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Bloomington, Illinois: Poppy Plane Crash Memorial

On a 1948 Memorial Day flyover to drop poppies, a 2-seater plane crashed into this cemetery tree and burst into flames. In 2015 the dying tree was carved into a plane crash sculpture.

Evergreen Cemetery

Address:
302 E. Miller St., Bloomington, IL
Directions:
Enter the cemetery at 302 E. Miller St., go right. The plane tree is about 100 yards ahead.
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Poppy Plane Crash Memorial.

Poppy Plane Crash Memorial

Visited the cemetery and the Poppy Plane Crash Memorial in November 2019. The historical marker stands near the carving made from the tree the plane hit.

[Katz Paganstar, 11/18/2019]

Poppy plane crash memorial.

Poppy Plane Crash Memorial

In Bloomington's Evergreen cemetery there is a memorial carved out of a tree that was involved in a fatal plane crash.

The story: in 1948 a WWII trainer plane, a Vultee BT -13 Valiant, was flying low over the cemetery dropping poppy flowers on a crowd to commemorate Memorial Day when it struck a tree. A passenger was killed. When the tree recently started dying the memorial was commissioned.

When you enter the cemetery at 302 E. Miller St. take a right. The plane tree is about 100 yards ahead.

[Doug Dirr, 10/04/2015]

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In the region:
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