Introduction 0:07

Welcome to Storm Tested Leadership, where our hosts, Dave Miller and James Holscher, visit with frontline leaders to learn how they weathered the most difficult hours, and in the process, helped make their communities and organizations storm tested

David Miller 0:31

Well, I'm super excited to, uh, A, have our first studio guest, but B, uh, have it be my father. There is a, a significant story in his life and our life as a family to tell, and, uh, no one better than to be our first guest in the studio today. And, uh, excited to el- welcome my father, Alan Miller. Glad to be here

James Hoelscher 0:51

I, and I, uh, Al, I'm excited. Dave has told me a little bit about this story, but I'm mostly in the dark, so,

David Miller 0:58

I, I actually,

James Hoelscher 1:00

forward to it as well

David Miller 1:01

I told him he couldn't read the show notes today 'cause it's a story that just keeps on giving. And, uh, for that point, uh, knowing that, I, I'm not sure if James cheated. I'm, I'm sure he did just because he, he, he can't handle not being prepared, so

James Hoelscher 1:17

I did not. I did not

David Miller 1:19

Right on. Uh, December 27, 1968, Ozark Airlines. Flight 982 was regularly scheduled, uh, to depart from Sioux Falls, connected to Sioux City. Tell me if I'm wrong here. Uh, the flight essentially crashed shortly after takeoff. The DC-9 struck the ground roughly 500 feet from the end of the runway, came to a stop about 1,200 feet from the runway. Why did this happen? Ozarks Airline jet lifted off to Sioux City in freezing fog and winter ice. Seconds later, the plane rolled violently out of control, crashed on the ground north of the runway. On board was a 12-year-old boy from Little Hudson, South Dakota. Sitting beside him was his sister and grandfather, and miraculously, everyone in the crash survived. Roughly 60 years later, I'm glad to, uh, say my father is here to tell us the story just like it was yesterday. So I think normally, uh, when we talk about storm-tested leadership, we talk about CEOs, uh, people in business, we talk about, uh, people that survive extraordinary events. Uh, this time, uh, necessarily isn't, uh, a natural disaster. Uh, it's not a CEO or a board meeting or a, a, a project gone bad, but it's a, it's a life-changing story that's pretty significant. And I will say, I don't know anyone else that's been on a plane crash, and I will say, uh, it has been fun flying with my father because he always says it, "Lightning can't strike twice. Uh, calm down, it's fine." So enough of me telling the story, uh, prior to the story, but, uh, my father's got a cool story, so let's, uh, let's dive into it. Usually we kinda ask some background on what's happening in, in life before the story, so maybe paint a picture of what Hudson, South Dakota was like for a 12-year-old boy and, and maybe why you were taking this specific flight. Uh, we were actually on our way to, uh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, uh, to a cousin's wedding. And my family, uh, were farmers, and it was, uh, 1968, so we had snow about every other day, and they couldn't get away to go with us. And so my grandparents and my sister and I were, were on the flight. Uh, and typical winter weather that, that particular day, it was snowing like crazy when we left Sioux Falls. And, uh, by the time we got to Sioux Falls, or, or to Sioux City, excuse me, it was pretty much a blizzard. And so we, we stopped. Uh, you know, you can imagine how long the, the flight took from Sioux Falls to Sioux City not very. So let's back up just a second and give a little picture on, like, the commuter plane of that era versus- You know, remote, uh, air travel the way it is today, I guess Slower. Yeah. More, more of a bus trip where you stop multiple times on a plane- Yep in the regionals? Yep. The smaller regionals just didn't have enough to fill a plane back then, you know? So you, you... We stopped, uh, we stopped in Sioux City to top off the plane basically with people, and then on our way to Chicago at the...

Al Miller 4:40

you ever flown before?

