NCPI Workmark
Articles in regional publications that pertain to a wide range of North Carolina-related topics.

The Hero Who Wouldn't Jump

Record #:
8068
Author(s):
Abstract:
In 1945, residents of Morningside Drive in Charlotte were standing outside their homes, watching three planes flying overhead, when one of them caught fire. Second Lieutenant Budd Harris Andrews refused to bail out of his A-20 attack bomber, saying that if he did, the plane would crash into a residential section and endanger civilian lives. He tried to land the plane on a golf course, but it crashed, killing him instantly. A letter from a military officer made public eleven years later confirmed that Lieutenant Andrews was a hero who refused to endanger innocent lives at the cost of his own, something the residents of Morningside Drive knew all along. After eleven years of petitioning by the grateful people of Morningside Drive, the Athletic Field in Veterans Park was dubbed Budd Andrews Athletic Field. A bronze marker was installed seven years later, fulfilling the mission of Morningside Drive residents to properly honor the hero who saved their homes and their lives.
Source:
The State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 53 Issue 3, Aug 1985, p16-17, por