Monday marks the sixth anniversary of a military tragedy in Mississippi. And this weekend, family members will gather once again with people from the community in Itta Bena to remember the 15 Marines and one Navy corpsman who were killed when their plane broke apart and crashed in a soybean field near the Leflore-Sunflower county line on July 10, 2017.
“We continue to do this memorial every year,” says Kelsey McCarty, who serves as hospitality coordinator for the YANKY 72 Memorial Committee. YANKY 72 was the plane’s call sign. The service is scheduled for Saturday evening at the memorial across the highway from the Mississippi Valley State University campus, about eight miles from the actual crash site. McCarty says everyone is welcome to attend—or to visit some other time.
“We just really encourage anyone who’s driving down Highway 82 in the Greenwood-Itta Bena area to stop by the memorial at any time of the year, pay your respects and learn more about this tragedy that happened and also how this community has kept the memory alive.”
