Brenda Grubb never passes up an opportunity to honor the fallen soldiers of Yanky 72.
Ever since the day the KC-130 military plane crashed into a Delta soybean field, killing all 16 servicemen on board, Grubb has felt a connection to the victims and their families.
Grubb spoke to the Indianola Rotary Club about her journey in contacting the families of the soldiers and her efforts to preserve their memories in the Delta.
“My journey has been such a blessing,” Grubb said. “And I have seen God’s fingerprints all over my walk.”
It was determined months after the July 10, 2017 crash along the Sunflower and Leflore County line that it was caused by a propeller that came loose and pierced the plane, Grubb told the club.
Through her work with the Moorhead Garden Club, Grubb and the other members of the civic organization had already been preparing a huge bicentennial celebration in Moorhead for the following October.
They decided to dedicate that event to the memory of the fallen 16 soldiers.
Grubb said there was talk at the crash site about erecting a monument in honor of the military men, but talk had faded until she was contacted by an individual who said he could help procure money for a monument through private donations.
Before long, they had $80,000 to put toward the Yanky 72 monument.
After getting the final specs for the project, it was determined that the group needed $120,000 to complete it, but Grubb said God provided that extra money, and in July 2018, members from all 16 families of the deceased servicemen attended the dedication of the Yanky 72 monument in Itta Bena, right across from the Mississippi Valley State University Campus.
Grubb said the Delta had fulfilled a promise made to one of the family members who told her “I just don’t want them forgotten.”
“I assured her, the names would not be forgotten,” Grubb said.
Grubb said there are currently a dozen monuments to the Yanky 72 crash victims in the Delta, including Itta Bena, Moorhead and Greenwood.
