More than eight decades have passed since four young Army airmen lost their lives in a plane crash in a quiet corner of Bladen County, but Sampson resident Steve Boyette is determined that the passage of time will not erase their memory.
Each year, on the anniversary of the 1943 crash, Boyette and fellow local history enthusiasts return to the site along N.C. 210 at Old Whitehall Road, where they clean the grounds, tend to the monument erected in the airmen’s honor and remember the four servicemen who died there.
Boyette, founder of the Clinton-Sampson County Local History Facebook group, hosted this year’s Aug. 27 commemoration, continuing what has become an annual tradition for members of the group.
“I have a terminal case of patriotism, and as long as I’m alive, these four young men will not be forgotten,” Boyette stressed.
According to information provided by Boyette, the history behind the monument stretches back to the months immediately following the crash and another Bladen family’s experience with the sacrifices of World War II.
Gilden Elvin Fisler, a rural mail carrier in the area, knew personally the heartbreak the war could bring to a family. His son, Frank “Fuzzy” Fisler, was a Navy pilot who was lost during a mission over Guadalcanal in March 1943.
Six months later, according to Boyette, a military aircraft carrying the four Army airmen crashed in the same general area where Fisler delivered mail.
The loss moved Fisler to make sure the servicemen would not be forgotten in the community where their lives had ended.
Fisler, a member of Black River Presbyterian Church, appealed to the congregation for assistance in raising money to establish a permanent memorial to the four airmen. Other Bladen County residents joined the effort, and a monument was eventually erected on a small parcel of donated land along N.C. 210 at Old Whitehall Road.
Today, Boyette and other local history enthusiasts have continued the preservation effort.
The Clinton-Sampson County Local History Facebook group has grown to approximately 9,200 members, bringing together people interested in preserving and sharing the history of Sampson County and surrounding communities. Its annual visit to the Bladen County memorial has become part of that mission.
This year, Boyette was joined in remembering the airmen by Sampson County Sheriff Jimmy Thornton, Bladen County Sheriff Jim McVicker, state representative-elect Wellie Jackson and members of the Harrells Volunteer Fire Department.
Jackson, who is unopposed in the upcoming election and is set to represent Sampson and Bladen counties in the N.C. House, has also taken an interest in the story.
A World War II history enthusiast, Jackson has become involved in efforts surrounding the memorial, including the search for relatives of the four servicemen whose names are preserved there.
For Boyette, the annual gathering continues what Fisler and other Bladen County residents began following the tragedy in 1943. The four airmen had no familial connection to the community, but residents nevertheless believed their sacrifice deserved to be remembered.
More than 80 years later, Boyette intends to make sure it still is.
“As long as I’m alive, these four young men will not be forgotten.”