CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Members of the 315th Airlift Wing, past and present, recently joined together with family of the late Tech. Sgt. Carl Church for a building rededication ceremony in his honor at Charleston AFB.
Sergeant Church, a native of Bucyrus, Ohio, was an Air Reserve Technician and a C-141 flight engineer assigned to the 701st Airlift Squadron. He passed away in August 1974 when his plane went down while on a mission to La Paz, Bolivia, with an all active duty crew, also from Charleston.
Building 60, which formerly housed the operations group and flying squadrons, was originally named in his honor on Nov. 15, 1975. Following a renovation in 1999, the building no longer bore the plaque in dedication to Sergeant Church.
"[The Wing] scrounged together the money to renovate Building 60 in 1999, but when it was done we experienced September 11 and then our nation entered into a war and we never had the chance to do the things we should have done," said Col. (ret.) Jim Roberts, a former commander of the 315th Operations Group. "That's what we are doing today with this rededication. Today we remember Sergeant Church and all those who he represents."
During the rededication ceremony, Colonel Roberts also took time to recognize Sergeant Church's family and the sacrifice they had to endure in service to the nation.
Now building 60, which presently houses the 315th Airlift Wing Headquarters, once again bears the name of Sergeant Carl Church.
"Only five buildings on Charleston AFB have names in honor of someone," said Chief Master Sgt. Ben Futrell, 315 AW command chief. "Our headquarters building is the only one dedicated to a reservist."