(The following article has been edited by me for length.)

There are six funeral firms in Shelby County. Some of us are close personal friends. All of us have a mutual respect for each other's abilities. We are strongly competitive, but do not hesitate to help each other with personnel, equipment, or any other means of assistance. I mention this because this was the basis for easy, effective cooperation in the situation which confronted us on September 9th.

The first word we received was only that there had been an air crash. The next word came from officials that there were no survivors, and we were to stand by.

The chain of priority that must be followed in air crashes was adhered to in this case. The only disturbance that is immediately permissible at the scene is moving the sick and injured. Since there were no survivors everything had to stay put until the FAA was through with its initial study. When it deemed the bodies could be moved they were released to the Shelby County coroner.

The accident took place at 3:31 PM on that fateful Tuesday. The remains began arriving at the Armory about 10:00 that night. The remainder of Tuesday night was spent placing remains in the morgue and getting ready for identification teams.

Wednesday was frantic. During the morning we had our first contact with Allegheny Airlines officials. We explained what resources we had to offer, and if they wished to use us on their behalf we were available as a group, but if they wanted to make any other arrangements, we would gladly step out of the way. The airline asked us to continue for them.

Later on Wednesday, I was advised that in a previous disaster they had tried to ship all remains in a suitable container to the hometown funeral directors and had the families assume responsibility from then on. It was indicated that we should give some thought to the possibility of a mass burial.

The decision the airline ultimately made was in my opinion a direct reflection on the sensitive, compassionate, efficient men representing Allegheny who were trying to do everything humanly possible within the limits of their resources for the families of these victims.

Late Thursday the FBI estimated that 50% identification might be possible. I then proposed at a meeting with Allegheny VP Peter Brennan that if Allegheny was deciding to assume any of the burden of the cost in regard to the identified remains, and if they could arrive at how much of the cost they would assume, we could work out a method of allocating those funds that would permit a family to exercise almost any option they chose as they claimed their remains.

This led to the ultimate decision that Allegheny would pay us for whatever services we rendered.

Thursday night the coroner released to us those remains that had been determined unidentifiable. We had the exclusive use of the Armory late Thursday night. We called in all our personnel, removed the remains from refrigerated trailers, treated them, encased them in plastic, and returned them to the trailer for storage.

On Friday we planned for the mass committal and interment. The cemetery location was selected. The caskets were chosen. We discussed the services that would precede and those that would be a part of the mass burial.

Late Friday night the identified list was certified by the coroner. We assembled all identified remains and got them ready for the release time of 8:00 AM Saturday.

At 8:02 AM the flood of calls from funeral directors to our number began. Three of us processed those calls. We informed them of the arrangements worked out by Allegheny, took their instructions, and scheduled pickups for Saturday and Sunday. Air shipments were begun at 6:10 PM Saturday, and all remains concerning which we had received final instructions were on their way by early Sunday afternoon.

Monday morning we continued work on the mass committal arrangements. Monday afternoon the casketing of the unidentified remains began. The caskets were
then moved to other funeral homes to be held there until the time of the service. This task was completed by Tuesday noon, a week after the disaster. Meanwhile, all the families of the unidentified had been informed. Airline and motel reservations were made for them.

Graveside services were to be at 11:00 AM Wednesday at Forest Hill Cemetery. These were preceded by Catholic services in St. Joseph Catholic Church at 9:30. The Protestant services were at 10:00 at the First Methodist Church. Jewish services were at a synagogue in Indianapolis.

Every family was assigned a host or hostess by Allegheny. They were escorted from the time they left home until they arrived back home.

Prior to service time on Wednesday all families were assembled at the Holiday Inn in Shelbyville. The families were assembled by their hosts according to religious affiliation and driven to their respective services. The Catholic congregation proceeded to the cemetery first so that the Catholic committal could be performed. The Protestant, Jewish, and those who did not wish to attend a church service prior to the mass burial were merged into one cortege and proceeded to the cemetery.

All families were seated in a 60x100 tent in front of two rows of 16 caskets each. At the conclusion of the services many of the more than 300 persons in the families went up to the caskets and said their own good-byes. They were then escorted to the Holiday Inn. Lunch was available. They were escorted again to their planes for the trip home.

The total death toll was 83. Of this number 51 were identified. Of those identified the bodies of all but three were returned home for funeral services. The three that remained were buried in the cemetery at Shelbyville.

Duane R. Murphy
The Director
November 1969