Captain William Jennings Carroll, Fighter Pilot USAF, Fighter Pilot Instructor.
Admin of Operator Services, Carolina Telephone, Rocky Mount, NC 35 years (retired)
William J. "Bill" Carroll Jr.
William J. Carroll Jr. William J. "Bill" Carroll, Jr., 74, went home to be with the Lord on Dec. 16, 2009. He passed away in Palm Coast, Fla. He was born Jan. 1, 1935 in Greenville and was the son of the late William J. and Blanche Waters Carroll. Bill was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, and a retired Telecommunications General Manager. Surviving are his former wife of 36 years; Jean Davis Carroll of Ormondsville; current wife Mary L. Carroll of Palm Coast, Fla.; daughter Kathy Heath and her husband, Bobby, of Greenville; two sons, Robbie Carroll and his wife, Uschi, of Palm Coast, Fla., and Chris Carroll and his wife, Katherine, of Wilmington; six grandchildren; one stepdaughter; and four step-grandchildren. Military Honors were rendered by the US Air Force Honor Guard on Dec. 19, 2009. There will be a Veteran Memorial Headstone placed in his memory at the Winterville cemetery.
.
Published in The Daily Reflector on February 28, 2010
In Memory of Capt. William J Carroll Jr. and Lt. Richard F Stanko, USAF
Crash on Runway 22, Shaw AFB, November 16, 1957.
This bloodstained, broken, pilot’s kneeboard is the last remaining silent witness to a long forgotten crash in 1957. My father, Lt. William J. Carroll, USAF, a 22 year old Jet Pilot Instructor in Squadron 3560 Section #3, was wearing this kneeboard as he took off from Webb AFB in Texas for a routine training flight to Shaw AFB in Sumter, SC. His student, that day was 25 year old Lt. Richard F. Stanko, of Butler, PA, he was flying front seat. Lt. Stanko a graduate of Pittsburg State U was married the prior year to Miss Irene Seymour of Newport, Delaware, she had moved to Kinston, NC not far from my Dad’s home, a fact I didn’t know until today. Lt. Stanko would be graduating from Jet Pilot School in December 1957, but the events of the day, would change both of their lives forever. My Dad and Mom (Mrs. Shelby Jean Davis Carroll) had only been married 20 months at this time, pregnant with their 1st child.
As they sat on the end of the runway in Big Springs, TX, my father noted “It was a beautiful west Texas day, the sky was blue and the sun shining brighter. I thought myself as I sit in the jet trainer…..that tonight I will be in Charleston, SC, that’s almost home”.
“The T-33 engine whined as my student pushed the throttle forward our destination for this leg of the flight Naval Memphis Air Station. It was a beautiful flight and completely routine, two aircraft in perfect formation 5700 miles. We took off from Naval Memphis at dark, our destination Shaw AFB in Sumter, SC.”
“My spirits were exhilarated by the starry and beautiful night, the plane had never handled so well and my student pilot (Stanko) in the front seat was flying with the ease of an eagle”.
As they neared Shaw AFW at 33,000 feet, they decided to descend in formation. As they lined up on glide-path on this beautiful night without a cloud in the sky, suddenly they entered a fog bank, and the runway lights disappeared. My father descended through this fog bank without GCA, pushed the power in and leveled off. They broke through the fog bank just as quickly as they had entered it, seeing runway 22 on their left. “ I cut my power and S turned to the runway and touched down about midway, I moved my hand from the throttle and raised the flaps in order to get more weight on my wheels for breaking”. They had landed close to zero visibility, my father described as “a few feet” conditions without tower support, just my father’s skill, but that would soon change.
In a split second the student (Stanko) panicked for the 2nd time and “pushed the throttle to 100% and said “Good God, we are going to run off the end of runway , it was too late to try to stop in that we were already airborne”.
