MILLICAN: Information sought on soldier killed in 1958 missile blast

Published 4:30 pm Sunday, September 1, 2024

Specialist Third Class William Irwin Cochran was just 20 years old when he was killed in a 1958 chain-reaction explosion at a Nike missile base in New Jersey. Cochran hailed from Ellijay, and was one of 10 men — six Army soldiers and four civilians working for the Army — who died that day while doing upgrades on the missiles.

Retired Army Col. Michael Donovan is doing research on the Cold War incident, and is reaching out to any family members or historical researchers in the North Georgia area who may be able to help. He hopes to eventually write a book on the New Jersey explosion.

In a 2021 story the Asbury (New Jersey) Park Press (app.com) recalled:

“On May 22, 1958, eight fully-armed missiles at a U.S. Army Nike base in the Chapel Hill section of Middletown blew up ‘in a furious mushroom of fire and death,’ as the Associated Press reported. The accident killed 10 men — six soldiers and four civilian contractors. It actually could have been worse; One missile nearly landed in a backyard three-quarters of a mile away, falling just a stone’s throw shy of a home-lined street.”

Donovan retired from the Army in 2014 after his last assignment as an assistant professor with the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and explained what led to his current research.

“I developed a course, a junior-level elective, on the chemistry of explosives,” he said, noting the irony since he is not a chemist but served a tour in the Army as an explosive ordnance disposal officer. “The coursework included a business school case study, sort of like an examination of companies, of 10 significant catastrophic explosions that happened since World War I, and we did a case study examination of each. Those examinations were key to getting the cadets in my class to think about leadership, process management, safety, those sorts of things where there are some enduring lessons to be learned.”

Near the end of his career he learned of the missile explosion in New Jersey.

“So when I retired from the Army, I focused on this event and have been doing research since then,” he said.

However, Donovan, who is not related to any of the men killed, hit a snag.

“To date I have located and contacted relatives of seven of the 10 victims; each provided me with invaluable information regarding their loved one,” he shared. “While I am conducting pre-publication research of the site and the 10 men killed that day, including assistance from the Gilmer County Library in 2016, I feel I have exhausted my remote research possibilities concerning SP3 Cochran from my residence in Fairfax, Virginia.”

Donovan knows this much: Cochran was born on June 25, 1937, to William Thad (1890-1970) and Ruth Louise (Wilson) Cochran (1895-1986). His sisters were Rebie J. (1914/15-1990), Ollie Katherine (1918-2006), Eva Elizabeth (1920-2003), Beulah Grace (1930/31-?) and Mary (1940-2023).

“Part of the reason for the outreach is obviously I want to tell the story of the 10 men, and over time I’ve gathered a significant amount of detail on them,” he said. “But especially on the younger gentlemen, there’s not much material around. I’ve been very successful in finding and contacting a number of relatives, but I’ve had zero luck with Mr. Cochran.”

Donovan sent one relative a couple of letters but neither was answered.

“You get to a certain point where you don’t want to be considered a stalker,” he related, adding he would be very interested in receiving any information about Cochran at his email address to be listed below.

What caused the blast that detonated seven other missiles at the site?

“The four civilians were working for the Army on a team that was sent around to different Nike missile sites in the New York City area to perform a modification on the missiles — they would go inside, remove one component and replace it with a new component, so think of it as an upgrade,” he explained. “With the assistance of the soldiers, (the team) had modified three missiles, taken lunch and then in the afternoon one of the missiles exploded which led to a chain reaction of other missiles exploding and killed those 10 men.”

Donovan said the Army investigated, along with other agencies investigating from different perspectives, and the Army “faulted no one — and I’m paraphrasing — and said they were pretty sure it was just an accident. One Army civilian survived the blast, but he couldn’t shed any light on the event. It’s a forgotten event that happened during the Cold War, so I just want to tell the story.”

In an email to the Ellijay Times-Courier, Donovan wrote, “I am certain with your assistance I can find relatives of SP3 Cochran who can help me tell his story.”

Donovan’s email address is micseadon@gmail.com.

Mark Millican is a former staff writer for the Dalton Daily Citizen.