David Miller 4:42

No, that was my first flight. Yeah. Great, great way to start. Yeah. It was interesting. I can remember back in the day they had the, uh, like, I don't know what to call it, coin-operated thing to get flight insurance. And my grandfather did that. Oh. It was funny. I don't, I don't know what it ever amounted to and, you know, but it was like, "Well, you never know," you know? So he, he bought flight insurance out of a machine. So, like 50 cents or a dollar for- Uh, probably You have any idea what the plane ticket cost? No. Yeah. No. Interesting. No, I was young enough I didn't have to ask that question. So snowing like hell. S- oh, we're back in it. Yeah, we'll throw them back in it. Yeah, it's just snowing like hell. Uh, we arrived in Sioux City. Uh, they did de-ice the wings when we got there, and, uh, it took a while to load the plane, and the pilots decided not to de-ice the plane before we took off. Hence, we were too heavy. Uh, our air speed was too slow and, uh, yeah, it, it, it was crazy. I mean, I thought we were a lot farther in the air, but apparently we weren't. It was, it was a prop jet, you know? And they didn't have, like, locked places to put goods. It was just in an open shelf up on top. And, uh, you know, so we all took our coats off, right? It's the middle of winter. Mm-hmm. It was nice in the plane, so we all took our coats off and everything and put them up on, on, on those shelves. Anyway, so we're, we're on takeoff, and it seems like we're doing okay, 'cause I don't know any better, you know? And, uh, we get up, what did it say, 500 feet? Mm-hmm. And, uh, some- somewhere in that, 250 to 500 feet, and the left wing w- the whole airplane went to the left 90 degrees

James Hoelscher 6:46

Oh my God.

David Miller 6:47

90 degrees. And

Al Miller 6:48

no the, left, the left wing actually hit the runway before they pulled it up, and I... They did something with the air- aeration system, whatever you call that. Anyway, uh, aerolons? I don't... Anyway, you know, so they were trying everything to get it level. Then they got it leveled, and it immediately went to the right wing 90 degrees. And, you know, the, the only sound that I remember in that whole thing was, it was like everybody on the whole plane said, "Oh my God." You know, it was pretty interesting. So we start heading down into this grove of cottonwood trees with an airplane. If you can imagine what a, an air- cottonwood tree would do to, uh, wings and the front end of the plane. Uh, the, the only places that the, uh, trees came through the plane were the cockpit and where my seat was

David Miller 7:47

Oh

Al Miller 7:47

Yeah. So it was my grandfather and I sitting there in the, in the plane and, and we were together, my grandmother and my sister behind me. So when that tree came through, I was holding on to the ha- you know, on, on, onto the armrest, and the tree came through and just smashed my hand, which I thought that was the only thing that happened to me, you know? My grandfather had cancer, and, you know, he was-- he did pretty well, but, you know, we'll get, we'll get onto what happened later. But, uh, so we, we come down in that grove of cottonwood trees right by the river. That's the Missouri, right? Yeah, Missouri River. Missouri River, yep. In Sioux City. Really close, you know? And they couldn't get one of the engines shut down, so we couldn't go out the emergency chute on, on... If you're sitting in the plane, on the left side was the emergency chute where they come in, you know? Anyway, that, they couldn't open that because that was the one that was still running. And, uh, so we all had to go off of the right wing into snow that was probably four to five feet deep. Yeah.

James Hoelscher 9:03

Oh,

David Miller 9:04

And

Al Miller 9:05

getting worse yeah, my grandfather was doing okay, but he was pretty frail, you know? He, he was, uh, I mean, he was a little older than I am, not much. But, uh, anyway, so we got out on the, uh, we got out on the wing, and I helped my grandfather, uh, get down from there with a couple other people. None of us had coats, yeah, as the coats were all up above, and when we came down, they all went to the front part of the plane. So we were out there just in shirtsleeves, basically. And, uh, yeah, so we helped him off, helped my grandmother and sister off of the plane. And, uh, we walked quite a while, it seemed, to get to, uh, you know, had to cross some fence and dodge trees and all kinds of stuff. But, uh, yeah. Then all of a sudden, we see flashing lights coming at us through the snow. You know, the snow was coming down pretty hard. And, uh, so there was, uh, a, a big, uh, it looked like a bulldozer, I believe, uh, moving snow to get the ambulances out to the airplane. And, uh, so we got my grandparents on, on a, on an ambulance right away to get there, uh- Trying to think if I really missed anything on the plane. Not really Any like- Made a lot of noise I say noise or smells or sounds or like- Well, it was leaking, it was leaking fuel. And we were all, everybody was worried about that. It was, you could, you could smell the f- the jet fuel. Was there anything like now that you would smell that would not necessarily trigger PTSD- No but kind of brings you back to that point? No. No? No.

James Hoelscher 10:55

So Al, I'm curious. like it went pretty quick, but did the, the, the flight attendants have any role in getting you all ready prior to the crash? Or once, ev-everything came to a stop, was anybody leading this

Al Miller 11:16

No.

