West Bend, Wi – A plane explosion over South Vietnam was grim news in 1972 and it thrust West Bend, Wi, into the national spotlight as 7 of the 82 people on board were from the small community in Washington County, Wi.
At that time West Bend, WI, had a population of about 18,000. Notable businesses included the West Bend Company, Pick Manufacturing, and B.C. Ziegler and Co. There was a bubbler, a fountain and a huge Maple tree in Old Settler’s Park and Randy’s Drive-In was the best place to get fried chicken.
News of the explosion spread quickly and left the community of West Bend numb.
Over 50 years later, Andy Koehn, who lost his aunt, uncle and cousins in the crash, has released a podcast, A Hazy Yellow Feeling, as he remembers the Kenny family and the years that followed.
Click HERE to listen to Epiisode 2: Episode Description:
Before I tell you what happened to them, I want to spend some time letting them be alive again.
A son who built a stone wall by the lake and never finished it. A CEO who talked the board into buying a company plane. A mother who kept the snack drawer full and the door unlocked. A girl behind a camera. A boy with a postcard and a joke about an M16. A girl who danced. A thirteen-year-old who’d just had her birthday cake.
This is Episode 2. The Long Goodbye.
Below is a memory from JJ Ziegler about that day, June 15, 1972.
JJ Ziegler was 16 when the crash occurred.
“First and foremost, this was an unimaginable tragedy for the Kenny family. When it happened I was in disbelief. The Kenny’s loss was heartbreaking, and its impact extended far beyond their family—it was felt throughout the entire community. I was a very young man at the time, and of all who lost their lives, Andy Pick was also on the plane. He was my friend and grew up in my neighborhood, so it was deeply personal for me as well. The tragedy also left a tremendous void at BC Ziegler Company. As a result, my father, Bernie Ziegler, and my uncle, Doug Ziegler, left selling pots and pans at the West Bend Company, to step in and run the Ziegler Company after Mr. Kenny’s death. It’s surprising how many people today don’t know this story, because it profoundly shaped our community.”
JJ Ziegler – Class of 1972
