(January 21, 1944) - "We deeply regret to inform you that your son, Sgt. Charles E. Haney, U.S.M.C., died January 19, as a result of a plane crash" is the text of a telegram received last night at 7 o'clock by Mrs. Irene Haney of Washington Avenue.

The message was sent by the commandant at the Marine Air Base at Cherry Point, N.C., and no details were given.

Sgt. Haney, who was 27 years old, was stationed with the Headquarters Squadron, Marine Air Group, Third Marine Aircraft Wing at Cherry Point and it is supposed that the crash occurred during a training flight somewhere in North Carolina.

In a last letter, written on Jan. 9, Sgt. Haney told his mother how he had missed death recently when the engine of his plane had gone dead 7,000 feet up and he and his companion had to bail out. He landed in a field and was dragged some distance by his parachute, while the other flier landed in some pine trees.

Although slightly injured, both men managed to get to a nearby farm house, where they received treatment for shock. They were then sent to a hospital for observation but were discharged in a few days when no serious injuries developed.

The death of her son takes Mrs. Haney back to World War I, when her husband, the late Sentner Haney, went overseas. After being wounded and gassed, he died in a hospital at Le Mans, France, on Feb. 18, 1919, after a long illness. His body was brought back to the United States and he was buried at
his birthplace, Greenville, Tenn., where his son will also be buried.

Mrs. Haney will leave for Greenville tonight where St. Haney will be buried in Andrew Jackson National Cemetery.

Sgt. Haney was born in Oklahoma City and while a young baby was taken by his mother to Greenville, where she had spent most of her life. They remained there until 1934, when they came north to Orange where Sgt. Haney spent two years as a student at the Orange high school.

They moved to this town in 1936 and in 1940, Sgt. Haney, after he had attended a preparatory school at Fort McPherson, Ga., enlisted in the Marine Corps. After being stationed at Iona Island in the Hudson River and at the Navy building in Washington, D.C.,  where he did guard duty, he was transferred to the Aircraft Wing at Cherry Point.

The marine is survived by a sister, Miss Louise Haney, who lives with her mother, Mrs. Haney who is employed as an inspector at the Isolantite plant in Belleville.

The 3d Marine Aircraft Wing was commissioned on the anniversary of the Marine Corps, November 10, 1942, at Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, NC.

At that time, it had a personnel roster of 13 officers, 25 enlisted men and one aircraft trainer. By March 1944, it had 15,740 personnel and 465 aircraft of different types.

With experienced World War II combat-veteran pilots serving as instructors, a rigid flight training schedule helped produce top pilots who went on to become aces over the South Pacific.

The 3d MAW played an important role in defeating the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by providing the best trained pilots and support personnel. When the Japanese surrendered in 1945, the wing was decommissioned and its personnel were assigned to other units.

The Nutley Sun, January 21, 1944

Sgt. Charles Haney Dies
In Airplane Crash In South

American Legion Post 70 Memorial

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