Episode 28 – Inside Richmond: The City’s Pulse | Inside the Downtown Explosion with Jack Bales

Host Lindsay Darnell is joined by Jack Bales, a survivor of the April 6, 1968 Main Street explosions, and Richmond Mayor Ron Oler for a powerful and deeply personal look at one of the most devastating days in the city’s history. From inside the Marting Arms building, Jack recalls thinking the first blast was a sonic boom, until seconds later everything changed. He walks through the chaos moment by moment, from the second explosion fueled by stored ammunition and gunpowder to waking up on top of collapsed debris surrounded by fire, brick, and smoke.

The conversation follows Jack’s escape and the immediate aftermath, where strangers rushed to help, injuries were overwhelming, and local hospitals were flooded with victims. He shares the medical realities many never hear about, including severe trauma, missed injuries, and the long road to recovery that included months in traction. The emotional impact is just as real, with reflections on nightmares, claustrophobia, and the determination to keep moving forward with the support of family.

Mayor Ron Oler brings the conversation into the present, discussing how Richmond continues to remember and honor those affected. He shares plans for a new bronze memorial plaque at Sixth and Main that will list all 41 victims, along with details about the upcoming public ceremony and how the community can support the effort.

This episode is a reminder of resilience, loss, and the importance of preserving local history. Listen now, subscribe for more stories from around Richmond, and share this episode with someone who cares about our community. After you listen, leave a review and tell us how you think Richmond should honor April 6, 1968.

Transcript

Why April 6 Still Matters

SPEAKER_03 0:05

Welcome back to another episode of Inside Richmond the City's Pulse. I'm Lindsay Darnell, your host, and today we are going to be talking about a significant and tragic event that happened in our history, the city of Richmond, April 6, 1968, the explosions that happened downtown. I have joining us a survivor from that explosion, Jack Bales. Jack and Mayor Ron Oler. Guys, thank you for joining me today.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

You're welcome. Thank you for asking. Yeah. Glad to be here.

Downtown Richmond Before The Blast

SPEAKER_03 0:39

So uh we really wanted to get you on here, Jack. Uh we just had the 58th anniversary of the explosion on April 6th that happened here in downtown Richmond. You are a sole survivor. And so I kind of just I want to ask you some questions. I want to hear your story about the events that happened that day. Um, so what let's talk about first, what was your life like in Richmond in 1968?

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Well, downtown Richmond was, you know, I grew up during the glory days of downtown Richmond. And uh everything revolved around downtown Richmond. The whole county, that's where we came for clothes, shoes, entertainment, um, bakery, you name it. And um it was always just jam-packed, sidewalks were packed with people, and um it was um it was just an exciting time to to come to downtown Richmond.

SPEAKER_03 1:46

And how old were you in 1968 when the explosions happened?

SPEAKER_02 1:50

It was 18.

SPEAKER_03 1:51

18. So you are the sole survivor from that area where the explosions happened, correct? On the 600 block of Main Street?

SPEAKER_02 2:01

Yes. I was actually inside Martin's uh when the first explosion went off.

SPEAKER_03 2:06

Okay, Martin Arms. Um, so what brought you down to Main Street that day?

The Errand That Brought Them Downtown

SPEAKER_02 2:12

Um my best friend that I grew up with, we'd been friends. Um, we played little league together and just um were so close. He was two years older than I was, and uh he was at Purdue, actually just been accepted into pre-vet at Purdue, and was on the archery team. And um he needed some new um arrows, and we had been down here two weeks prior when he was home from Lafayette, and we had to order the arrows. They didn't have the uh particular type that he needed. And um on Thursday before the explosion on Saturday, they had called Greg and told him the arrows were in. And so he got home late Friday night from Purdue and called me and said, You want to run into town Saturday morning? I said, sure, because every time he came home, we were always together. Or if I could get away, I'd go to Lafayette and stay the weekend. And um, so we came downtown to pick up the arrows.