“From the time of the 1st attempt to 12 minutes later, the weather at Shaw worsened, with only 95 gallons of fuel an alternate field was out of question. My father told the student “ to stay off the controls, I was flying the aircraft. The student had already reached a state of panic twice in the first landing attempt. Even though I told him to stay off the controls, I could still feel him on them flying the GCA final approach. After passing through GCA minimums, I applied the power for a go around, when I remember the stick leaving my hand going into the aft position.”
At this moment the Aircraft crashed outside the fence of Runway 22 in a wooded area. “ in a tandem type aircraft it is impossible for one pilot to keep another off the controls, making it impossible for the instructor pilot to maintain positive control of the aircraft”.
In the crash, the wings and nose were torn off the aircraft, the only major part left was my father’s control panel to the headrest of his seat. Lt. Stanko was killed instantly; my father on the other hand spent 6-8 months in the hospital recovering from his injuries.
Lt. Richard F. Stanko was buried in Butler, PA, it doesn’t appear his wife Irene ever remarried moving first to Colorado, then California.
My father did recover mostly from his injuries, and flew another 2 years in the USAF, but this crash changed his life forever. He enjoyed flying, more than anything in this world, it was his greatest love, yet he walked away, worked for Carolina Telephone 35 years, and raised 3 kids. He was fortunate, as was I, without his survival, I couldn’t write this. This crash troubled my father the rest of his life. Although not his fault, he was burdened with guilt, as he was the instructor and took responsibility as any good Officer would. He spoke of this to me often, and was never relieved of this guilt until 52 years later in 2009 when he passed. Yet looking at the aircraft, it’s amazing my father survived. He noted that the nose of the plane had a place to hang their uniforms, Lt. Stanko’s were gone, yet his were still hanging on the hangers as they were when they took off from Texas. God had other plans for Dad.
And here it is 60 years later, I’m going through my father’s items, holding his kneeboard on Memorial Day, and thought I would share a memory of Capt. Carroll and his student. Lt. Stanko, before its lost to time.
Also, I never knew Lt. Stanko, but seeing he has no family left, I created a memorial for him on find-a-grave.com, fitting being Memorial Day. I think my Dad would like that.
Semper Fi.
Chris Carroll
Admin of Operator Services, Carolina Telephone, Rocky Mount, NC 35 years (retired)
William J. "Bill" Carroll Jr.
William J. Carroll Jr. William J. "Bill" Carroll, Jr., 74, went home to be with the Lord on Dec. 16, 2009. He passed away in Palm Coast, Fla. He was born Jan. 1, 1935 in Greenville and was the son of the late William J. and Blanche Waters Carroll. Bill was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, and a retired Telecommunications General Manager. Surviving are his former wife of 36 years; Jean Davis Carroll of Ormondsville; current wife Mary L. Carroll of Palm Coast, Fla.; daughter Kathy Heath and her husband, Bobby, of Greenville; two sons, Robbie Carroll and his wife, Uschi, of Palm Coast, Fla., and Chris Carroll and his wife, Katherine, of Wilmington; six grandchildren; one stepdaughter; and four step-grandchildren. Military Honors were rendered by the US Air Force Honor Guard on Dec. 19, 2009. There will be a Veteran Memorial Headstone placed in his memory at the Winterville cemetery.
.
Published in The Daily Reflector on February 28, 2010
In Memory of Capt. William J Carroll Jr. and Lt. Richard F Stanko, USAF
Crash on Runway 22, Shaw AFB, November 16, 1957.
This bloodstained, broken, pilot’s kneeboard is the last remaining silent witness to a long forgotten crash in 1957. My father, Lt. William J. Carroll, USAF, a 22 year old Jet Pilot Instructor in Squadron 3560 Section #3, was wearing this kneeboard as he took off from Webb AFB in Texas for a routine training flight to Shaw AFB in Sumter, SC. His student, that day was 25 year old Lt. Richard F. Stanko, of Butler, PA, he was flying front seat. Lt. Stanko a graduate of Pittsburg State U was married the prior year to Miss Irene Seymour of Newport, Delaware, she had moved to Kinston, NC not far from my Dad’s home, a fact I didn’t know until today. Lt. Stanko would be graduating from Jet Pilot School in December 1957, but the events of the day, would change both of their lives forever. My Dad and Mom (Mrs. Shelby Jean Davis Carroll) had only been married 20 months at this time, pregnant with their 1st child.
