Edward B. Sullivan - Gainesville, TX
N 33° 37.910 W 097° 07.530
14S E 673861 N 3722911
Edward B. Sullivan was killed in a training flight while taking off from Ardmore, OK on July 7, 1918. He is buried in Division 11 of Gainesville's historic Fairview Cemetery.
Waymark Code: WMPWPX
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/31/2015
Views: 2
Ron Melugin's "Heroes, Scoundrels, and Angels" is an excellent guide to this cemetery, and it provides some background (page 87). Lieutenant Sullivan and a mechanic, Edward C. Doyle, encountered a stiff wind during takeoff from Electric Park, and their plane nose-dived from about a hundred feet, bursting into flames upon impact and killing both men.
"The Gainesville Register" eulogized him: "He did some of the most daring flying ever seen here...He was utterly fearless and his only wish no doubt would have been that he might have gone to his death fighting the Huns." On the day of the funeral, the mayor of Gainesville requested that businesses and banks close between 9 AM and 10:30 AM to pay respect to Sullivan, a local boy. Sergeant Doyle was buried in Fort Meigs Cemetery, Perrysburg, OH.
Lieutenant Sullivan was initially buried in an unmarked grave, but later efforts placed a government-issued headstone here. Its inscription is:
EDWARD B
SULLIVAN
1st Lt
USAAS
WORLD WAR I
Feb 1898
Jul 7 1918
Died in Plane Crash
Ardmore, OK
Type of Death Listed: Accident
Website (if available): [Web Link]
Cause of death inscription on headstone: Not listed
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