SPEAKER_03 3:19

So you were inside Martin Arms when the explosions happened. Um, can you kind of walk us through what happened? When did you kind of come to and realize what was going on, what was going through your head?

Two Explosions Inside Martin Arms

Escape, Rescue, And Overwhelmed Hospitals

SPEAKER_02 3:35

We had parked down um on South Sixth Street, just south of Martin Arms, and walked up the sidewalk. And um, you know, it was a nice sunny day, it was a little cool, and we were just talking. We walked up, came into Martin's, um, looked around, didn't see any clerks, didn't see Don. And um we may have been in there maybe just a minute when the first explosion went off uh from across the street from Vygrins, and it uh blew the windows in on us. Everything, all types of debris was blowing in on us, and I remember covering up the back of my head because we were just getting pelted with glass and pieces of brick. And uh at first it it was I thought it was a sonic boom. Uh right at that time, um there was a lot of sonic booms. The jets were breaking the sound barrier, and uh that's what I thought it was, and it was just boom, boom. It wasn't a second or two in between when the second one went off right underneath us. I remember seeing Greg in my peripheral vision fall to the floor, and then all of a sudden it just was black. And um, when I came to, I was on top of all the debris from the two-story building. Now we were on the ground floor. Somehow I ended up on the top of all the debris, probably 14, 15 feet in the air. Wow. Um, I had a wooden beam out of the ceiling across me, and um it was just burning everywhere. Fire was all around. The brick dust was so thick you couldn't breathe. And um I tried to get out from under everything and I couldn't move my arms, found out later my collarbones were broken. So I pushed out with my feet, got out from under it, got stood up and walked down off all the debris down to the sidewalk on 6th Street. And um, you know, it looked like a war zone. It looked like something you would see in Ukraine today on TV. Um, cars turned over, pieces and parts of cars um to where the flash from the second explosion was so yellow and so bright and so hot. Um, it's just stripped the paint right off the cars. The what metal I saw was just bare metal, right down to the shiny bare metal. Anyway, I walked down uh just down south on 6th Street, just a ways, and two gentlemen from Wayne Derry came up and got hold of me, one on each arm, and helped me to the alley. And um, one of them said, You've got an arrow in your back. He said, just hold on just a minute and I'll pull it out. He says, now this may hurt a little bit. Well, it did. It hurt a lot. It hurt more than a little bit. So he pulled it out, then they set me down, uh, leaned up kind of against some debris there in the alley, and stuff was still falling out of the ceiling or out of the sky. Ammunition was going off, just binging off all the structures and what was left of the buildings. And um then um actually one of the girls I went to school with had walked up from South Sixth and recognized me, and she sat there with me for just a minute. And then the two guys from Wayne Dairy, who I happened to know uh previously, helped me down the alley um to the east to 7th Street and flagged a car and put me in the car and told him to take me to Reed. We did, and um, he helped me in the emergency room, and um there was oh, I can't tell you how many people already there. And um I know it says 150 injured, but I don't think that covers a third. Um I saw that many just a few minutes after the explosion. But anyway, uh finally became my turn to come into the emergency room. I went in. Um, I had on a lightweight western waistcoat, and they took it off. And um I had on a long-sleeve western shirt, and all that was left was about three-quarters of the sleeves. The shirt was gone where the flash from the second from the gunpowder went up under my coat and had just taken my shirt clear off. Um I was bleeding from both ears, found out later both eardrums were broken. So they kind of wiped the blood up and and some of the cuts and scratches, and they looked at the um place in my back where the arrow was. And uh they kind of pushed it together, put a piece of gauze and uh some athletic tape on it, told me to go home and lay in bed a couple