James Hoelscher 11:16

kinda every man and woman for

Al Miller 11:18

It was, everybody for themselves 'cause it, it happened so fast. You know, there was no, "Hey, we're gonna, you know, you know, get down in your seats, we're going down now." There wasn't a chance for any of that. No. Yeah, the only thing that, that, that I... One of the funny things that happened was, uh, never could find my coat, you know? And, and finally we found out that one of the stewardesses had grabbed it, so she was wearing my coat. But she was up front of the plane, so all that stuff landed probably right around her, you know? But yeah. So the ambulances all made it out there. It was all the old ambulances that looked like hearses. You, you remember the old ambulances in the '60s. And, uh, you know, put as many people in as you could. So they get us back to the airport to do a triage to figure out who needs to go to the air- to the, the hospital first. So, anyway, at that point I thought my hand was the only problem I had, right? But as, as I got in there, all of a sudden I realized that, that I couldn't stand. My, my hip broke. I had a broken hip

James Hoelscher 12:33

So you were walking on a broken hip?

Al Miller 12:36

helping my grandfather.

James Hoelscher 12:38

Oh my God

Al Miller 12:39

But, uh, there w- I had no idea, you know? They say that that happens quite often, but, uh, I, you know... All- I got there, was stand- I s- I can remember standing there with these seats right next to me, and they were full of people and, um, and all of a sudden it's like I, I, I just went down, you know? It was like I couldn't hold myself up. The, the, s- the shock of what happened- Yeah generally, your, I think your, uh, your system shuts it down or pain and- Yeah, it just blocked it. I think you're kinda wondering a way if your, uh, brain said you're in a safe place now or you're like, "Okay, I can kinda give up the fight or flight." No, no pun, but- Yeah you know, where it's like, "Okay, I'm, I'm good. I'm fixed. I'm helped." Yeah. Interesting. It was. So then- Yeah, so then. So then they start loading the ambulances. We're, I think we're in like the third or fourth one, and, uh, yeah. So my grandparents, my sister and I, and some lady that was just screaming the whole way, and she basically had some, uh, well, seatbelt rash was pretty much what... But she was pretty freaked out, you know, apparently. Uh, but I ended up in the front seat with the ambulance driver.

James Hoelscher 13:54

Okay

Al Miller 13:55

Okay, so we're, we're going down the interstate on the way to St. Vincent's Hospital back then is what it was called. How far of a drive on a normal day today do you think that'd be? Oh, 10 minutes. Okay. 10 minutes. And so we're going down the interstate as fast as that guy could go with chains on, right? He, he didn't take the chains off. And all of a sudden we hear this th-thump, and then another one, same noise, th-thump. And the ambulance driver looks at me and says, "We just lost the chains. I think we'll be okay." So we took the e- the exit to head to St. Vincent's, and he realized he had no brakes.

James Hoelscher 14:40

Oh, ni-- oh my God

Al Miller 14:44

He had no brakes. We ended up flying off the s- the street that would've been our exit, you know, flying off that into a cornfield at that point.

James Hoelscher 14:55

Oh. So you had

David Miller 14:57

went...

James Hoelscher 14:58

in one

Al Miller 14:58

Yeah, we, we went, we didn't even hit the ditch. We went flying right over the ditch and landed in this corn.

James Hoelscher 15:04

my God

Al Miller 15:05

And, and then, uh, yeah, so he called for another ambulance. Of course, you know, back then it was, you know, they didn't have any. You know, every- everything was in use. And, uh, yeah. So a semi came by, just, just the tractor part of the semi, and, um, you know, then we had a, um, a, a city snowplow that got him out to us and he pulled us, the, the s- the semi cab thing pulled us out of there back onto the road. So he called St. Vincent's and said, "We're on our way in, but we're, we're not gonna make it very fast, you know, 'cause we don't have any brakes. So I'll need help when I get to the emergency exit," right? So they said, yep, they'd take care of that. So the ambulance driver looked at me and said, "You're in charge of the sirens. Just, you know, ma- make whatever noise you want with it, but don't stop." So

James Hoelscher 16:07

God

Al Miller 16:08

yeah, you know, he was busy trying to stay on the road. Anyway, so we get to St. Vincent's and there's nobody out there. There's nobody to stop us. There's, there's nothing, you know? And the, the, then the ambulance driver said, "Okay, you know, we'll go around again." So we, you know how they, um, you know. So we went around again, still nobody. Went around one more time and still nobody. He says, "Okay." sirens Yeah, so, so we go around, coming around the third time- You can curse I, I don't know. Can I, can I swear? You may curse, yes. So the ambulance driver said, "Fuck this," and ran right into that brick support for the ambulance, you know, for the, for the, the overhang. Yeah, stopped us cold. And yeah. So as a family, we're not so sure the, uh, the injury in the hip or the hand came from the ambulance hitting the building or the, or the- Oh, the- the airport it was the airport. I probably

James Hoelscher 17:06

my God.