As they sat on the end of the runway in Big Springs, TX, my father noted “It was a beautiful west Texas day, the sky was blue and the sun shining brighter. I thought myself as I sit in the jet trainer…..that tonight I will be in Charleston, SC, that’s almost home”.
“The T-33 engine whined as my student pushed the throttle forward our destination for this leg of the flight Naval Memphis Air Station. It was a beautiful flight and completely routine, two aircraft in perfect formation 5700 miles. We took off from Naval Memphis at dark, our destination Shaw AFB in Sumter, SC.”
“My spirits were exhilarated by the starry and beautiful night, the plane had never handled so well and my student pilot (Stanko) in the front seat was flying with the ease of an eagle”.
As they neared Shaw AFW at 33,000 feet, they decided to descend in formation. As they lined up on glide-path on this beautiful night without a cloud in the sky, suddenly they entered a fog bank, and the runway lights disappeared. My father descended through this fog bank without GCA, pushed the power in and leveled off. They broke through the fog bank just as quickly as they had entered it, seeing runway 22 on their left. “ I cut my power and S turned to the runway and touched down about midway, I moved my hand from the throttle and raised the flaps in order to get more weight on my wheels for breaking”. They had landed close to zero visibility, my father described as “a few feet” conditions without tower support, just my father’s skill, but that would soon change.
In a split second the student (Stanko) panicked for the 2nd time and “pushed the throttle to 100% and said “Good God, we are going to run off the end of runway , it was too late to try to stop in that we were already airborne”.
“From the time of the 1st attempt to 12 minutes later, the weather at Shaw worsened, with only 95 gallons of fuel an alternate field was out of question. My father told the student “ to stay off the controls, I was flying the aircraft. The student had already reached a state of panic twice in the first landing attempt. Even though I told him to stay off the controls, I could still feel him on them flying the GCA final approach. After passing through GCA minimums, I applied the power for a go around, when I remember the stick leaving my hand going into the aft position.”
At this moment the Aircraft crashed outside the fence of Runway 22 in a wooded area. “ in a tandem type aircraft it is impossible for one pilot to keep another off the controls, making it impossible for the instructor pilot to maintain positive control of the aircraft”.
In the crash, the wings and nose were torn off the aircraft, the only major part left was my father’s control panel to the headrest of his seat. Lt. Stanko was killed instantly; my father on the other hand spent 6-8 months in the hospital recovering from his injuries.
Lt. Richard F. Stanko was buried in Butler, PA, it doesn’t appear his wife Irene ever remarried moving first to Colorado, then California.
My father did recover mostly from his injuries, and flew another 2 years in the USAF, but this crash changed his life forever. He enjoyed flying, more than anything in this world, it was his greatest love, yet he walked away, worked for Carolina Telephone 35 years, and raised 3 kids. He was fortunate, as was I, without his survival, I couldn’t write this. This crash troubled my father the rest of his life. Although not his fault, he was burdened with guilt, as he was the instructor and took responsibility as any good Officer would. He spoke of this to me often, and was never relieved of this guilt until 52 years later in 2009 when he passed. Yet looking at the aircraft, it’s amazing my father survived. He noted that the nose of the plane had a place to hang their uniforms, Lt. Stanko’s were gone, yet his were still hanging on the hangers as they were when they took off from Texas. God had other plans for Dad.
And here it is 60 years later, I’m going through my father’s items, holding his kneeboard on Memorial Day, and thought I would share a memory of Capt. Carroll and his student. Lt. Stanko, before its lost to time.
Also, I never knew Lt. Stanko, but seeing he has no family left, I created a memorial for him on find-a-grave.com, fitting being Memorial Day. I think my Dad would like that.
Semper Fi.