weeks, I'd be fine that there were people hurt a lot worse than I was. So they helped me back on with my coat, stuck a hand in each pocket, and turned me out. Well, I couldn't even, uh, when I got to the payphone there in the emergency room before you exited out of the old reed, uh I couldn't dial the payphone. I couldn't get my hands out of pockets to get the quarter to get the um a girl I went to school with that actually graduated with Greg was a nurse. And she they had called her in, and uh she called my folks and had them come get me and help me outside. I got outside and I kind of leaned up against the first car I came to, and um I was getting pretty weak, and you know, I'm sure shock was setting in. So I kind of crawled up on this hood of this next car, and uh, I remember it was an old white O'smobile, had great big fins down the front fenders. And um my mom and dad told me later, said when they pulled in the parking lot, said it was just pure chaos, and they didn't have any idea how they'd ever find me. So they started driving up down the rows of cars, and finally um my dad said he told my mom, he said, there's Jack right there laying on the that car. So they stopped, got me in the car. Well, he's my dad said that I was bleeding so bad that the blood was running down off the hood and onto the ground. And they got me in the car and um decided that uh Winchester was the closest hospital. So they took me to Winchester, and uh we got up there, and uh it again they took my jacket off and and uh so they started with my back where the arrow was, and they thought I'd been shot because when they pulled the arrow out, it just kind of rolled the flesh out like a like a gun wound, like a gunshot. And uh I kept telling them no, it was it was an arrow. And uh so the doctor was real concerned about that. Well, eventually they believed me, they took X-rays, didn't see any bullet, stitched that up, and they took a lot of x-rays. And um all the time between the X-rays, I had two nurses with uh tweezers and that type of uh instruments pulling plate glass window out the back of my legs, out the back of my neck and my back. Uh that went on for about four hours. And to this day, plate glass window still works out of my back and my back and my legs. Um I get a place that looks like a boil, and uh a piece of plate glass window will come out of it. It'll be uh encapsulated in kind of a white fatty tissue, but um there's there was just so much plate glass window. But anyway, they uh they determined that all of my ribs were either broke, broken or cracked. Uh both eardrums were broken, both collarbones were broken or cracked. And um I had second degree burns from the flash from the gunpowder that ran up under my jacket. Um so they bandaged that, uh, those wounds. There wasn't anything they could do for my eardrums. Uh they were real concerned that you know it wasn't gonna cause any additional injuries, brain swelling, or any of that. And um I actually um was in Winchester in the hospital for five and a half days, and then I checked myself out and I went to Greg's funeral in economy. But um it um was a a long process. I came home. Uh it was about five and a half, six weeks um before everything healed enough I could go back to work. I went back to work one one day, and uh the pain in my right leg was so bad I couldn't and I just couldn't stand it. So I went to another doctor and uh he got out his little hammer, tapped my left leg and tapped my knee, and there was reflex there, right leg was no reflex. He took a little needle and stuck my thigh and and uh up in my hip and made it bleed, and I couldn't feel a thing. He had me transported back out to Reed immediately by ambulance. And uh at Winchester they'd failed to X-ray my lower lower back, and I had several reverte brakes too that were broken clearing two that was pushing it my spine. And then I had several others that were cracked. So he said, if if you have the patience to lay in traction for a length of time, he says, I think I can fix it without surgery. And I said, Well, you know, whatever it needs. So um they put 25, put a collar on each ankle, put 25 pounds on a rope and up over a pulley, and kind of spread my legs out like that, and over a pulley that way and that way, put a collar around my neck and 25 pounds up over the bed to the back. And I laid 16 weeks like that.

