By Kate Shunney, The Morgan Messenger
BATH, W.Va. — Morgan County’s Courthouse is now a memorial site for the victims of the 1992 crash of an Air National Guard training flight on Fairview Drive just east of the downtown area.
Fellow Air Guard member Alice Lantz led the effort to place a public memorial to the pilot and crew of the C-130, known as “Decoy 81,” which clipped a high tension electric line during an training exercise in October of 1993, and crashed to the ground, killing all aboard the flight.
The crew included Alfred J. Steinberger III, Lt. Col., 45, of Leesburg, Va.; Dallas O. Adams Jr., Capt., 32, of Upper Marlboro, Md.; Frederic E. Jones, Staff Sgt., 24 of Martinsburg; James T. Hinchman, Staff Sgt., 31 of Inwood; George F. Griffith, Master Sgt., 56, of Moorefield; and John R. Funkhouser, Technical Sgt., 32 of Martinsburg.
Lantz witnessed the crash and knew the crew who perished. She has spent several years raising money and designing the memorial with help from the families and fellow Guard members.
Read more: https://www.morganmessenger.com/2025/05/20/memorial-bench-for-c-130-crash-victims-set-at-courthouse/
