Sunset memorial honoring the United Flight 629 tragedy on Friday

WELD COUNTY, Colo. – Sixty-nine years ago Friday, an act of terror in Colorado skies left a painful mark that is still felt in Weld County today.

Denver7 has been covering many stories about the tragic bombing of United Flight 629, as so many Coloradans have yet to learn what happened that cold November night in 1955.

No memorial or memorial has ever been built to honor the victims, their families, and the community of first responders and citizen heroes who responded to the beet fields where 44 people died.

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This year, which marks November 69 since that horrific night – and next year approaches the 70th year since the tragedy, there is a multi-pronged effort to build permanent memorials and further share the community’s stories and pay tribute to the victims of one of Colorado’s disasters. darkest days.

It was just after 7:00 PM on November 1, 1955.

United Airlines Flight 629 was a four-engine DC 6 passenger plane – loaded with crew, passengers, cargo and fuel for the jump from Denver to Portland, Oregon, and quickly departed Stapleton Airport heading northwest.

A few minutes later,Stapleton’s tower controllers noticed a bright flash in the sky and witnesses near Longmont heard and saw the massive explosion in the night sky. There was little anyone could do as the wreckage rained down on the beet fields of Weld County.

As recovery efforts continued, the investigation quickly turned to the DC 6’s cargo hold.

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The Denver Police Museum eventually acquired a piece of the mangled fuselage of Flight 629, which is now on display at History Colorado.

“This is some pretty heavy metal, and it’s just bent and torn to pieces,” said Jason Hanson, chief creative officer at History Colorado. “I think the power of the explosion really comes through when you look at this.”

Evidence from the crumpled plane fragments helped unfold John Gilbert Graham’s horrific actions in a Colorado courtroom the year after the sinking of Flight 629.

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He planted a homemade bomb in his own mother’s suitcase. When that time bomb exploded over Longmont, Daisie King, Graham’s mother and the 43 other passengers were killed.

“There was a distinct smell of dynamite, so they knew something was wrong from the start,” said Michael Hesse. chairman of the Denver Police Museum. “And when they called Mr. Hoover from the FBI, he instructed them to immediately take all the luggage, get it ready and match the luggage to the victims.”

Hesse said that despite the fact that the DC 6 exploded in mid-air, most of the luggage was somewhat intact.

“Except for one bag – just common sense. The solid police work that went into that, that one bag, clearly led them down a path and ultimately allowed them to solve this,” Hesse said.

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As the 70th approaches this November, Hessen is among the community members working to build a permanent memorial honoring Flight 629.

“There was no awareness that this was happening. It was largely forgotten,” Hesse said. “I’ve been trying to figure out exactly why that is the case over the past few years. And I think part of it – did this happen in 1955 – just ten years after the end of World War II, after the Korean War I think the public was a little more familiar with death.

Hesse said the plan is to build a memorial outside the entrance to Flyteco Tower, the site of Stapleton Airport’s old control tower.

“This is where the plane took off on November 1, 1955 en route to Portland and having it here – as customers come in – will hopefully serve as an educational opportunity,” Hesse said. “

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The monument will be shaped like the fuselage of an airplane and will face northwest, which is the direction in which the plane took off from the airport.”

The memorial will include the names of the passengers and crew and will also honor first responders.

“There will be the logos of the various agencies that responded. The FBI, the Denver Police Department, the Denver District Attorney’s Office, Weld and Larimer County Sheriff, volunteer firefighters, and it’s going to be the citizens as well, we’re going to recognize that.

The goal is to inaugurate the monument on November 1, 2025. They hope to achieve that by inviting the public to purchase Flight 629 challenge coins to help fund the memorial.

A mission to build a memorial in honor of the bombing of Flight 629 in Colorado

“This challenge coin that we designed to honor the victims will also raise awareness and also donations so that we can pay for the monument for the tower here,” Hesse said.

The challenge coins will be available for purchase on the Denver Police Museum website.

“They were all people. There were countless birthdays, anniversaries and things like that that were missed,” Hesse said.” It was a completely senseless tragedy. It breaks your heart, but we want to make sure families know their loved ones are not forgotten.”

History Colorado also does its part to increase awareness. A special exhibition is planned around the 70th commemoration in November next year.

“There will be an exhibition here that will help people engage with that story. I think we’re going to put it in a very high-traffic area, so we hope that people who aren’t familiar with the story will be drawn to it and want to know more,” Hanson said. “Our hope is always that people see our exhibitions and want to learn more when they leave, that we inspire them and make them curious, and that they learn more on their own.”

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And as more Coloradans learn about the tragedy, Becky Tesone says – vice president of the Flight 629 Memorial Committee hopes they will be moved to open their hearts to finally help build a permanent memorial in Weld County as the 70th anniversary approaches.

“They have never had a monument, and their names have never been read or candles have never been lit for them,” Tesone said. “And that is what we want to do, to open up what will happen a year from now after November 1. the 70th anniversary of bringing the families back.”

The vision for a future, permanent memorial in Weld County – where the plane crashed – is still in the works, but details are starting to take shape.

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“What we imagine it will be will be four sides. One side will have the names, two sides will have pictures of places that were all connected,” Tesone said. “Greeley was connected to the armory where the bodies went. Stapleton is where they left from, and where they returned to reassemble the plane. So that is a key location, that is where FlyteCo is currently located.”

She said the hope is to place four benches along the monument for people to reflect, with a cover to protect visitors and the monument from Colorado’s seasons.

‘And we are going to put a 2 by 1 meter plane on it, made of bronze. And that will be the beauty of it,” Tesone said. “This was a huge tragedy that changed the laws at the airport for checking our baggage and introduced new security regulations. And then the piece about Channel 7 that was the first to enter the courtroom at the time.”

The Bombing of United Airlines 629 and a Journey to Forgiveness

The future memorial will be a place for the families of the victims and those who responded to reflect, gather and heal. And in these divisive times, the Flight 629 Memorial Committee hopes the memorial will serve as a place to magnify the service and sacrifice of first responders, emergency responders and everyday neighbors whose courage and tenacity are examples of how people can come together.

“We need $30,000 and the goal is by the 31st of this month. I’m sure Landmark Monument will allow us to expand it a little bit, but they have to order what we’re going to put in there,” Tesone said. “And we need a total of $150,000, which we could see in the near future, just to lay the cement.”

The Flight 629 Memorial Committee – which has registered as a non-profit organization – has set up a GoFundMe to raise money.

“I know there are people who can write a check for the whole thing. I know there are people who can give us $5, $10 and it all matters,” Tesone said. “It all matters because what they put their money into is what they are a part of in their hearts. And this is something that should heal the hearts of these people.”

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This Friday marks the 69th anniversary of the United Flight 629 explosion. The public is invited to attend a first-ever commemoration, which will include the lighting of a candle, the reading of the names of the victims and a time to reflect.

‘Think of the 44′ is at Carbon Valley Lutheran Church at 10916 Cimarron Street in Firestone at 6 p.m.

Denver7 will keep you informed of the commemoration’s progress and you can stay up to date on the group’s efforts via its website Flight 629 Memorial Facebook Page.

• You can watch this video report in the player below.

‘Remember the 44’: Sunset memorial honoring Friday’s United Flight 629 tragedy