SPEAKER_03 14:40

Oh my goodness.

Missed Injuries, Traction, And Healing

SPEAKER_02 14:42

So every every four weeks they would take all that apart, take me to X-ray. The first four weeks, the two vertebrates that were completely broken went back together, and you could see a white stripe around them where they were knitting. And at the end of 16 weeks, they were completely healed or fused together. I wouldn't say completely healed. Um the doctor had a back brace made, a spatial back brace that had a shelf at my chin set in, so I couldn't turn, I couldn't move. And I wore that for almost a year. And um he also said, You have so many injuries to your back, it's so twisted, so broken. He said, uh, I don't want to you know discourage you, but he said, I'm afraid by the time you're 20 you'll be in a wheelchair from the arthritis. Well, that never crossed my mind again. That wasn't gonna happen. So he also said that have you do you had have any relatives or anybody in Florida you could go stay with or somewhere where it's the sun that's real bright, real hot? And I said, I have an aunt and uncle live in Miami. And I went down there for about seven or eight months. He said, There's nothing in this world with better healing power than the sun. And so every afternoon I'd lay flat on a blanket. I'd real easily take that back brace off and lay face down and let the sun. And uh it was amazing. All the bruises went away. I had every color in the rainbow you could think of bruise, the black, the brown, the yellow, the green, the red. Um, the burns healed. Uh I don't have any scars on my back at all from the uh from the burns. Um the I still have the scar under my right shoulder blade from the arrow, of course, where they stitched it up. But uh I did that and um it's almost a year and uh I uh knew I couldn't uh work anything like construction or anything like that. And I was working at Dana in Hagerstown at the time of the explosion, and I knew I couldn't go back to Dana and working on the cement and walking. So I uh went to Kessler's sporting goods shop. Cliff Dickman was an old family friend, and I said, Cliff, I need to work, I need a job, I need to do something. And he said, Well, you can sell sporting goods, can't you? And I said, I can still talk for sure. So I did that for a good a while, and um then um, you know, I a little later, I I worked two or three other jobs uh sale selling stuff and nothing too heavy, but um I uh had the opportunity to go to work for uh Mack McCann sheriff here in Wayne County as the deputy sheriff, and later for John Cady when he was elected sheriff. And I worked that for several years and then went to work at the phone company. And in between time, I started um riding a lot again, riding horses, uh showing horses, rodeoing a little bit, uh, started back in, and it wasn't long until I was back doing everything I was doing before.

SPEAKER_03 18:20

Yeah, that's amazing. Um when all of this happened and the the second explosion happened. Do you know about how long you were knocked out? Was it just seconds, minutes?

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Oh, it had to be seconds. Yeah. Yeah. Um just as soon as the second, it would like to say it was just boom, boom. Second one was so great and so intense that um, you know, I would blacked out. Um when we had two hearings in Connorsville that I got subpoenaed to, um, it involved the ATF, the Bureau of Mines, and the Army Corps. One gentleman that testified from the Bureau of Mines said that I had to be standing on the exact spot above the gunpowder that went off the initial explosion inside Martin's. And he said it forced me up, and he said it acted like a cone. It just parted everything in its way as I went up. Even though Greg and I were almost shoulder to shoulder, it sucked everything else to the basement. And uh that's where he ended up. But again, you know, I suppose the pile of rubble was 14, 15 feet tall. I remember walking down off of.

SPEAKER_03 19:45

And so that explosion happened at Vigrance in the basement, and it traveled underground to Martin Arms, where all of their ammunition and gunpowder was, and that was the second explosion.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Correct. Yes.

What Caused It And Rumors After MLK

SPEAKER_03 20:00

So after all of this um happened, you're at Reed Hospital. Do you still know exactly what the explosions were caused from, or was it days, weeks later?

SPEAKER_02 20:12

Yeah, it was the next day.

SPEAKER_03 20:13

The next day.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

Yeah. Um, you know, and there was so much confusion. Um and you know, I had an idea, like we, you know, we talked earlier. Um they were talking about demonstrators coming to Richmond because it was just right after the assassination of Martin Luther King. And um so, you know, rumors were flying that that's what happened, that some of them came downtown with a bomb. And uh that couldn't have been the furthest from the truth. But um, it was the next day before I learned that uh Greg was killed and what you know what really had happened.

SPEAKER_03 21:01

Um so we spoke on the phone a couple of days ago, and you had recommended a documentary for me to watch that IUE made um 147. And I watched it now. Being a lifelong resident of Richmond, I've always heard about the explosions that happened. I might have seen a picture here and there, but watching that documentary, I mean, it was it was emotional to watch it. Um, I learned a lot more. Um, looking at all of the images in that documentary, it was, you know, my it was really hard to wrap my mind around how tragic of an, you know, of an event that had happened right here in our hometown. Um, in the 90s, it was probably the worst tragic event that's happened in the state of Indiana as well.

