DENTON, N.C. – Residents of the Denton area held a memorial service Sunday for the crew of an Air Force B-52 bomber from Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, Maine, that crashed near the community March 30, 1961.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Glen Farnham, the tragedy’s lone living survivor, spoke of the help local residents gave when the plane went down.

“We’ve all heard of Southern hospitality,” he said. “This community epitomizes the very essence of that saying.”

Farnham and the families of five of the six men who perished in the disaster were honored guests at an inaugural ceremony dedicated to the memory of the eight-man crew. The ceremony was held at Salvation Army Camp Walter Johnson in Denton.

The bomber dived from 31,000 feet while approaching a tanker plane for a mock refueling. Crew members were participating in a simulated bombing mission as part of a Strategic Air Command competition. The precise cause of the accident is unknown.

Farnham and another crewman suffered minor injuries after ejecting from the plane and parachuting onto farmland. Farnham wound up at the home of Denton resident Frances Crouse, who assisted the men. The six other members of the crew died in the crash.