Al Miller 17:09

should've said the ambulance driver. No, it wasn't that. It's probably more PFD

James Hoelscher 17:11

technically you had three wrecks in one day.

Al Miller 17:14

Technically, yeah.

James Hoelscher 17:16

Oh

Al Miller 17:16

Yeah. Yep. And, uh, so while this was all going on, my parents had dropped us all off at the airport, right? In Sioux Falls. In Sioux Falls. This is after Christmas, so they were checking out the after Christmas specials. Had no idea that, that a plane had crashed anywhere, you know? And, uh, of course, no cell phones. You know, how do you get ahold of anybody? And, uh- And realistically, you're an hour plus away, hour and 15, hour and a half away- Oh- from each other and bad weather, we were probably two hours away, you know? But yeah, anyway, so we get in there and, you know, of course we're overwhelmed with, with all the airplane... It was only, what, 60? How many? 60- 67 6 or seven? People I think, yeah. Yeah. 64- Okay passengers, four crew members. Yep. 11 people total hospitalized. Yeah. But anyway, yeah, we're very fortunate there was, there was no horrible injuries or deaths on this thing. But, uh, so I got laid around i- in the hallway quite a while on a gurney, you know? They finally got us up and they took, I don't know, some x-rays of my hand and stuff like that, and then, you know, they decided they could just probably patch me up and, and just send me home. But there was nobody to pick us up, so my grandmother called a, a cousin of ours, uh, Bernard Serk, and he and his wife came in to pick us up. Uh, I felt-

James Hoelscher 18:55

kind of had it by, with transportation at that point in the day?

Al Miller 18:58

Pretty, pretty much. So left the room and, uh, decided that I, I'd try to go to the bathroom before, before we, you know, get there. And that, that was probably three hours before they got there. But yeah, anyway, at that point, I, I just collapsed, and they did another X-ray and, and found that my hip was fractured, you know. So, so I go back. He ends up being able to take, uh, my sister and grandmother home because my sister was uninjured other than being totally freaked out. In fact, she's still scared to fly, you know. She drugs herself up pretty heavy. Uh, anyway, so yeah, back in the room and this was, uh There were five people in the room. It was the pilot, the co-pilot, my grandfather and I, and another gentleman that I can't remember his name. The pilots were both in traction, the pilot and the co-pilot, you know, and not looking too chipper at that point.

James Hoelscher 20:04

Sure,

Al Miller 20:05

But, uh, so the next day, uh, my mom and dad came down, you know, just to see us. They finally got away. But, you know, they had cows and calves and hogs and that. You know, they, they were, they were busy beside between moving snow and, and trying to get the chores done, you know. But they got down there and mom said to me, "Al, is there anything I can get you?" I said, "Yeah, find me a book," you know. "Find me some books." So she went down to try and find them. All she could find was comic books. You know how long it takes a 13-year-old kid to read a comic book? Yeah, so I had two comic books. And, uh, yeah, the only, uh, time we had a television was the pilot wanted to watch a football game and, and, uh, that Yeah, it must have been New Year's. Yeah, it probably was New Year's Day. Anyway, yeah, other than that, there was nothing and-

James Hoelscher 21:05

God. Did you visit with the pilots about what had happened?

Al Miller 21:09

No, they didn't talk... I don't- they didn't talk much about it, no. They were just, you know, they asked questions w- with the, the, you know, the Ozark officials, I suppose, that came in to talk to them. And, uh, you know. I think- But not much two little details that I think I've heard you say before was the, I mean, maybe when you talk about things to do, how long you were there and bored as hell as a 13-year-old, but the nurses brought you some books too. What were those? That's, that's, that was a good one, that text. So a nurse came in and, and, uh, checked me out and all that stuff in one morning, and she said, "Is there anything I can get you?" I said, "Yeah. Do you have any books around anywhere?" She said, "There's some in the nursing s- nursing station, but I, I don't know if that's what you're gonna like." I said, "I don't care. I need something." So she, she brought me some romance novels.

James Hoelscher 22:04

Oh my.

Al Miller 22:05

I learned a lot. I learned a lot. Anyway, that was fun. But, uh, yeah. And the interesting thing, the, the ambulance driver stopped every day

James Hoelscher 22:19

Nice

David Miller 22:20

Yep

Al Miller 22:22

Ah. I don't think I ever knew the guy's name, but he was sure a nice guy, you know? But, uh, yeah, it was fun. We,

James Hoelscher 22:32

So how long was it before you flew again?