Chris Carroll
Captain William Jennings Carroll, Fighter Pilot USAF, Fighter Pilot Instructor.
Admin of Operator Services, Carolina Telephone, Rocky Mount, NC 35 years (retired)
William J. "Bill" Carroll Jr.
William J. Carroll Jr. William J. "Bill" Carroll, Jr., 74, went home to be with the Lord on Dec. 16, 2009. He passed away in Palm Coast, Fla. He was born Jan. 1, 1935 in Greenville and was the son of the late William J. and Blanche Waters Carroll. Bill was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, and a retired Telecommunications General Manager. Surviving are his former wife of 36 years; Jean Davis Carroll of Ormondsville; current wife Mary L. Carroll of Palm Coast, Fla.; daughter Kathy Heath and her husband, Bobby, of Greenville; two sons, Robbie Carroll and his wife, Uschi, of Palm Coast, Fla., and Chris Carroll and his wife, Katherine, of Wilmington; six grandchildren; one stepdaughter; and four step-grandchildren. Military Honors were rendered by the US Air Force Honor Guard on Dec. 19, 2009. There will be a Veteran Memorial Headstone placed in his memory at the Winterville cemetery.
.
Published in The Daily Reflector on February 28, 2010
In Memory of Capt. William J Carroll Jr. and Lt. Richard F Stanko, USAF
Crash on Runway 22, Shaw AFB, November 16, 1957.
This bloodstained, broken, pilot’s kneeboard is the last remaining silent witness to a long forgotten crash in 1957. My father, Lt. William J. Carroll, USAF, a 22 year old Jet Pilot Instructor in Squadron 3560 Section #3, was wearing this kneeboard as he took off from Webb AFB in Texas for a routine training flight to Shaw AFB in Sumter, SC. His student, that day was 25 year old Lt. Richard F. Stanko, of Butler, PA, he was flying front seat. Lt. Stanko a graduate of Pittsburg State U was married the prior year to Miss Irene Seymour of Newport, Delaware, she had moved to Kinston, NC not far from my Dad’s home, a fact I didn’t know until today. Lt. Stanko would be graduating from Jet Pilot School in December 1957, but the events of the day, would change both of their lives forever. My Dad and Mom (Mrs. Shelby Jean Davis Carroll) had only been married 20 months at this time, pregnant with their 1st child.
As they sat on the end of the runway in Big Springs, TX, my father noted “It was a beautiful west Texas day, the sky was blue and the sun shining brighter. I thought myself as I sit in the jet trainer…..that tonight I will be in Charleston, SC, that’s almost home”.
“The T-33 engine whined as my student pushed the throttle forward our destination for this leg of the flight Naval Memphis Air Station. It was a beautiful flight and completely routine, two aircraft in perfect formation 5700 miles. We took off from Naval Memphis at dark, our destination Shaw AFB in Sumter, SC.”
“My spirits were exhilarated by the starry and beautiful night, the plane had never handled so well and my student pilot (Stanko) in the front seat was flying with the ease of an eagle”.
As they neared Shaw AFW at 33,000 feet, they decided to descend in formation. As they lined up on glide-path on this beautiful night without a cloud in the sky, suddenly they entered a fog bank, and the runway lights disappeared. My father descended through this fog bank without GCA, pushed the power in and leveled off. They broke through the fog bank just as quickly as they had entered it, seeing runway 22 on their left. “ I cut my power and S turned to the runway and touched down about midway, I moved my hand from the throttle and raised the flaps in order to get more weight on my wheels for breaking”. They had landed close to zero visibility, my father described as “a few feet” conditions without tower support, just my father’s skill, but that would soon change.
In a split second the student (Stanko) panicked for the 2nd time and “pushed the throttle to 100% and said “Good God, we are going to run off the end of runway , it was too late to try to stop in that we were already airborne”.