SPEAKER_02 21:57

It it's one of them. Um the c you had the Colosseum explosion uh in 63. State fairgrounds. State fairgrounds. I think it killed 85 people. But yeah, it it was by far the worst tragedy in Wayne County or surrounding area. Um you know, if you look back in history, you'll see the great flood of 37 and some of that, but um it's by far the greatest tragedy that's ever hit Wayne County or affected the residents of Wayne County and the surrounding area.

SPEAKER_03 22:38

I I kind of want to ask too during all of this, who made a meaningful difference for you during that time when you were, you know, sh from the first time you were at Reed Hospital to Winchester, back to Reed, um, and then during the process of healing from your injuries?

SPEAKER_02 22:59

Well, I've always been blessed with a lot of friends. And um the weeks and months that I was in Reed um had a lot of friends, a lot of visitors. Um I've got a close family, and uh but I would have to say it was my mom. Uh I think you could describe her as strong-willed. She was a Christian lady. And um she was like a cheerleader through that whole thing. And um she kept telling me, you know, even before that, sh her favorite saying was, if you look around, there's always somebody worse off. Well, that's what she would say most often. Um, you know, during the rough times and uh the times of the pain when the pain was so great. And uh it was always, you know, just suck it up, you'll be fine. She says, I have no doubt, but if you look around, you know, there's so many people that have lost so much more, and um you just need to get a little tougher.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

What was it like after coming back um when you know, the after you checked yourself out five and a half days later from Winchester? Did you drive down here to see these?

Grief, Survivors, And A Downtown That Changed

SPEAKER_02 24:35

No, I I did I probably didn't come downtown several weeks afterwards. It was all cleaned up. Um and I think the only reason I did that uh was because the doctor that fixed my back and uh was at the medical arts building down by the old Leland. Um I I really didn't want to come downtown. Um you know. Um so uh to make an just an effort to come downtown for a reason no. Um but my hope is um growing up here and seeing all that I got to see and witness and experience in downtown, like I say, in its glory days, um when we s started running around, got old enough to go out and date and stuff, and have your own cars and driver's license. We'd go from one end of Richmond to the other just back and forth. And the storefronts were so well decorated, lit up, and even at eight, nine o'clock at night, the sidewalks were packed. Um on the day of the explosion on Saturday afternoon. We had been out to Sears earlier. Greg's dad worked out of Sears, and we went to see if he wanted to go to lunch, and he'd already been to lunch and he had a customer coming, and he said he couldn't, so we came down. Well, just we noticed how packed uh downtown was, how many people were just walking on the sidewalks, and uh, you know, it could have been so much worse. Uh the death toll could have been so much worse. It could have been triple. Um, you know, this the uh state theater was full of kids. They had a matinee that afternoon, and um, they got everybody out of there. And they said later in the evening the the West Wall collapsed. But um when you look at the dole death toll, too, of 41, that's not really an accurate uh number. Um I know of at least a couple of people that committed suicide. Um one couldn't stand the loss. And then um there was one guy that worked at the gas company, and he always felt that he could have done more to prevent it. Uh no. Um in that hearing they were um they reported there were almost 60 reports of gas in this downtown area just that week prior to the explosion.

SPEAKER_03 27:32

Oh, like the smell of gas?

SPEAKER_02 27:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 27:34

And did they just not come and check it out yet?

SPEAKER_02 27:37

Or they checked it out but did nothing. Um so and it wasn't really the gas company's fault. Um, you know, they didn't have time to repair or make a major repair, but you know, could they have done something? I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 27:58

So I know we were kind of talking earlier, too, about um my generation, younger generations, they're forgetting about what happened that day, or they're not educated, they don't know about it. Um what's something that you hope that future generations of rich men remember about that that day?

