Lionel Terry - He Died to Protect an H-Bomb

Part IV in our Memorial Week series:

Lionel A. Terry grew up in the small North Alabama town of Athens in Limestone County. Terry's ancestors had arrived in the area in 1813; his great-great grandfather had fought in the War Between the States; a great uncle had fought in World War I, with a second joining the military a few years later. It seemed prudent for Lionel to enter military service before embarking on his college career at what was then Athens College.

Rising in the ranks of non-commissioned officers, Terry decided to re-enlist for a second term before leaving the service. He was nearing the end of his second enlistment when he took part in a fateful training exercise on January 19, 1961. Called a Round Robin Flight, Felon 22 left Biggs Air Force Base in Texas, destined for North Dakota. A flight engineer, Terry was a last minute replacement and not originally scheduled to fly that day.

Somewhere near the Four Corners area of Utah, the B-52 encountered turbulence and began to descend. Whatever the plane encountered had compromised its structural integrity, and the bomber began to disintegrate. Of the crew of seven, three ejected, the others perishing in the crash.

The flaming wreckage streaking across the night sky attracted onlookers from miles around, but accounts differed as to the number who had parachuted to supposed safety--while some witnesses mentioned three survivors, others saw only two, a circumstance the Air Force initially blamed for the lack of searchers for Terry who had landed miles away from his crew mates.

Locals offered a different story. Search parties for Terry were already under way when Air Force personnel arrived four hours later. Refusing any help, the military authorities announced they would handle the search for the staff sergeant, as well as for the plane's wreckage. Even Terry's maternal uncle, an Army colonel, was refused information concerning the search. Two days later a local man breached the secured area on horseback and found Terry's body, still warm.

The Air Force listed Terry's cause of death as head trauma, yet he had lived almost 48 hours after the crash, huddling in a ravine and covering himself with his parachute. Why had the Air Force refused any help from local searchers?

That question was answered in 1992 when declassified military documents indicated the "chaff" listed as Felon 22's cargo was an H-Bomb. Those familiar with cold war military operations have speculated that the training flight may have carried as many as four hydrogen bombs. The Air Force has still not officially spoken of the possibility of such bombs on the training flight.

As Lionel Terry lay dying, President John F. Kennedy was giving his inaugural address. Staff Sergeant Terry did indeed ask what he could do for his country and gave all. Remember the flight of Felon 22.

Special thanks to Jim Styles of The Zephyr who refused to let this story die.