Eastern Airlines Flt 401 Crash

[desertgrl]

Mom and Dad asked me to post this letter for them as they have no computer hope someone can post this on other sites in here for them so everyone can read it I dont know how to do that it is important that as many people as possible read this help me with this if you can I sure would appreciate it an so do mom and dad this is real
important to them... thanks every so much Terri

 

[desertgrl]

I also want to thank Airboating magazine for the march issue with the article on the memorial and dad..thanks so much for the pic disc too , dont know who sent it but it sure was appreciated thanks so very much...Terri in Arizona

 

[plumcrazy]

thanks for that letter your folks are special people , me and my wife where honored to attend both ceromonys, i was proud to meet all of your family, the plain truth of the matter your parents have done more for all the airboaters and our sport than we could ever do for them, im a pretty hard old guy but being a family man , did my heart good to see your family reunited at such a grand event, i can still see the love and pride in mr & mrs marquises face to have there family there to support and love them.

 

[Olf Art]

Terri, the act of giving, when it's from the heart like it was from the hearts of so many of the folks on here, is one of the greatest joys in life.

What your mom and dad and the survivors gave us was an opportunity to experience that kind of Joy, and we really need to thank all of you for that.

God bless .....

olf

 

[carpshooter1]

Terry it was a pleasure to meet you and your family

The things that Nancy says are the things that will be in my memories till my end also

and my son tells all his friends, of the time we had there and meeting a airboat hero

please keep us in touch about your parents

Rick

 

[John C]

Terri, thanks for posting the letter mom wrote. I'm sure I speak for many of us airboaters. It was a real pleasure To see the whole family together. I will not forget the look on Bud and Nancy's face that morning before the ride out to the crash site. Bud told me he would like to get his family together again. When that happened you could just tell how happy they were. It was a pleasure meeting all of you, and I am Honored to have been a part of it all. I will be going down to see Bud and Nancy tomorrow or on Saturday, If Bud feels up to it we go to the club and put the boat in and spend some time in the Glades.

John C

 

[desertgrl]

You are all such special people there is still alot of wonderful caring people in this world and am so glad dad got to see them...he will always cherish this and so will I not sure when I will got to Homestead again but what a wonderful time it was...there is not enough good in this world and more people need to see people like you all who really care heaven will really be full someday with angels of the everglades you will never be forgotten will try to keep you informed of all the goings on..I am so excited for dad to get back to the glades hope it all works out John and dad has a great time the glades have always been his love..that is why I cant get him to move out here....
love to you all wonderful people I truly mean that....Terri

 

[K-mac]

[ We are proud and
Want to take care of ourselves but lordy its getting hard…[/quote]
Bud and Nancy should be proud, and have every right to be proud
they have helped folks they did not even know more than most of us
will ever have the chance to. There is no shame at all in taking help
from friends when you have needs. I have not yet had the pleasure
of meeting Mrs. Nancy, and Mr. Bud, but hope to have the opportunity
one day. Just being able to be a little part of this has given me the best
feeling I've had in a long time. Thank You Bud, and Nancy for being
the folks you are.
K-Mac.

 

[Olf Art]

I wanted to bring this old thread back to the light of day because Southern Airboat is more than three times larger now than we were back then, and this was an amazing project.

For all of you who have joined in the past year or so, open a beer, sit down and look at who we as airboaters are, what we believe in, and what we were all, together, capable of doing.
Read every thread ... the whole story. It reads like a small novel and will require less than an hour of your time, but you will be amazed at the amount of pride you'll take the next time you drop your boat in the water.

Buddy Marquis was more than an airboater ... he was a genuine American hero, and to those of us who were blessed to be able to sit and talk with him, a man you would have been proud to know.

OLF

 

[plumcrazy]

bump

 

[airduds]

Thanks Olf. I was lucky enough to see the look on his face when he saw his restored boat. I got to meet you (and I do remember) and I got to watch Cowboy take the stage and do the real talk.

What a wonderful experience.

 

[Olf Art]

Cowboy made that day for all of us ... in several ways, but that day he refused to lose.
I'm proud to know him.

 

[John C]

That was a day to remember for sure. So was the ceremony at the crash site. What a great day in the Glades. I wish ol Bullfrog Bud was still with us to go for another ride. I'm sure he is looking down on his Southern Airboat Family with a smile. That same smile he would get when he was running his boat out in the grass. I thank God for letting our paths cross, if only for a short time. WE miss you Buddy.

John C

 

[fishonhenson]

there was another boater to help that night that hasn't been mentioned. My brother Billy Henson was on his way out to 40 mile bend to go to our camp. he got stopped at l67 on the trail by the fhp. they commandeered him & his boat for about 4 hours.
when he finally made to the camp, he was very quiet. we didn't know about the crash at that time. when we finally heard about it, he only mentioned in passing that he helped bring bodies in. it took over 5 years for him to really talk about what he saw that night. too much for a 18 year old kid to endure. Billy passed away in 2003. just thought he should be mentioned here. RIP Billy

 

[Whitebear]

I want to thank you for posting here about your brother, Billy Henson. This is a kind of archive memorial to those who helped that fateful night. I wan't to encourage to post more about your brother here. Anything you care to remember and say about him. Do you have any pictures of him and his airboat? It would be great to include some of them here with your posts. If you have any issues with getting them scanned for computer use we have members all around and can find someone to meet up and scan them for you so they can be included. I have discussed this with Rick, the forum owner, and we are both very supportive of including your brother and posts about him right here. Thank you again for posting, please continue to let us know more about this hero. :thumbleft: :salute:

Scotty

 

[Olf Art]

Thanks Bear ...... wanted to say that, but you said it best. Hope to hear more about brother Henson for sure!!

 

[Sniper]

Wow this was some interesting information, I’m glad he shared it with us, I'm sure that was a lot for an 18 yr old to deal with seeing and I'm sure glad this story was told and hope to hear more, the whole project with bud was some of SA's finest work and I'm glad I was part of it and got to be one of the ones that actually got to work on Buds boat

 

[fishonhenson]

I'll try & get more information & picks next week.

 

[John C]

Thank You for posting about your brother Billy helping that night. Looking forward to see any pictures you may have.

John C

 

[Hardtail]

Does anybody have any pictures of Bud's airboat all finished? to post on here,,,
Also where is Bud's Airboat today??