A New Memorial Plaque With 41 Names

SPEAKER_02 28:27

Well, I think the the main thing is to remember the the loss of all the precious lives and all the suffering of the families that continue today. Um Greg's parents were never the same. Um we were so close, we spent so much time together. Um his mother all she did was sit around and cry. And um his dad hated the world. He couldn't figure out why. And um it was it would be tough. Greg was valedictorian of his class. He was top in his class at Purdue. Um he was a very well-respected um judge for horse shows. Um just just a super um as close as we were, he was more like a mentor to me, you know, as we were growing up. Uh he got his driver's license two years before I did. He never left me behind. We went everywhere. Like I say, we played Little League together, we rode horses together, um, we were in 4-H together, junior leaders, FFA. Um we um attended a lot of different county events with the other county kids. Um and he was just a super person. And you know, everybody asks and nobody can answer why bad things happen to good people.

SPEAKER_03 30:20

Now I know that you had presented to counsel last year in October, I believe, um, about the memorial for all of the victims. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_02 30:36

Yeah, every time um in the early 90s, I got transferred to Texas with my job. I worked for GTE here in town. Um, and I came home often. This was my home. My kids were here, my grandkids were here, my mother was still living, my dad was still living at that time. And um they had moved the memorial plaque to Fifth and Maine, and I never felt good about that. It was hard to read, it was in a bad spot, and uh, it just got so it bothered me. And uh finally um I went and asked to speak in front of the council and and mayor holder about can we do something for the 41 to remember them and their families? Can we make a really nice plaque and with this new building and this new construction, can we put it back at Sixton, Maine where it belongs? And I couldn't have been better received. Um, Mayor Oler and and the council was all in favor, and and they've been very supportive.

SPEAKER_03 31:50

And I know, um Mayor, you have some information about a new plaque, and I want to give you an opportunity to kind of tell us a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, because of all that, well, recognizing and listening to 41 names is hugely important. So at the 50-year anniversary, that granite stone was created and it sits at the Wayne County Historical Museum with some other artifacts. But you're right, we have this opportunity. So we met with the builders and owners, developers of Six May in the new apartments, Flarity and Collins, and asked if we design a plaque, like a bronze plaque, could we put it on the front of the wall? And they said, most definitely. So working with you and a committee and some other council members, we came up with this plaque. And one of the things that's that's different from what was originally on the promenade, this will list all 41 names. And the reason I'm here, that Greg Harold Oler you keep talking about was my distant cousin, right? Who I never really knew because I was just a little toddler at the time. I growing up I knew his parents and I knew the rest of the family, of course. But I think it is hugely important to have these names. So a couple weeks ago, council approved a donation fund in the mayor's office to we were just going to buy this. We were just gonna buy a plaque. And I have people come to me and say, we want to be part of this. And a way to be part of it is to if you want to help donate to the cost of it. It's being designed locally, it'll be built wherever they build these brawn plaques. It's quite large, like 40 by 24 inches. So uh once everything's together and done, we'll have a ceremony on the front of the building and get it installed. And we'll have a ceremony separate from when they actually open the building and have their grand opening and stuff. It's more of a solemn remembrance kind of thing. So we when we want to get it done this year. So that's what we're looking at. But this is just flirting collins has been great to work with. The builders of the buildings developers are totally on board with this. They'll have their crew install it on the brick once it's ready and just leave it there. And the great thing is we can put it basically where that front window of Martin's arm was. We can put it right there on the brick that faces Main Street.

SPEAKER_02 33:49

That's outstanding. You know, it's right where it all took place. And uh and the bronze plaque, I've seen the um the makeup markup of it, looks great. And uh I I'm really pleased. I the one that's at Fifth and Maine there in front of the annex just gives me heartburn. You can't read it. It's just it's almost disrespectful. And this is gonna be a nice memorial um for not only the families deceived, but people that come to Richmond. And you know, what this new building's gonna bring, and with the mayor's effort to bring back downtown. Um, you know, hopefully we have a lot of tourism, a lot of visitors. That's the plan.

