On the left side of the CH-47 Rotor Blade memorial.

A tall, upright information panel displays a photograph of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, alongside historical details about the crash near Pegnitz on August 18, 1971, written in both German and English. Below, smaller photographs document commemorations held in 1971, 1973, and 2021, showing how the tragedy has been honored through the years. At the bottom, the panel includes military insignias representing the 7th Army (later 7th Army Training Command), the 4th Infantry Regiment, the 56th Artillery Command (known in 1971 as the 56th Field Artillery Brigade), the 6th Field Artillery Regiment, the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, and U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria.

FÜR IMMER IN UNSEREN GEDANKEN
FOREVER IN OUR THOUGHTS

Left column:

Das schwerste Unglück der US-Armee in Deutschland seit 1945 ereignete sich am 18. August 1971 beim Absturz eines Chinook-Helikopters hier auf der Fischelhöhe in Pegnitz.

Es starben 37 junge Soldaten. Die meisten waren zwischen 19 und 26 Jahre alt.

Der Helikopter, der von den Dolan Barracks in Schwäbisch Hall kam, war auf dem Weg nach Grafenwöhr, erreichte sein Ziel jedoch nie. Bei Pegnitz löste sich ein Rotorblatt, schlug in den Hubschrauber und brachte diesen zur Explosion. Die jungen Soldaten an Bord erlit-ten einen grausamen Tod, viele wurden aus dem Wrack geschleudert oder sind verbrannt.

Am Unglücksort wurde 1973 ein Denkmal aus Felsen errichtet. Auf einer Tafel sind die Namen aller verunglückten Soldaten für die Ewigkeit festgehalten.

Anlässlich des 50. Jahrestages des Absturzes wurde die Gedenkstätte durch ein Original-Rotorblatt eines CH-47 Chinook Helikopters ergänzt, das von der US Army gestiftet wurde. Zu dieser Gedenkfeier kamen neben hochrangigen politischen und militärischen Vertretern auch Angehörige der damals verunglückten Soldaten, um am Ort des tragischen Ereignisses Abschied zu nehmen.

Wir alle gedenken der Soldaten, die hier in Pegnitz viel zu früh ihr Leben verloren haben.

Right column:

The US Armys worst accident in Germany since 1945 occurred on August 18, 1971, when a Chinook Helicopter crashed here on the Fischelhöhe in Pegnitz.

37 young members died, most of them between 19 and 26 years old.

Coming from the Coleman Barracks in Schwäbisch Hall, the helicopter was en route to Grafenwoehr, but never arrived. Near Pegnitz, a rotor blade came loose, stuck the helicopter, and caused it to explode. The young soldiers on board suffered a gruesome death, many of them were thrown from the wreckage or burned.

In 1973, a monument made of rocks was erected on the crash site. The names of the perished soldiers are forever commemorated on a plaque.

On the 50th anniversary of the crash, an original rotor blade from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter donated by the US Army was added to the memorial site. High-ranking political and military representatives and family members of the deceased soldiers gathered at the memorial to pay their respects and bid their loved ones farewell.

We all remember the soldiers who lost their lives too early here in Pegnitz.

1971
- Debris from the crashed helicopter (Private Archive of Christina Lohr)
- Clearing up after the disaster (Private Archive of Christina Lohr)
- Firefighters extinguish the burning wreckage (City Archive Pegnitz

1973
- Erection of the monument June 1st 1973, Golden Book of the City of Pegnitz 2021 (City
Archive Pegnitz)

2021
- Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the crash in 2021
from left to right:
Woodward Clark Price (Charge dAffaires of the U.S. Embassy Berlin)
Joseph E. Hilbert (Major General, U.S. Army)
Wolfgang Nierhoff (First Bürgermeister of the City of Pegnitz)
Joachim Herrmann (Bavarian State Minister of the Interior, for Sport and Integration)
Timothy Liston (U.S. Consulate General in München)
Andre Potzler (Public Affairs Office)
- [Photo showing dogtags of the 37 fallen U.S. Soldiers, in front of the memorial during
2021 ceremony at the site]