Published in the Fort Campbell Courier Dec. 19, 1985
Considering there are scores of agency representatives, technicians and volunteers to comfort and aid the 248 Families affected by last week’s tragic Arrow Air DC-8 crash, there is one group, almost as keenly affected, undergoing the unenviable task of “continuing with the mission.”
They are the Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment. The Soldiers whose comrades perished in the crash. The Soldiers who worked side by side with those who died.
Military bearing means more now to the Soldiers of the 3rd Bn., 502nd Inf. Rgt., than perhaps it does to any other military unit.
“We’re all leaning on each other,” said Chaplain (Capt.) Richard Murdoch.
Murdoch bears an extra grief. Until he was replaced by (Capt.) Troy Carter earlier this year, he was the chaplain for this grieving battalion. The men who died in the DC-8 crash were his men. And sadly enough, Carter was also killed in the crash.
But Murdoch remains strong. “The thing is,” he said, “we look to the chaplain as God’s agent for blessing and comfort.”
In an effort to prevent the Soldiers from focusing on their own grief, Murdoch helped put together a system whereby each of the Families in the Fort Campbell area has been assigned a Soldier from the battalion.
The Soldiers augment the work of the official assistance officers assigned to each Family.
“It’s a safety net,” Murdoch explained, “so that we know someone from this command is contacting our Families every day. Our Soldiers act as a point of contact to the assistance officers.”
Acting battalion commander, Maj. Frank Hudoba, battalion executive officer, has also kept the Soldiers busy by scheduling daily briefings and updates with battalion leaders.
“The biggest thing is to keep busy,” Hudoba said. “To do for the people that suffered a greater loss than we did.”
Hudoba said the unit has the material to print a yearbook containing a special section on the lost Soldiers, and he is soliciting suggestions from his men on the establishment of a “living memorial” for the 248 dead.
When the Families have left this area, they will have cherished photographs, letters and other articles of remembrance to hold on to of their loved ones.
The Soldiers of the 3rd Bn. 502nd Inf. Rgt. will have each other.