SPEAKER_00 34:47

All revitalize Richmond.

SPEAKER_02 34:49

Revitalize downtown, bring the glory of the days back. Um but they'll be able to stop and see what actually took place 58 years ago. And uh I'm excited about it. I can't wait to get it installed and uh in its rightful place.

SPEAKER_03 35:07

Right. I I I agree. I think it'll be a great thing to have that right there where the explosions happened. Um, you know, sweet blessings was the building that was standing right next, left standing after the explosions next to Morning Arms.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Um so like the first building to survive to the east of all that. So but I I think the takeaway from all this is just the grit and resilience of our city. You know. Everything you did to survive. Yeah. And and the volunteers that rushed. Oh, yeah. The photographs, young men, just everybody pictures.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

Just everybody. Um John Ross was a policeman in a rookie policeman. We became very good friends. Um he actually came to see me when I was at Reed in traction. And um my wife's dad was in civil defense. And uh just there were so many people that just picked up and came to see if they could help, like the old gentleman that took me to Reed. He never hesitated. Yeah. And took me and helped me inside. So it um it brought Richmond together um to see what they were made of. And um now we need to bring them together again and get downtown revitalized, get downtown going, and um bring it back. Nothing would make me happier.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

Right. I agree. Yeah, just to have Main Street back alive like it was, you know, during that time of the explosion prior, and then I'm sure after it was still, you know, further on east on Main Street was still alive, but there were so many buildings contamined or condemned, um, and there were so many businesses shut down, and then people were afraid to come downtown after that. Oh, really? Yes. So is that kind of when the downtown started dying or feeling out?

SPEAKER_02 37:15

Yeah. From that minute at 147 on that Saturday is when downtown died, in my estimation.

SPEAKER_03 37:24

Yeah. I would like to see everyone coming back down here. I mean, I've been really excited for revitalized Richmond. Um, and and we do, we we owe it to downtown. You know, we we owe to give life back into this area. Um so yeah, I'm I'm just excited to see what happens. I'm excited about the the plaque that's gonna be going up. And I know anyone that's willing or wants to be a part of that and donate, they can contact the mayor's office.

Revitalizing Main Street And Living With Trauma

SPEAKER_00 38:00

Yes. Um things this video isn't about seeking money donations. It's getting the word out and getting your story on this podcast is hugely important. It's um resilience and survivorship, everything you went through, that's hugely important.

SPEAKER_02 38:14

And just like that day, there were so many wants to help. Once this gets out about this plaque, I think they'll want to donate, to be a part of, of not only being able to present a beautiful plaque to honor the ones that lost their life, but maybe to be a part of bringing downtown back. Maybe that's their way of saying, here's the start. This is this is the starting point, this new building, this plaque on the site that ended it all.

SPEAKER_00 38:52

And and to be clear, there is stuff happening downtown now. Well, yes, several restaurants and bakeries, and at least twice a week when the weather's nice now, I'll walk down here and have lunch and bring visitors and say, let's just walk down here and have lunch. Like, you have a restaurant downtown? Yes, we do. And more to come.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

Yeah, I and um I've been coming downtown to watch the progress of the new building. That's that's pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

All that brick being laid brick by brick, brick by brick.

SPEAKER_02 39:19

This is gonna be an amazing building. It's gonna be an amazing building, and uh it's it's brick like the old buildings, too. And it's like the old downtown. Um but uh I'm excited. I'm excited for downtown Richmond. Uh I'm excited for the residents of Richmond because it's it's sure gone through a a rough 50 years. But uh there's, you know, the mayor's office has got visions, great visions, and uh Mayor Oler is doing a fantastic job of trying to bring to get it here and to get it started. And we've got it started. All we need to do now is to keep it rolling.

SPEAKER_03 40:09

Right. Keep that memento going.

