DENVER – One of Colorado’s darkest days will be remembered in a series of events, including a dedication of a memorial honoring the victims and first responders of the 1955 United Flight 629 plane bombing which killed 44 people.
This Saturday evening will mark 70 years since a Denver man packed 25 sticks of dynamite into his mother’s suitcase in an effort to collect life insurance money.
The United Airlines flight, a 4-engine DC 6, took off from Denver’s Stapleton airport on November 1, 1955 and was only minutes in the air headed to Portland when the explosion – at around 7:03 p.m. – destroyed the airliner and killed the 44 people onboard, raining down wreckage onto the Weld County beet fields.
The Denver City Council on Monday evening issued proclamation 25-1621 honoring the victims and deeming Nov. 1, 2025 as United Flight 629 Victims Memorial Day in the City and County of Denver.
Denver Police Museum president Mike Hesse, who has been organizing a memorial and gathering of victims’ families, spoke about the tragedy.
“These families were not able to move on. For the rest of their lives – at every birthday, at every wedding, at every anniversary – there was an empty chair. My goal with this memorial is to make sure that these victims are remembered for more than just being on an aircraft at the wrong time,” said Hesse.
Until this year, there has not been a permanent memorial dedicated to the victims, families and community that responded to the scene on that cold November night.
Hesse said around 100 people, including families of the 44 victims, would be coming to Colorado later this weekend to attend different events, including the dedication of a memorial at the base of the old Stapleton airport control tower, which is now Flyteco Tower.
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The Denver Police Museum is partnering with local organizations to host 3 events including a memorial service at 8 p.m. on Friday at Church in the City and the memorial dedication at 11 a.m. on November 1 at FlyteCo Tower.
The Denver Police Museum eventually had possession of a piece of Flight 629’s mangled fuselage which is now on display at History Colorado.
Evidence from the crumpled plane fragments helped unfurl John Gilbert Graham’s heinous actions before a Colorado courtroom the year following Flight 629’s demise.
He planted a homemade bomb in his own mother’s suitcase. When that timed bomb detonated above Longmont it killed Daisie King, Graham’s mother, and the 43 other passengers.
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“There was a distinct smell of dynamite, so they knew something was wrong right from the get go,” Hesse previously told Denver7.“And when they called Mr. Hoover from the FBI, he instructed them to immediately take all of the luggage and lay it out and pair the luggage with the victims.”
Another effort is underway in Weld County to build a permanent memorial closer to the crash site dedicated to the victims, families, community and first responders.
The Flight 629 Memorial Committee has been working on a future site and design. Denver7 has for years been covering the lack of awareness of the tragedy and the memorial committee’s efforts to pay tribute to the victims.
You can also learn more about the flight and subsequent trial at this link.
You can watch a half-hour Denver7+ special presentation on the United Flight 629 bombing and learn more about how to support the memorial committee’s efforts in the video player below.