“From the time of the 1st attempt to 12 minutes later, the weather at Shaw worsened, with only 95 gallons of fuel an alternate field was out of question. My father told the student “ to stay off the controls, I was flying the aircraft. The student had already reached a state of panic twice in the first landing attempt. Even though I told him to stay off the controls, I could still feel him on them flying the GCA final approach. After passing through GCA minimums, I applied the power for a go around, when I remember the stick leaving my hand going into the aft position.”
At this moment the Aircraft crashed outside the fence of Runway 22 in a wooded area. “ in a tandem type aircraft it is impossible for one pilot to keep another off the controls, making it impossible for the instructor pilot to maintain positive control of the aircraft”.
In the crash, the wings and nose were torn off the aircraft, the only major part left was my father’s control panel to the headrest of his seat. Lt. Stanko was killed instantly; my father on the other hand spent 6-8 months in the hospital recovering from his injuries.
Lt. Richard F. Stanko was buried in Butler, PA, it doesn’t appear his wife Irene ever remarried moving first to Colorado, then California.
My father did recover mostly from his injuries, and flew another 2 years in the USAF, but this crash changed his life forever. He enjoyed flying, more than anything in this world, it was his greatest love, yet he walked away, worked for Carolina Telephone 35 years, and raised 3 kids. He was fortunate, as was I, without his survival, I couldn’t write this. This crash troubled my father the rest of his life. Although not his fault, he was burdened with guilt, as he was the instructor and took responsibility as any good Officer would. He spoke of this to me often, and was never relieved of this guilt until 52 years later in 2009 when he passed. Yet looking at the aircraft, it’s amazing my father survived. He noted that the nose of the plane had a place to hang their uniforms, Lt. Stanko’s were gone, yet his were still hanging on the hangers as they were when they took off from Texas. God had other plans for Dad.
And here it is 60 years later, I’m going through my father’s items, holding his kneeboard on Memorial Day, and thought I would share a memory of Capt. Carroll and his student. Lt. Stanko, before its lost to time.
Also, I never knew Lt. Stanko, but seeing he has no family left, I created a memorial for him on find-a-grave.com, fitting being Memorial Day. I think my Dad would like that.
Semper Fi.
Chris Carroll
Admin of Operator Services, Carolina Telephone, Rocky Mount, NC 35 years (retired)
William J. "Bill" Carroll Jr.
William J. Carroll Jr. William J. "Bill" Carroll, Jr., 74, went home to be with the Lord on Dec. 16, 2009. He passed away in Palm Coast, Fla. He was born Jan. 1, 1935 in Greenville and was the son of the late William J. and Blanche Waters Carroll. Bill was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, and a retired Telecommunications General Manager. Surviving are his former wife of 36 years; Jean Davis Carroll of Ormondsville; current wife Mary L. Carroll of Palm Coast, Fla.; daughter Kathy Heath and her husband, Bobby, of Greenville; two sons, Robbie Carroll and his wife, Uschi, of Palm Coast, Fla., and Chris Carroll and his wife, Katherine, of Wilmington; six grandchildren; one stepdaughter; and four step-grandchildren. Military Honors were rendered by the US Air Force Honor Guard on Dec. 19, 2009. There will be a Veteran Memorial Headstone placed in his memory at the Winterville cemetery.
.
Published in The Daily Reflector on February 28, 2010
In Memory of Capt. William J Carroll Jr. and Lt. Richard F Stanko, USAF
Crash on Runway 22, Shaw AFB, November 16, 1957.
This bloodstained, broken, pilot’s kneeboard is the last remaining silent witness to a long forgotten crash in 1957. My father, Lt. William J. Carroll, USAF, a 22 year old Jet Pilot Instructor in Squadron 3560 Section #3, was wearing this kneeboard as he took off from Webb AFB in Texas for a routine training flight to Shaw AFB in Sumter, SC. His student, that day was 25 year old Lt. Richard F. Stanko, of Butler, PA, he was flying front seat. Lt. Stanko a graduate of Pittsburg State U was married the prior year to Miss Irene Seymour of Newport, Delaware, she had moved to Kinston, NC not far from my Dad’s home, a fact I didn’t know until today. Lt. Stanko would be graduating from Jet Pilot School in December 1957, but the events of the day, would change both of their lives forever. My Dad and Mom (Mrs. Shelby Jean Davis Carroll) had only been married 20 months at this time, pregnant with their 1st child.