SPEAKER_02 40:11

Keep the momentum going, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 40:14

So um I I just I really want people to watch that documentary. I'm really glad that you uh told me about it. I found it on YouTube. I can't remember the exact name of the title, but then also there's a book, Death on a Sunny Street. Yes. Um, that you can read about the explosions too. But yes, I mean, all of the The Citizens in Richmond, I highly recommend watching that documentary and just seeing what happened and knowing all of the details and hearing everyone's story on that documentary.

SPEAKER_02 40:48

Yeah, there's so many in that documentary telling their story of uh you know how they helped and what they witnessed. Um and, you know, like I said, there's so many false things out there, articles and stuff. Um another one that I read said that uh you could feel the explosion uh for two miles. Well, my mom and dad lived north and west of Fountain City. And it shook that old farmhouse so hard that the doors came open on her China cabinet and rattled the dishes in the cupboard.

SPEAKER_03 41:32

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 41:32

Um that's what, 10, 12 miles away? Yeah, 12 miles. Easy, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:37

Um, so uh they um again in that hearing, the two hearings that I participated in, um they found papers with Martin's later head on it in northern Kentucky.

SPEAKER_03 41:57

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 41:58

They found golf balls still in the cylinders with Martin's name on it in Oxford. The explosion was so intense it got stuff up in the jet stream. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 42:11

Wow. Yeah. Yeah, that's it's it's just it's amazing to learn. Like I said, I'm 39 years old. I've heard about the explosions. I might have seen a picture here and there, but to actually watch and kind of research a little bit more, I mean, it was it was eye-opening, you know, that that is a horrific, the most tragic event we've had in the city of Richmond.

SPEAKER_01 42:34

Oh, for sure. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 42:36

Um, and just to to learn everything about it. I mean, like I said, it was emotional to me. I kind of teared up a few times just hearing everyone's story. Um, you know, seeing the pictures of everyone coming together to help, but then also hearing the stories of firefighters and what they went through when they were going through the debris um and when they were finding bodies or finding parts. I mean, it was uh to me, it was just kind of like, wow, I I can't believe all of that happened.

SPEAKER_02 43:07

Yeah, yeah, like I say, I uh when I came down off the pile of rubble, um not only did I see just devastation everywhere, but there were body parts and stuff that nobody ought to see. And I uh again for those people to go through and recover the bodies and um yeah, it's just unbelievable the effort that they gave. Um I still have nightmares from that day. Uh they don't seem to come as often, but uh you know the nightmares still come. And I don't think you could go through something like that and not be um changed. And uh to experience uh nightmares, and and I'm a lot more claustrophobic than I used to be. Uh so it's uh it's definitely changed me, but the one thing again, like I said, my mother was such a cheerleader and and such a strong-willed person um that it kept me strong and I wasn't gonna let that make me a victim. Um and it hasn't. Um you know, I live every day to the fullest and plan on it. Um and uh I enjoy a life, I've had a great life, I've done everything. I I can't think of anything that after the first year and a half that the injuries have kept me from doing. Now I still have aches and pains, just like everybody else, and now I'm getting old aches and pains, but um but in no way has it kept me from doing what I want to or what I you know. So um the only thing is that there was a friendship there you know, that I probably can't talk about, but yeah, that's it's very sad, and I'm sorry that happened. Well thank you.

SPEAKER_03 45:37

I want to thank you so much for coming on and and telling your story of being the sole survivor in that area during the explosions, and I really hope that the community, you know, bands together and helps helps keep every victim in their memory, their families in their memory.

SPEAKER_02 45:57

Uh and again, not only the precious lives that were lost, but the families, the suffering. Um Greg's mom and dad died early of a broken heart. There they, you know, they're one of many that should be on that plaque because it it actually took their life that day.

unknown 46:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:18

Sorry. Um yeah, I I just want everyone to know that your experience is an important part of Richmond's history. So thank you so much for joining us. Well, you're so welcome.

SPEAKER_00 46:31

Thank you for asking. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for coming, Jack. Thank you. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 46:36

All right, guys. That's Inside Richmond, the city's pulse. Make sure to join us next time.