Maps gets historic artifact on Veterans Day

GREEN On Veteran's Day the Military Aviation Preservation Society (MAPS) Museum received a historic artifact for eventual display at the museum. Herbert Crum, a 97-year-old World War II Army veteran from Nimishillen Township, donated a six-foot aluminum alloy girder section from the U.S.S. Shenandoah. The Shenandoah, ZR-1, was a Navy rigid airship or dirigible, the first in a series that were built for the Navy. These would include the Akron and Macon, both built at the Goodyear hanger located at Akron-Fulton airport.

The Shenandoah was constructed at Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey, in Hanger No. 1, the only hanger large enough to accommodate the airship.

The giant airship was 680 feet long, 93 feet high, 79 feet across and weighed 36 tons. It had a range of 5,000 miles. Initially powered by six - later reduced to five - 300-horsepower Packard engines, it could fly at speeds of up to 70 mph.

With a normal crew of 25, it could carry eight 500-pound bombs.

Helium, a non-explosive gas, was used to lift the airship into the air. The Shenandoah was designed for fleet reconnaissance work.

On Sept. 2, the Shenandoah was on a publicity tour flight to the Midwest when it ran into storms over southern Ohio and was torn apart, crashing south of Canton near Caldwell. Fourteen of the crew were killed, but 29 others were able to ride down three sections of the airship to safety.

On that fateful morning Herb Crum, who was 7, and his family were attending church.

"We were at church and after services my dad drove us in our Model 'T' to see the crash site," Crum said. "I stayed in the car and watched people carry off parts of it. We didn't take anything."

But there was so much widespread looting by souvenir hunters that guards had to be placed at the various sites to stop pieces from being taken away. Authorities were hampered by this looting in their search for the cause of the crash.

Eventually local, state and federal officials began to search for looted parts.

"This was how we came to get this section of the Shenandoah," said Crum. "A friend of our family knew the man who had this section of the airship. He was afraid that the government men would find it so our friend told him he knew of a place where he could hide it. So, he brought it over to our farm and we hid it in the hay loft. I don't know who he was but he never came back for it, so after a while we started to show it to people and just considered it our own."

But the Army veteran wanted to give it a better home and he was approached by a number of museums who were interested in the artifact after a newspaper story about it appeared.

"I thought I'd donate it to MAPS where there were a lot of planes I worked on during WWII on display," Crum said.

"I thought that MAPS would give it the best home. Over the years, a lot of people have looked at it, but now a lot more people will get a chance to see it. And I thought Veteran's Day was the best day to donate it."

Crum was accompanied by his daughter, Janice, and wife Marcella.

"We are very proud to have dad here in person to donate this to MAPS, Janice said. "We have been here many times and thought MAPS would give it the best home."

Also with them was Venetia Myers who had given Crum a photo of the crash site.

"I had heard pretty much the same story from my mother that Herb told," Myers said. "After one family gathering where we exchanged photos, I got one of the Shenandoah. When I heard about his story, I thought Herb might like a copy of it so he could see his memories in print. I contacted the family and sent them a copy of it."

On Veterans Day MAPS curator Jim Cameron accepted the historic artifact from Crum near the museum's small existing exhibit of the U.S.S. Shenandoah.

"We are very glad that Herb decided to donate this piece of the Shenandoah to MAPS," Cameron said.

The piece is now in storage but eventually will be exhibited along with other artifacts of the Shenandoah.

Anyone who has any aviation artifacts or memorabilia they would like to donate to the museum can call MAPS at 330-896-6332 or visit www.mapsair museum.org.