Band-Courtesy of U.S. Navy Band
At the funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. on March 8, 1960.
Courtesy Of U.s. Navy Band-Courtesy of U.S. Navy Band
A photo of a wreath-laying ceremony that was held on the cruiser USS Macon after the plane crash. About 90 members of the band made the journey, flying to Trinidad Feb. 6, 1960 where they boarded the Macon for the voyage to South America, according to Don Stratton, 77, a retired band trombonist.
Courtesy Of U.s. Navy Band-Courtesy of U.S. Navy Band
Several bouquets lie at the headstone of MUC Raymond H. Micallef. The Micaleff children were there, all grown now, to place roses at the tombstone of their father, who played oboe.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Arlene Richey is escorted by her daughter-in-law Maureen Richey. Richey's husband Earl played french horn in the U.S. Navy Band. They lived in Landover with their three children at the time of the crash.
Linda Davidson-The Washington Post
Gallery Credits:
Text Editor Sakina Rangwala
