VETERANS DAY 2025
Capt. Donnie Lee Maynard, whose plane went down just outside a German town in 1975, and son Eric, who is a Gray Police Department captain. CONTRIBUTED
The Oct. 17, 1975 crash site, which is the hill behind the town of Eiershiem. Eyewitnesses say the pilots could have ejected but stayed in the plane to spare the town. CONTRIBUTED
The week included a church service during which Dylan Bowden (second right, back row) had the opportunity to speak about his grandfather. CONTRIBUTED
Eric Maynard following the presentation of actual pieces of his dad’s aircraft recovered by residents. CONTRIBUTED
The Maynard family surrounds the memorial placed by the town in honor of the two pilots, Capt. Donnie Lee Maynard and Lt. John Wayne Roberts. CONTRIBUTED
The plaque is in gratitude for the pilots’ sacrifice. CONTRIBUTED
A Jones County family recently received answers to questions about the death of a husband and father in a small town in Germany, 50 years after the plane crash that took his life.Capt. Donnie Lee Maynard and 1st Lt. John Wayne Roberts were killed Oct. 17, 1975, during a training exercise near Eiershiem, Germany, and until this summer, that was all the families knew.Gray Police Dep...
