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 Mayer, David Paul
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(1st Photo, above, courtesy of the USAFA, Colorado Springs, CO...2nd and 3rd photos courtesy of fellow classmate, Dale Jeanne Watzka Lehrer)
Mayer, David Paul (1st Lt - US Air Force - Class of 1976)
Born 10/16/1954
Died 05/16/1979 in Isparta Province (near Yesilkoy-Lake Egirdir), Turkey
David's burial place listing can be found at www.findagrave.com Fill in only the following details to get his page: Name, Birth year, Death year, and Country where buried (USA).
MILWAUKEE DEATHS
David Paul Mayer
Memorial services will be conducted Friday for David Paul Mayer, an Air Force lieutenant from Milwaukee who was killed in an air accident May 16 while flying over Turkey.
Mayer, 24, was killed when he and three other fighter pilots were engaged in low flying NATO exercises.
His A-7 fighter-bomber was flying under cloudy skies when he banked the plane into cloud cover and it crashed into a mountain.
Mayer entered the Air Force Academy after graduating from Custer High School in 1972. He graduated from the academy in 1976.
At Custer, Mayer, a lineman, was the captain, most valuable player and an All-City selection as a football player. He also was captain of the wrestling team.
He was active with the Navigators organization and was a member of the Officers' Christian Fellowship organization.
He is survived by his parents, Lester and Gertrude, of Milwaukee; two sisters, Geraldine, of Milwaukee, and Phylis (J) Schmid, of Fergus Falls, Minn., and a brother, Daniel, of Minneapolis.
The body was flown to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., where a funeral and burial were conducted (on May 25). The memorial services (here) will be at 7:30pm Friday (June 1) at Mount Tabor United Church of Christ, 4920 N. Sherman Blvd., (Milwaukee, WI)
--published in Milwaukee Journal, Thu May 31, 1979--
"1Lt David P. Mayer, Class of 1976, died on 16 May 1979 and was buried in the USAFA Cemetery (**Section 003, Row E, Plot 17) on 25 May 1979."
--USAF Academy, Janet A. Edwards, Mortuary Officer--
**from http://files.usgwarchives.net
Recently (Sept 2011), a private research expedition was conducted at the site of the 05/16/1979 air accident involving David Mayer's plane. The purpose was to reinvestigate the cause of this accident. For a PDF copy of this report, please email classmate Eileen Martin (Kocherhans) at xpmjzk@msn.com.
(Mayer, b. 10/16/1954)
(military plane, air accident)
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Jeff Keinert
Surely, everyone remembers big Dave--- the hard-muscled, soft spoken lineman, wrestler and shot-putter(sp?) --who never had a harsh word for anyone, and yet could have broken any one of us in two. I vividly recall our visit as seniors to Carroll College together---looking for our next challenge after graduation. How ironic was it that after I turned down an appointment to the Air Force Academy from Rep Henry Reuss, Dave was awarded it, and accepted it. I ended up going to Carroll--where the attraction was an "All you can eat" meal plan---YES!!
Dave graduated from the Acacemy as a Pilot in1976, and The Air Force definitely got a finer athlete in Dave than had I attended. His last adventure was flying on a volunteer mission over Turkey ,where he was off radar in treacherous weather and banked his plane into a mountain. I do know with certainly, though, that when Dave's plane went down, he went up--into the clouds and into heaven. His soul rests with his Heavenly Father in peace!
Respectfully, and with warm memories........Jeff Keinert
Zane McFadden
As seniors, Dave and I shared the same table during 8th hour study hall in the Cafeteria (yeah, like any of us did any work at that time of the day). I remember we had a conversation about life after graduation and he said he hadn't made up his mind about where he wanted to go to school. I mentioned to him that he should try entering one of the military academies and told him of my wish to attend West Point. Not sure if it was necessarily our talk that got him on that track, but obviously I've had mixed feelings about that conversation since learning several years ago that he died while on flight manuevers overseas. He was soft-hearted, quick with a smile, and a very good student. I had a high regard for his physical abilities and academic talent. I'll never forget when I saw him come off the football field after a game against King or Washington with tears in his eyes, sobbing over the loss. Those were tough days for Custer football and Dave took it all to heart. If it's true that only the good die young, then Dave was one of the best and it's no wonder why he was taken from us so early.