Donald Allen Davidson, Lance Corporal, United States Marine Corps, Cadillac, Michigan, Hobart Lutheran Cemetery (GPS N44°11.371, W085°24.948)

Donnie Davidson was a childhood hero of mine.

Donnie is the reason for this website.

Donnie was 8 years older than I was and was a typical farm boy until he enlisted and became a Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps. Donnie was on his way to Vietnam when his C135 transport plane crashed into a mountain during take-off at El Toro, California. Donnies Brother, Gary Lee Davidson (Navy Veteran, Vietnam) is buried next to Donnie and his marker is the second image. As a child, I attended Cooley Elementary School in Cadillac, Michigan with Donnie's Sister, Patty Davidson. I am sure Donnie attended the same school. Our families were often together as we helped or played on their family farm south and west of Cadillac. Donnie was a kind, strong and gentle person and I remember him carying me out of the woods, through deep snow while dragging a Christmas Tree behind him. I was too small and tired to walk out of the woods after going in to cut a tree. The image includes a High School Senior picture of Donnie, and image of the El Toro Airfield and another image of a C130 plane similar to the plane these soldiers were in when the plane crashed. I knew Donnie's Dad by the name of "Dave" Davidson. Dave Davidson was my father's supervisor at Rainbow Bread in the late 1950's and early 1960's.

You can read more on the plane crash and view the names of some of his fellow Marines and Air Force Veterans who were also killed in the disaster by Googling "El Toro military air crashes". Donald Allen Davidson's name is not included in the list of those killed in the crash and many other names are missing from the list. As far as I can tell, his name is not on the Vietnam wall either. This should be corrected but I believe it will take a family member to initiate the action.

El Toro Marine Air Station, Calif. (UPI) -- A mililtary jet transport, unaccountably failing to make a scheduled left turn, plunged into a fog-shrouded mountain and exploded after takeoff early Friday, killing all 84 men aboard -- including 72 Marines believed bound for Viet Nam.
There were no survivors in one of the worst military air disasters in peacetime history. It also was California's worst air disaster.
The C135 air transport, military counterpart of the commercial Boeing 707 jetliner, smashed into a mountain 4 1/2 miles directly north of the end of the runway from which it took off moments before.