Montgomery County’s newest monument pays tribute to six Commemorative Air Force members who died last November in a Dallas airshow plane crash.
On Nov. 12, 2022, a Conroe-based B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra crashed mid-air and exploded during the Wings Over Dallas air show. Killed in the crash were Craig Hutain of Montgomery, the pilot of the P-63 Kingcobra, and B-17 pilot Len Root and crew members Terry Barker, Kevin “K5” Michaels, Dan Ragan and Curt Rowe.
Both planes were a part of the Commemorative Air Force nonprofit fleet that restores and displays vintage military planes for public education.
More than 1,200 people went to Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Park last Sunday for a dedication ceremony, and many more tuned in to an online live stream.
Doug Derr, who flew many “Tora! Tora! Tora!” re-enactments with Hutain spoke about his good friend during the ceremony.
Hutain began flying at a young age and in his life had 35,000 flying hours in more than 100 types of aircraft. He was a musician and was passionate about restoring cars.
“They say it takes years for an organization to recover from the loss of a cornerstone of the organization,” Derr said. “For my good friend Craig Hutain, I think it will take much longer than that.”
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John Cotter,Wing Leader for the Gulf Coast Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, said Root always had time for a story for the passengers of his plane. He loved to talk about how a trip to see vintage planes inspired a father to open up to his son about what it was like to go to war.
“All six bring great influence, inspiration and impact,” Cotter said of the crew members. “None of them were average in their efforts and all of them were leaders in their own way,” Cotter said.
Root recruited his good friend Terry Barker, who was the copilot that day, into the volunteer group. Barker had retired from American Airlines with 40 years as a pilot. Ragan, at age 85, was the oldest member of the crew but still dedicated to the mission, said Cotter.
Michels was the media representative and historian for the group and traveled the country sharing the plane’s history. Rowe resided in Ohio and was a member of the Civil Air Patrol for more than three decades.
How the monument came to be
As Jimmie C. Edwards III, chairman of the Montgomery County Veteran’s Memorial Commission, watched coverage of the crash last November, he felt called memorialize the crew and aircraft.
“As soon as he he saw our neighbors and a plane that called Conroe home affected by that tragic event, he knew something had to be done,” said Thomas Turner, commission member.
In June, the commission announced a $300,000 donation from the Gullo family, which owns car dealerships in the area, to make the monument a reality. Magnolia’s Tony Gullo, Sr. is a longtime resident of Montgomery County whose brother-in-law died during World War II.
The new monument, designed by Turner with Bakers’ Signs in Conroe, has an 1:8 scale replica of the B-17 as its centerpiece. LED panels on both sides give the history of the planes, share the stories of the men who flew the B-17 during World War II and pay tribute to the six lost in the November crash.
The monument, located near the park’s Luther J. Dorsey bridge, illuminates at night and features a QR code that gives visitors access to more historical information.
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“As you see the B-17 replica looking over the pond you can almost imagine those engines running and the plane banking west,” Turner said. “This is a collection of history that will only continue to grow after today.”
Next up, the commission will host a Nov. 11 Veterans’ Day celebration at 9 a.m. at the park. The ceremony will include a groundbreaking for the park’s new veteran education center.
