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Denver Unveils First Permanent Memorial to United Flight 629 on 70th Anniversary

The tribute signals a long overdue shift from private grief to public remembrance.

Overview

  • The granite monument at the base of the former Stapleton control tower in Denver’s Central Park was dedicated Saturday to the 44 victims, first responders and investigators.
  • More than 100 relatives and families of FBI agents gathered for a memorial luncheon, a rose-and-bell ceremony with a flyover, and an evening symposium on the case’s legacy.
  • History Colorado, working with the Denver Police Museum, is exhibiting a DC‑6B baggage‑bay fragment with blast damage alongside personal mementos that tell the victims’ stories.
  • The 1955 bombing was the first confirmed sabotage of a U.S. passenger airliner; investigators said John “Jack” Gilbert Graham planted 25 sticks of dynamite in his mother Daisie King’s suitcase to collect insurance, and he was executed in 1957.
  • Organizers are advancing a separate permanent memorial near the Weld County crash site and are seeking public donations to complete the project.