The following two articles from the USFA Sentinel are meant to pay tribute to two soldiers
who paid the ultimate price while performing their duties in Austria.

What did he die for?
When he died for you and me
Made the sacrifice
So that we could all be free
I believe we will answer each to heaven
For the way we spend a priceless liberty
Look inside and ask the question
What did he die for?
When he died for me

USFA SENTINEL
7 January, 1955
USFA Officer, EM Die in Plane Crash

A USFA Army Aviation Section officer and an enlisted man were killed December 28 when their L-17 airplane crashed near St. Marien, about 10 miles southeast of Linz.

The victims were identified as Capt John J. Hayes, USFA Hqs, and Pfc William L. Pruett, 7689 Hq/Hq Co Aviation Platoon, both stationed at Camp McCauley.

Hayes and Pruett were on an instrument training flight when the accident occurred. An Army board is investigating to determine the cause of the crash. The aircraft burned following the accident.

The crash, which occurred at about 10:40 am, after Hayes had established radio contact with the McCauley airfield, was reported to the Camp McCauley CO by Austrian Gendarmes. The captain was well known in the Linz area for the number of mercy flights he made with Austrian children suffering from whooping cough. He made more than 100 such flights at the request of local physicians.

For service in the Pacific Theater during World War II, Hayes was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Medal and the Air Medal. Memorial services for the two deceased flyers were held December 30 in the Camp McCauley Chapel. The two bodies were flown to the United States for burial.

USFA SENTINEL
15 July, 1955
Capt Hayes Monument Unveiled on July 4th

The unveiling of the Captain Hayes monument at Camp McCauley during Independence Day ceremonies paid tribute to an American who had won the respect and admiration of the Austrian people.

The nine-foot granite obelisk with an inscription in both English and German was unshrouded near the airport where Hayes had been active before his ill-fated flight last December. Hayes earned the name of "whooping cough captain" after he had made more than 100 high-altitude flights with Austrian children suffering from whooping cough. He had made his flights at the request of local government officials when Austrian doctors treating the patients had prescribed high-altitude flights as a means to alleviate the patients' suffering.

Land Governor Gleissner, Mayor Koref of Linz and other Austrian officials and friends of the captain participated in the solemn ceremony. The land governor stated that Captain Hayes was a "soldier of brotherly love who will always be remembered by the future Austrian soldiers who come to Camp Hoersching.

Two wreaths were placed at the foot of the memorial, one by the Austrian gendarmerie and the other by Col J. B. Wells, CO of the Linz Sub-Area.

In conjunction with the ceremony, USFA's ROA announced that a sizeable amount of money had been allotted to the Austro-American Society to maintain the monument. A simple ceremony will be held annually on December 28 (the day Hayes was killed) each year.

See the Gallery page for pictures of the ceremonies.