The 148th Fighter Wing celebrated 75 years of service in 2023. And in those years, they have lost 21 men.

Names of those men are now etched into a granite Memorial Wall at the Wing. “It’s important that we got this done,” shared Colonel Ryan Kaspari. “In our 75+ years, we’ve had a lot of successes. And that’s really on the backs of our retirees and fallen.”

The wall stands in a position of honor, facing the flight line and the American flag at the base operations building.

The men died from 1949 to 1997, and most were during flights. Some were here close to the base, and others were far from home.

Master Sgt. George Ion survived a crash where nine of the then-179th Fighter Squadron members died. But then, 21 years later, he died on the ramp, when an oxygen tank exploded.

His grandson, Chief Master Sgt. Doug Ion, is proud to help get this wall across the finish line. “I have a memory of him putting me on the wing of a Voodoo, my brother too. And we were crawling around, pretending to work on the aircraft. The passion to work here, came from him,” he told us.

Sr. Airman Nash Tahtinen’s great-grandfather, 1st Lt. Wayne Tahtinen, died in a mid-air collision in the 1950s. “He was one of the original members. And it’s good we are remembering, because there’s not much information about some of the people,” Tahtinen said.

This project has been in the works for decades.

Here are more details:

1st Lt. John Bergman
Staff Sgt. Arthur Wedin
On November 13, 1949, a B-26 Marauder crashed near Rice Lake Road as it was preparing to land. The pilot, 1st Lt. John Bergman, and crew chief, Staff Sgt. Arthur Welin were killed. The twin engine plane was one of two assigned to the 179th Fighter Squadron.

1st Lt. Wayne Tahtinen
On August 3, 1951, 1st Lt. Wayne J. Tahtinen was killed when the F-51 Mustang he piloted, collided with another Mustang during a training flight 20-miles northwest of Duluth, Minn., near Saginaw. The crash occurred while the 179th Fighter Squadron was activated for the Korean War.

Maj. Frederick Kemp
Capt. Victor Graboski
2nd Lt. John Hughes
Tech. Sgt. Elmer Haas
Staff Sgt. Charles Stewart
Staff Sgt. Allen Christensen
Staff Sgt. Donald Marty
Airman 2nd Class James Stewart
Airman 1st Class William Lange
The greatest single tragedy to hit the 179th Fighter Squadron took place on Memorial Day weekend, May 31, 1954, when a C-47 Skytrain crashed near Sunrise Memorial Cemetery, Hermantown, Minnesota. The C-47, often referred to as the Gooney Bird, was piloted by Maj. Frederick Kemp Jr. and co-piloted by Capt. Victor Graboski.

Also killed were U.S. Army Reserve Col., A.C. Ott and U.S. Air Force Capt. William Lovshin.
There were three survivors on this flight: B. Willeck, G. Ion, and E. Sugars.

1st Lt. Herbert Rowe
2nd Lt. Malcom Jerome Brown
On April 29, 1958, 1st. Lt. Herbert Rowe and 2nd Lt. Malcom Brown died when their F-94C Starfire crashed 11-miles northwest of Duluth near Caribou Lake after takeoff for a routine training mission.

Capt. James Verville
Capt. Sherman Gonyea
On December 17, 1971, during an air defense alert scramble, their F-101B “Voodoo” aircraft experienced a catastrophic engine failure, tearing the fighter jet apart and fating the two airmen to certain death.

Lt Wayne F. Vine
Lt. Wayne F. Vine was killed on March 6, 1973, while ejecting from an F-101 Voo Doo at take-off from George Air Force Base, California during an air defense exercise

Master Sgt. George R. Ion
Master Sgt. George R. Ion died July 16, 1975, after an aircraft oxygen tank he was removing from an F-101 exploded.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey S. Dennis
Staff Sgt. Christopher Ford
Lt. Col. Jeffrey S. Dennis piloted F-16B #1042 which failed to return from a training flight while deployed to Howard Air Force Base, Panama, on Dec 19, 1991. Staff Sgt. Christopher Ford was a back seat passenger during the flight.

Maj. Peter M. Woodbury:
Maj. Peter M. Woodbury passed when the F-16 he piloted crashed near Greenwood Lake, approximately 35 miles north of Two Harbors, Minnesota on Jan. 7, 1997. Woodbury’s aircraft was one of four F-16s conducting a night training mission.

The wing will host the families during a private ceremony on Saturday.