Deadly 1956 Crash in Saddlebunch Key, FL

Key West, Fla., Dec. 16 , 1956 – Five persons are dead and a sixth lay in critical condition today after the worst automobile accident in the history of the Overseas Highway which links the lower Florida Keys.
Three Navy enlisted men were killed outright in the head-on collision on lonely Sadelebunch Key, 50 miles northwest of Key West, last night. Another Navy man and an expectant mother died in the Naval hospital at Key West.
The dead:
JOHN P. SMILES, 19, of Staten Island, N.Y.;
JACK O. UNDERWOOD, 20, of Hazardville, Conn.;
GUNNAR R. NASLUND, JR., 20, of Daggett, Mich.;
EUGENE R. CLOPP, 30, of Oklahoma City, Okla.;
and MRS. IRENE M. CRAMER, 22, of Key West, mother of two children and eight months pregnant.
MRS. CRAMER’S husband, ROBERT, 25, was critically hurt.
CHARLES P. HOUSER, 23, of Kingston, Tenn., also suffered serious injuries.
The impact demolished both vehicles.
Navy officials said SMILES, UNDERWOOD, NASLUND and CLOPP were en route to Miami on weekend liberty. CRAMER, his wife and HOUSER were reported en route home from a fishing trip in the keys.