Seen Around Town

World War II Disaster in Our County

On Dec 30, 1942 a B17 bomber, commonly known as the 'Flying Fortress', crashed about 10 miles south of Musselshell. There were eleven men that perished, according to one report. Another report mentions twelve.

This plane was on a training flight out of the Great Falls Army Air Corps base. While flying over Melstone, the aircraft caught fire for an undetermined reason. Shortly thereafter, it went out of control, dove into the ground, and crashed on the slope of Mt. Bull located south of Musselshell. All crew members were killed. Listed as on the plane were:

Ed Layfield, pilot,

Gerald Beem, copilot,

Lewis Newland, navigator,

Chester Knight, bombardier,

Fred Brown, flight engineer,

Hulon Dutton, radio operator,

Chas Valys, air gunner,

Wallace Hanson, air gunner,

Fred Murray, air gunner,

Hobart Hall, air gunner,

Orville Ralston, air gunner.

Currently the wreckage is on private property. The Musselshell Valley Historical Museum recently added a small display. The museum can help you find original copy of coverage of this event in the Roundup Record-Tribune.

There was a break-in at the IGA in Roundup last weekend. Calls to the store for more details were not returned.

Here's what is known. A window was broken and replaced.

Montana Retail Theft Statistics

https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/shoplifting-statistics/#mt

Retailers in Montana lost $298 million in revenue to theft in 2022.

Montana retailers lost $334.73 in sales per capita in 2022.

Retail theft per capita in Montana is 2.73% lower than the average among states.

Theft of $1,500 or more is a felony in Montana.

How to keep our town safe

As our society changes, sometimes not always for the better, we may have to rethink a few things. Keep locked what has always been open.

Some great ideas here:

How to keep our town safe

RIDE is soon coming. As if we could forget...