Two Gold Star children are working to memorialize their Air Force fathers at the Grissom Air Museum. Casualties of the Cold War, their children are combining efforts to preserve a legacy and a rare airplane.
In 1964 Shamaine Pleczko’s dad Air Force Captain “Rocky” Cervantes was killed at Bunker Hill Air Force Base in a B-58 Hustler. The nuclear weapons accident occurred during a Strategic Air Command Operational Readiness Inspection, a drill used to evaluate the 305th Bomb Wing’s ability to go to war. The radioactive wreckage of his bomber remained buried on the Base for 36 years. Plezcko, now of Houston was only a baby when her widowed mother moved the family to Texas.
Almost two years later to the day Major Richard Blakeslee was flying his supersonic B-58 on a low level training run over McKinney, Kentucky when he crashed, killing all three onboard. Major Blakeslee was assigned to then Bunker Hill Air Force Base where his family lived. His son Rob Blakeslee, Orlando was fourteen and remembers not only losing his father, but his home and his friends.
Blakeslee has an emotional attachment to the cutting edge, Cold War warplane that killed his father and is currently the executive director of the B-58 Hustler Association, Fort Worth, Texas. To preserve the legacy of everyone who was associated with the B-58 program he has proposed construction of an exhibit building to shelter Grissom’s rare TB-58 Hustler. Only 116 of these remarkable aircraft were built. The world’s first supersonic bomber, the Hustler could fly higher than Soviet missiles and outrun a fighter jet. Airmen who flew and supported the B-58 mission were considered among the elite of the US Air Force.
Pleczko had heard family stories and seen pictures in scrapbooks but wanted to get closer to her Dad. The journey brought her back to Indiana for the first time three years ago where she was able to make a connection at the Grissom Air Museum. She and her husband Rick are committed to preserving her father’s Cold War legacy and have pledged to match all contributions toward the exhibit up to $50,000.
Grissom’s TB-58 was built in 1955. Following a series of supersonic tests she was converted to a TB, training bomber and assigned to the 305th Bombardment Wing at Bunker Hill. This aircraft has been on exhibit since 1969 when a cockpit fire left her grounded near the end of the B-58 program. Grissom’s TB-58 is one of only eight left intact.
The proposed building will resemble the type of structures used to shelter the bombers while they were armed and standing alert at Bunker Hill-Grissom during the 1960s. Large enough to display the aircraft, related artifacts like a B-58 ejection capsule will also be exhibited. Glass walls and interior lighting will make the display visible from US 31 at night, reminding travelers of Grissom’s 24/7 vigilance when these bombers stood on the forward wall of world peace.
Museum Board Chairman Tom Kelley became friends with the Pleczko’s while they were looking for her father. “The Grissom Air Museum, is much more than just a roadside attraction. This is a solemn place to honor the airmen who served here and their families”.
This generous donation is incredible, commented Tom Jennings, Executive Director. “Our Hustler is one of our most popular aircraft exhibits and we are very excited to get it under roof. These families made a tremendous sacrifice in the defense of our Country and we must always remember them. Our Hustler helps us tell their stories.”
If you would like to help honor the airmen of Bunker Hill-Grissom Air Force Base please call Director Tom Jennings 765-689-8011 or director@grissomairmuseum.com.
The Grissom Air Museum is a 501 c3 non-profit organization.
Photo 1: Captain “Rocky” Cervantes (third from right) with his B-58 flight and ground crew at Bunker Hill AFB
Photo 2: Major Richard Blakeslee (far right) delivering the last production B-58 to Bunker Hill AFB in October 1962