Remembering Tampa's forgotten WWII heroes, 76 years after B-17 crash

TAMPA, Fla. - Air Force veteran Dennis Cole is passionate about sharing the history of MacDill Air Force Base. 

"I think a lot of people don't know MacDill's contribution to World War II," lamented the Tampa resident who served at MacDill in the 1970s and now spends hours tracing the history of the base. 

On this day, he led a group through one of the base's huge hangers, built in 1939. But this group knew a little something of MacDill's history, and for Linda Rodgers, it's personal. 

"He was 25. He had been to high school and college," she said, talking about her uncle, Johnny Ligon.  

Ligon was killed on February 29, 1944. His B-17 crashed during a training flight north of Tampa. 

Lt. Johnny Ligon

"There was a plaque at his high school and it felt to me like it was forgotten," she continued. 

So Rodgers went searching for her uncle's story. She found a Facebook group on MacDill history -- and Dennis Cole. 

"And before I knew it, I was talking to Dennis on the phone and we're looking for a plane in a swamp," she recalled.

Cole found old pictures of the crash site and records revealing what happened. Ligon was the co-pilot. He and his crew were on a training mission, flying at night, 25 miles north of Tampa. They saw lights. Thinking it was MacDill, they began to descend. 

They hit trees and crashed into the woods. Nine men were killed. 

Dennis Cole tracked down photos of the crash scene, near what is now Flatwoods Park.

Now, 76 years later, they're remembered. 

"When I started getting pictures of these people, it became personal," Cole offered. 

Through Facebook, Rodgers has connected with family members of several of the men who died with her uncle. 

Flying was very dangerous at the time. In fact, more people were killed flying training missions than in combat -- people like Johnny Ligon. 

Nine people died in the February 29, 1944 crash.

"To me, he's as much a hero as anyone who put a bomb on a railyard over in Germany," Rodgers added.

Cole says he wants to see a historical marker placed at the crash site near Flatwoods Park, off Morris Bridge Road. 

Rodgers and Cole continue to research the story of the crew that was lost on a February night in 1944. For them, it's worth the search to find forgotten heroes. 

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