"Sparta Marine Dies in Copter Crash - L Bailey Among 21 Men Killed - Larry J Bailey of Spartansburg, RD 3, was one of 21 Marines who died yesterday as a result of the collision of two helicopters at the New River Marine Air Facility in North Carolina. Bailey, the son of Mr and Mrs Bruce M Bailey, was critically injured in the training accident and was admitted to the Navy Hospital at nearby Camp LeJeune shortly after 9 am. He died at 3:25 pm. The crash occurred when one of the helicopters was coming in for a landing and another helicopter rose from the runway. It hit the tail of the troop-carrying copter and both went out of control. They crashed and burst into flames at the end of the runway in a wooded area. Mr and Mrs Bailey were informed of their son's death by Rev Marlin Klingensmith, pastor of the Cobbs Corner Community and Excelsior churches, after he had telephone contact with the commanding officer at the Marine base. The Baileys had earlier been informed that their son was injured, and they were preparing to drive to North Carolina to see him when the later word was received by the minister. Rev Klingensmith said he was told by that base commander that Larry was the most critically injured of the six Marines taken to the Camp Lejeune hospital. Bailey had narrowly escaped death the day before last Christmas when he was on leave and the family home burned to the ground. He was forced to jump from the burning structure and he received a broken arm. The family lost all its possessions in the blaze. A graduate of Corry High School, Bailey had been in the Marines for almost two years. Prior to his assignment in North Carolina, he was at the Naval Air Technical Center, Memphis, Tenn. In addition to his parents, Bailey is survived by two brothers - Donald, at home; and Russell, a college student."
(Titusville Herald, June 24, 1967, p.2)