Italy Hill WWII Airplane Crash Historic Marker dedication

On Oct. 2, 1943, the autumn fog that sometimes rises from Italy Valley hung low over the steep hills in this corner of Yates County. Even as the day progressed, the fog did not burn off, instead obscuring the peaks of Italy Hill and High Tor. According to a local Italy man, the fog was “so thick you couldn’t see a cow ten feet away.”

The sky was clear in Rochester, however. At 1:55 p.m., a B-25 flown by 1st Lt. Willard “Bill” Wilder took off from the airfield there. On board with Wilder, a Rochester native, were 2nd Lt. Alfred Sanders of San Antonio; 1st Lt. Joseph Kappenman of San Rafael, Calif.; Technical Sgt. Benjamin Maracle of Buffalo; Staff Sgt. Paul Campeau of New Richmond, Wis.; and Staff Sgt. Joe Duncan of Tuscaloosa, Ala. The crew already