Howitzers Thunder a 248-Gun Salute to Soldier Crash Victims

Howitzers thundered a 248-gun, roll-call salute into a gray sky and 17,000 soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division snapped to attention Friday as taps was played in a final tribute to 248 soldiers killed in a Newfoundland jet crash.

“The intensity of our mourning is equal only to our resolve to meet the challenge of life. We dedicate ourselves anew to the mission of peace,” Chaplain Bernard Nass told the troops, families of the dead and civilians who packed the parade ground stands in subzero weather.

Smoke wafted from the 105-millimeter howitzers, and the ceremony--the last for the soldiers killed Dec. 12 in a plane returning them from peacekeeping duty in the Sinai--ended with four Air Force jets flying over the snow-covered field in the missing-man formation.

Salute to ‘Free Spirit’

Three jets continued horizontally as the fourth jet climbed into the clouds and vanished as the last note of taps sounded.

Michael Stack, a private whose mother called him “a free spirit,” was the first of 248 names read in ascending rank.

The roll call and howitzer salute ended with the name of Lt. Col. Marvin Jeffcoat, task force commander, who died with his troops aboard the charter plane that crashed after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland.

“The memorial ceremony is as much for the living as the dead--to help us recover,” Capt. Michael Phillips said.

Maj. Gen. Burton Patrick said the troops of the 101st--the famous “Screaming Eagles”--did their job in the Sinai “so effectively, quietly and efficiently the general public didn’t even know they were there.”

‘We Thank Them’

“The single and very bright ray of sunshine occurred yesterday (Thursday) when the remaining forces came home,” Patrick said.

“From the bottom of our hearts, we thank them for what they did for their country, for what they did for peace on Earth and for what they did for good will to men,” added Secretary of the Army John O. Marsh Jr.

Maj. Jim Gleisberg, post public affairs officer, said the bodies of the victims are still in Dover, Del. Each will be accompanied by Army personnel when they are returned to their families for burial.

The ceremony ended a week of memorial services, including a visit by President and Mrs. Reagan, who came Monday to comfort about 280 immediate family members who lost their loved ones in the crash.