U.S. MILITARY PROVIDES FUNDS FOR REPAIR OF KINDERGARTEN

2/usa
12:43 pm | September 02, 2009

Society

Today marks the 51st anniversary of a tragic flight and crash of
a U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft in the village of Nerkin Sasnashen
and also marks the beginning of a renewed relationship between the
village and the people of the United States.

After a ceremony commemorating the extraordinary events of over 50
years ago, Defense Attache Lieutenant Colonel Robert Webster announced
that the village will receive approximately $140,000 USD to repair and
refurbish the kindergarten and complete landscaping of the grounds.
He stated, "Completion of this Office of Defense Cooperation repair
project will help show our appreciation to the villagers who have
continued to bring honor to the memory of those servicemen who
perished here in the line of duty over 50 years ago." Additionally,
members of the embassy community collected and presented 80 backpacks
with schools supplies for the children to use when they return to
kindergarten early next year.

On September 2nd, 1958, a United States Air Force
reconnaissance-configured C-130, with 17 airmen inside, was shot down
over the airspace of Soviet Armenia. The airplane crashed approximately
200 meters north of the village of Nerkin Sasnashen, killing all 17
airmen on board. In 1993, the people of Sasnashen erected a monument
to the fallen airmen. Since that time, the villagers commemorate the
site on the anniversary of the crash to honor those who sacrificed
their lives in service to their country.