William L. Everhart
March 8, 1937-Feb. 15, 1958
Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, February 19, 1958, page 1, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library
Niles Airman Among 16 Bodies Found in Crash
Ground Patrols
Reach Wreckage
on Mt. Vesuvius
William L. Everhart
Among Victims of
Saturday Plane Mishap
Ground patrols reached the wreckage of a U.S. Air Force transport plane on Mt. Vesuvius near Naples, Italy, today and found a Niles airman and 15 other men dead., The Associated Press reported.
The Niles man killed in the crash was [illegible] William Everhart, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Marcel Everhart of 620 North Seventh Street.
Everhart, who had been stationed at an American air base in West Germany was aboard the ill-fated C-17 which crashed shortly after taking off from Naples Saturday night.
The wreckage was spotted earlier today by a search plane. The report that all aboard had been killed was relayed to Naples by radio from the ground patrols of U.S. Soldiers and Italian soldiers and police.
Patrols battled snowstorms and sleet to the 3,800-foot level of the 4,000 foot volcano, where the plane crashed four days ago, after taking off from Naples for Athens.
Heavy fog shrouding Vesuvius and southern Italy since the day of the crash lifted earlier in the day and the wreckage was sighted from the air.
Snow and high winds beat back efforts of a helicopter from the U.S. Carrier Saratoga to make a landing near the crash scene. However, U.S. NATO personnel, Italian soldiers and police reached the scene on foot after hours of climbing.
Carrying 15 Air Force men from Ramstein-Landstuhl Air Base in Germany to Istanbul, Turkey, the plane had stopped in Naples Saturday to refuel and pick p a Navy passenger. Ten minutes after take off, the plane's pilot reported he was switching to Rome radio control. But he never contacted Rome.
Lt. Robert D. Bennett of Cincinnati, piloting a B-25, today spotted the wreckage from an altitude of about 3, 800 feet. He said the mangled plane was well up on the side of the volcano overlooking the Bay of Naples.
Vesuvius had been partially or completely shrouded in fog for four days.
Everhart had been stationed at the air base in West Germany as a radarman. The Everhart family was informed Sunday night that their son was aboard the missing aircraft.
The father said he did not know why the airman was aboard the plane unless he was being transferred to another air base.
The crash victim is one of four children in the Everhart family. He enlisted in the Air Force on Jan. 14, 1957.
Everhart was graduated from Niles High School in June, 1955, and was employed as a draftsman by the Kawneer Co., before enlisting in the Air Force.
Niles Daily Star, Friday, February 28, 1958, page 1, col. 4, cont. page 2, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library
To Hold Rites Monday for Niles Airman
A military funeral will be conducted at 3:30 p.m. Monday from the Pifer Funeral Home here for Airman 3C William L. Everhart, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Marcel Everhart, of 630 north Seventh Street, who was killed Feb. 15 when a United States Air Force transport place crashed on Mt. Vesuvius near Naples, Italy. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.
Color guard, pallbearers, firing squad and a military chaplain will be sent from the United States Air Force Base at Park Ridge, Ill., to conduct the services.
Body of the young airman, who lost is life enroute from Ramstein-Landstuhl Air Base in Germany to Istanbul, Turkey, was to arrive this evening in Niles.
He was born March 8, 1937, in Niles and graduated from high school here in 1955. Before enlisting in the Air Force on Jan. 14, 1957, he was a draftsman at the Kawneer Company.
While overseas he was stationed as a radar man at an Air Force installation in Landstuhl Airport in West Germany near the Saar.
Surviving besides his parents are: his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Glen Goff, of Battle Creek, and a brother and two sisters, Marcel D. Everhart and Sandra Lee and Sharon Joy Everhart, all at home. Also surviving is Nema Barnhart, of South Bend, to whom he was engaged to be wed.
Friends may call at the funeral home beginning Saturday.