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Titan II ‘Hero’ ReprimandedsaWASHINGTON (AP) - The Air Force has reprimanded an airman who had been considered a hero atter he twice went underground into the vaporfilled Titan II missile complex before it exploded near Damascus, Ark , last September, according to the Washington Post.Sgt. Jeffrey K. Kennedy, who was injured severely when the missile silo blew up, was given an official letter of reprimand last month for his first entry, which he did on his own in violation ol an order to stay out of the complex, according to sources quoted by the Post in the story in Thursday's editions.The newspaper also quoted Air Force sources as saying that airman David Powell, who droppped the nine-pound wrench socket that punctured the missile's fuel tank and began the accident, has been charged with disobeying technical ordersgoverning the kinds of equipment used inside the silo.Powell is challenging the charge by demanding a court-martial and his military superiors are studying the situation, the Post quoied sources as saying.Asked about the report, a spokesman for the Strategic Air Command in Omaha, Neb., Capt Alan Matecko, said privacy act regulations forbid the Air Force from making public disciplinary actions below the level of court-rnartial.In Kennedy's first trip into the complex, he donned a gas mask, entered through an escape hatch and came out a few minutes later with valuable readings of gauges that measured pressures in the silo, the Post said.Kennedy, who had been considered one of the accident's heroes, was injured during his second trip into the complex That trip was ordered by Lt. Gen. Lloyd R Leavitt Jr , vice commander ut the Strategic Air Command, according to the newspaperThe explosion occurred just as Kennedy and Senior Airman David L Livingston returned tothe surface after finding thatvapor levels inside the complex were unsafe, the Post said Liv ingston died the next day as a result of vapors inhaled after the explosion.Kennedy suffered a broken leg and numerous wounds from flying debris and also inhaled poisonous vapors The Post said Kennedy is now awaiting an Air Force examination that could lead to a medical dischargePowell’s charge stems from his having carried a ratchet wrench into the silo instead of a torque wrench The wrenches look similar and, until orders were rewritten two months before the accident, both were used for the job Powell was assigned, the Post reporteddiriish“IheatqtMkireuifahiriMhididlt;mhiTwo Refugees FacFORT CHAFFEE, Ark (AP)- An FBI complaint charging two Cuban refugees with second-degree murder on a government reservation has been filed Ramon Cruz Martinez, 23, and Mario Sedeno Garcia, 32, were being transferred Wednesday night from the Fort Chaffee relocation center stockade to theSlt;ClS|FahUN
Newspaper Details
Fayetteville Northwest Arkansas Times
Fayetteville, Arkansas, US
Thu, Feb 12, 1981
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Arkansas S.
AR, USA 25 Feb 2020
Other Publications Near Fayetteville, Arkansas
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