From the Wilmington (NC) Star News My Reporter column by Cece Nann.
An Army airplane crashed on Masonboro island in 1944. Emerson Willard, 89, a Wilmington resident, was standing outside a seafood restaurant at Whiskey Creek when a Douglas Dauntless dive bomber crashed across the sound.
He and another person got a small boat and crossed over to the site, but the army had already flown in a small plane and evacuated one of the pilots. The other one was taken out by boat. One of the pilots died.
Said Wilard, "They used to have gunnery practice over there (Masonboro Island) quite a bit."
Wilmington resident Wilber D. Jones wrote in his book about Wilmington during the war, "By my count at least 21 planes crashed and 14 pilots died in and around Wilmington during the war."
The planes operated out of Bluethenthal Army Air Base, which today is Wilmington International Airport.
Just Another Aspect of the War on the Homefront. --DaCoot
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