Banning, Ray 1891 - 1918

BANNING, LIBBEY, BETTS

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 7/7/2024 at 12:42:02

Source: Cresco Plain Dealer July 5, 1918, FP C5

Killed in an Aeroplane Accident.
A Cresco boy, Corporal Ray Banning, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. P. M. Banning, was killed last Sunday forenoon at a flying field at Fort Worth, Texas, by an accident which cost the life of two, Banning and Lieut. Revenal, of Washington, D. C., a young man about 23 years of age but an experienced pilot.
From Corporal McInness, of Duluth, Minn, who accompanied the remains to Cresco, we learn that Banning, who had previously spent about sixty hours in the air as mechanic for different officers, was making his first student flight with an instructor. It seems that the commanding officer had received permission to train a limited number of mechanics and others who had shown marked adaptability for flying, and Ray, in furtherance of his ambitions, volunteered and was accepted. The lieutenant who was with him had also volunteered as instructor.
Sunday was the morning of the first flights of the new students. All the others had made their flights when Ray and his instructor went up, circled about the aerodrome for about ten minutes at a height of 1500 to 2000 feet, and had commenced to glide to a land{i}ng when the engine evidently backfired through the carburetor, exploding the 30-gallon tank of gasoline situated in front of the pilot. Corporal McInniss tells that this is the second accident at that field resulting from backfiring. The machine was seen to burst into flames, and from all appearances, it is believed that Lieut. Revenal took control and attempted a landing, but the plane crashed a distance of about 200 feet to earth where it burned for nearly thirty minutes before the bodies could be recovered.

The remains arrived in Cresco Wednesday evening in such condition that the funeral, originally planned for today, was held at 10 o’clock Thursday morning at the opera house which was filled to its capacity. The M. W. A. attended in a body in respect of the memory of their deceased neighbor, as also did the Commercial Club.
Rev. Bockoven had charge of the funeral, and his address was supplemented by Dr. Kessell and Rev. Norman, all of whom spoke briefly but with deep earnestness concerning the nature of the occasion and with tender sympathy for the sorrowing family. One of the speakers in referring to the day and the occasion as it concerned the community, remarked that on this anniversary of American Independence, in these present times of stress, it was better to meet in the house of sorrow than to participate in the usual rejoicings and feastings of the nation’s natal day.
Several appropriate hymns were sung by a choir composed of Mesd. E. H. Allen and M. O. Swenson, the Misses Kathryn Davis and Mary Eaton, and Messrs. Will Patterson, J. H. Burgess and F. D. Mead, with Miss Laidlaw at the piano.
The remains were interred I Oak Lawn cemetery.
The sorrowing family have the deep and abiding sympathy of the whole community in the loss of their son and brother, remembering that Ray died to help save our country, and in so knowing that sorrow will be tempered by the assurance that Ray’s future with God is secure and that his memory will ever be enshrined in the hearts of a grateful people.
Rev. Bockoven read the following brief obituary:--
Ray L. Banning was born near Cresco, Sept. 6, 1891, and died June 30, 1818, aged nearly 27 years. He enlisted Dec. 8, 1917, and at the time of his death ranked as Corporal of the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps. He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. P. M. Banning, two sisters, Mrs. W. R. Libbey, of Cresco, and Mrs. Edwin Betts, of Wayside, Neb., and two brothers, Roy H. of Davenport, Iowa, and Ralph D. of Cresco.

Oak Lawn Cemetery
 

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