As they sat on the end of the runway in Big Springs, TX, my father noted “It was a beautiful west Texas day, the sky was blue and the sun shining brighter. I thought myself as I sit in the jet trainer…..that tonight I will be in Charleston, SC, that’s almost home”.
“The T-33 engine whined as my student pushed the throttle forward our destination for this leg of the flight Naval Memphis Air Station. It was a beautiful flight and completely routine, two aircraft in perfect formation 5700 miles. We took off from Naval Memphis at dark, our destination Shaw AFB in Sumter, SC.”
“My spirits were exhilarated by the starry and beautiful night, the plane had never handled so well and my student pilot (Stanko) in the front seat was flying with the ease of an eagle”.
As they neared Shaw AFW at 33,000 feet, they decided to descend in formation. As they lined up on glide-path on this beautiful night without a cloud in the sky, suddenly they entered a fog bank, and the runway lights disappeared. My father descended through this fog bank without GCA, pushed the power in and leveled off. They broke through the fog bank just as quickly as they had entered it, seeing runway 22 on their left. “ I cut my power and S turned to the runway and touched down about midway, I moved my hand from the throttle and raised the flaps in order to get more weight on my wheels for breaking”. They had landed close to zero visibility, my father described as “a few feet” conditions without tower support, just my father’s skill, but that would soon change.
In a split second the student (Stanko) panicked for the 2nd time and “pushed the throttle to 100% and said “Good God, we are going to run off the end of runway , it was too late to try to stop in that we were already airborne”.
“From the time of the 1st attempt to 12 minutes later, the weather at Shaw worsened, with only 95 gallons of fuel an alternate field was out of question. My father told the student “ to stay off the controls, I was flying the aircraft. The student had already reached a state of panic twice in the first landing attempt. Even though I told him to stay off the controls, I could still feel him on them flying the GCA final approach. After passing through GCA minimums, I applied the power for a go around, when I remember the stick leaving my hand going into the aft position.”
At this moment the Aircraft crashed outside the fence of Runway 22 in a wooded area. “ in a tandem type aircraft it is impossible for one pilot to keep another off the controls, making it impossible for the instructor pilot to maintain positive control of the aircraft”.
In the crash, the wings and nose were torn off the aircraft, the only major part left was my father’s control panel to the headrest of his seat. Lt. Stanko was killed instantly; my father on the other hand spent 6-8 months in the hospital recovering from his injuries.
Lt. Richard F. Stanko was buried in Butler, PA, it doesn’t appear his wife Irene ever remarried moving first to Colorado, then California.
My father did recover mostly from his injuries, and flew another 2 years in the USAF, but this crash changed his life forever. He enjoyed flying, more than anything in this world, it was his greatest love, yet he walked away, worked for Carolina Telephone 35 years, and raised 3 kids. He was fortunate, as was I, without his survival, I couldn’t write this. This crash troubled my father the rest of his life. Although not his fault, he was burdened with guilt, as he was the instructor and took responsibility as any good Officer would. He spoke of this to me often, and was never relieved of this guilt until 52 years later in 2009 when he passed. Yet looking at the aircraft, it’s amazing my father survived. He noted that the nose of the plane had a place to hang their uniforms, Lt. Stanko’s were gone, yet his were still hanging on the hangers as they were when they took off from Texas. God had other plans for Dad.
And here it is 60 years later, I’m going through my father’s items, holding his kneeboard on Memorial Day, and thought I would share a memory of Capt. Carroll and his student. Lt. Stanko, before its lost to time.
Also, I never knew Lt. Stanko, but seeing he has no family left, I created a memorial for him on find-a-grave.com, fitting being Memorial Day. I think my Dad would like that.
Semper Fi.
Chris Carroll
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