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290th JCSS honors fallen with brick dedication

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Vernon L. Fowler Jr.
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing public affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  "We are here, 33 years after Air Florida Flight 90 crashed, to honor those fallen JCSE leaders by dedicating the first brick in our unit brick garden to their legacy," said Master Sgt. Sean Abene, 290th Joint Communications Support Squadron Element NCO in charge, during the squadron's brick dedication ceremony at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, Jan. 14, 2015.

Personnel in attendance observed as Abene held up the brick engraved with the names of Sgt. Maj. James Dixon, JCSE operations sergeant major, Maj. Ralph Herman, JCSE operations officer, and Lt. Col. George Mattar, JCSE commander before his death, for all to see.

The three Joint Communications Support Element members being honored died in an aircraft accident Jan. 13, 1982, while departing Washington D.C. The plane, Air Florida Flight 90, had accumulated too much snow on its wings preventing it from reaching the proper speed and altitude to avoid striking the 14th Street Bridge and plunging into the Potomac River.

The ceremony was held to dedicate the first of many bricks that will be placed to create the 290th JCSS' brick garden.

Prior to the ceremony's conclusion, the honor of placing the first brick into the soil was given to Brig. Gen. James Eifert, the Assistant Adjutant General-Air and Deputy Commander of the Florida Air National Guard, and Col. Kirby Watson, JCSE commander.

As the brick was placed, Abene added some final words.

"This brick, bearing the names of our three fallen comrades, will eventually be surrounded by bricks bearing the names and messages of past, present, and future 290th JCSS members," said Abene. "Also the individuals, groups, and organizations that positively affected our squadron, enabling it to fulfill its mission in an outstanding fashion and make Greater JCSE, including 290th JCSS of the Florida Air National Guard, the best and most sought after communications unit in the world."