Kern County Obituaries

W. R. Savage

Submitted by Don Stowell; 13 Feb 2008

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Source Unknown; 29 Mar 1956

Sgt. Savage Dies In Plane Crash 
Staff Sgt. W. R. Savage, assigned to the 6516th Flight Line Maintenance Sqd. 
(Jet) Edwards Air Force Base and a resident of Mojave, was killed Sunday March 
25 in a crash of an XB 51 at Bigg's Air Force Base, EI Paso, Texas.
Pilot of the plane which was being ferried to Eglin AFB Florida, Major James O. 
Rudolph, was seriously injured and is now undergoing treatment at Brooke Army 
Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas. His wife, Clara, was flown to his bedside by 
special flight from Edwards A.F.B.
S/Sgt Savage was a veteran of 10 years military service and is formerly from 
Dawnsville, Ga. He is survived by his widow, Ida, and three children, Ida, Ruth 
and Jerry Lee. They formerly lived at 625 K Street, Mojave. Funeral arrangements 
are pending.
Major Rudolph is a veteran of 50 World War II combat missions and is currently 
assigned to the bomber operations branch AFFTC Edwards,. Calif. He is a graduate of 
USAF Flight Test Pilot's School
The two men had just taken off from Biggs AFB and immediately after 
becoming airborne, the plane dropped to the ground, struck a railroad track, 
exploded and burned. Investigators are probing the wreckage to determine the 
cause of the crash.