Soldier Creek Primitive Baptist Church, Harvey, Marshall County, KY, dates to 1820 and is the oldest church in the Jackson Purchase region of western Kentucky. Through the years the old church has seen a lot of history, good and bad, including the crash of a B-29 Superfortress on July 1, 1945.
A monument erected by the Marshall County Fiscal Court, in 2008, directly across from the church, honors the men of the ill-fated flight. It reads:
“On July 1, 1945, A B-29 Superfortress crashed near Soldier Creek Church. Nine men aboard the B-29 lost their lives and one* survived after being thrown from the aircraft and parachuting to safety. This monument shall remain in remembrance of their sacrifice and of those who have served and continue to serve on foreign and domestic soils as ambassadors for our freedom and democracy.
1st Lieutenant Joseph F Arone
Corporal Roy G Berryhill
2nd Lietenant Ward W Copenhaurer
2nd Lietenant Richard o Snow
Flight Officer Eugene M Graham
Sergeant Romold A Kryzan
Sergeant Delmar H Lumberg
Sergeant Arnold A Rushton
Flight Officer James R Schetzsle
Corporal Irving A Elias*”
The B-29 had just refuled in Nashville, and was on a routine flight, when it disintegrated in a severe electrical storm, during the middle of the night, some 45 minutes after takeoff. The crew was based at Kirtland Air Field in Albuquerue, NM, and they were returning to Colorado, before heading back to their home base.
The one survivor, Cpl. Irving Elias, the plane’s left waist gunner, was in the rear of the plane when he heard an explosion that ripped the plane apart. He was thrown out and floated down to the ground on a parachute, through heavy rain and lightning. He took shelter, as best he could, under a bush, and at daybreak made his way to a nearby house, where he received help, and was taken to the hospital in nearby Benton. Other than a few lacerations on his face, hands and feet, he was unhurt.
The existing church was built in 1874, after a second log church on the site burned. The first was made of round logs and had a dirt floor. It’s was followed by a more refined hewn-log structure, with a wood floor, which served the community until it was destroyed by the fire. According to local tradition, Indians watched from the nearby woods as the first church was being built.
The old church is no longer a place of full-time worship. However, I think it still used on special occasions. An old outhouse still stands behind the church.