Al Miller 22:36

uh- Uh, six months.

James Hoelscher 22:39

So now when you think back on three crashes, your day, your crazy day, like are there or two, three things that just hit you like, gosh, that just pop into mind like you've kind of carried with little lessons or observations?

Al Miller 23:01

Something I just, I just, it's hard to imagine or believe that you could go through that, you know? And, uh, it, it just kinda became humorous to us, you know? How, how long do you think it was humorous? I mean, like how long did it take you to be look back and kinda chuckle? It was a while. I was on crutches for a long time, you know? I was in the hospital the entire Christmas vacation, you know, the school Christmas vacation. Totally missed that. I bet that was a pretty cool story to tell your classmates when you came back from- Oh, yeah Christmas break. Yeah. Man. Like I said, the story gets better when, when I could drink alcohol.

James Hoelscher 23:38

Ah, well, it's pretty good as it is

Al Miller 23:42

Yeah. But I think one thing that I have noticed that I, I'm, you know, when, when we take off, and I've flown a lot. Actually, I worked for Diamond Vogel, uh, a paint company, for quite a while in, in one of their divisions, and, uh, traveled all over the US and, you know, I was flying weekly someplace. And, uh, you know, it really never bothered me, but I did notice when things weren't quite right, you know? I can remember taking off out of Denver one time, you know, uh, just being observant that, "Okay, we're still circling this mountain. What's going on?" You know? A little bit later they came on and they said, "Well, we couldn't retract one of the running gears, so we're working on it, and if we can get it, we're still going to LA." Okay. Anyway, that was one of the things. And then, uh, I was flying one time from, uh, Houston to, uh, Miami for a trade show, and, uh, the to- the plane took off and it just didn't seem fast enough to me, you know? And all of a sudden we just got the wheels off the ground and he dropped that thing back down on the ground and throttled back and we took a left back to the, back to the airport. And, uh, the, the, uh, pilot came on and he said, "It, I couldn't get it opened up, uh, like I wanted to." He said, "It wasn't safe. I'm not gonna drive this plane this way. We're gonna go back." He said, "The maintenance guys are pretty sure they know what it is and th- they're gonna fix this plane. If you wanna get off this plane, the next flight out is tomorrow." Uh, you know, "So there's really no other flights that you can get on, but it's up to you. You know? We, we can put you on a, a plane tomorrow." And so I just sat there 'cause it's like, it's gonna go. I'm, I'm gonna go with it. You know, the pilots aren't gonna fly this thing with, you know, if it's not right. And, uh, so it was just me and, and two other salespeople left on the flight. And they looked back at me and said, "You're staying?" I said, "Yeah, I've been down in one. That can't happen again, can it?" You know? And the stewardess came back and says, "Okay, you guys are staying on this flight?" I said, "Yeah." She said, "Free drinks while we're waiting." You know? And the, the other two guys said, "Yeah, we're with him." So it's gonna- Did you get to tell your story at least then, the whole plane ride? Oh, I told, uh- we, while we were sitting there I told them what happened. They said, "Okay, you went down in one. What happened?" Yeah. And I told them about it, so you know.

James Hoelscher 26:22

you, you mentioned this, I think it's really interesting. Um, you talked about how you started to be more maybe observant and, and how things wouldn't happen when you're-- We're talking about being on a flight. My, my brother served in Vietnam and, he has-- I think his experience there has kind of just ingrained in him that, that continual awareness of situational awareness of what's going on, where the rooms area's in, the space that he's in. And he obviously had a, a longer experience of, uh, of, in being in a crisis, but yours was, like, as intense for a 12, 13-year-old kid as it can possibly be, with three accidents in probably three hours. Um, that's interesting how that maybe just set in you like that, "Okay, I'm gonna have that sort of sixth sense as far as what's going on."

Al Miller 27:18

Well, at least on some things.

James Hoelscher 27:21

Dave, I'm curious from your perspective, you've heard, heard this multiple times. Um, and I, I've, I heard s- stories from my father and, and, and over the years. what have you taken from the story other than your dad's incredibly lucky and, and has a good story to tell? What are, what are the nuggets that you've taken from it?

Al Miller 27:43

Ooh. Um, you know, I think for me it's probably, like, don't take life for granted either, 'cause you, you never know when it's gonna change, good or bad. I mean, the, the things we've been through in, in my lifetime too have also kinda shaped that. But, you know, I've, I've heard this story most of my life, so we- we kinda chuckle about it, so it's probably, you know, a little more impactful for others than it would be for me. But I, I still think just, you know, I think I've learned his outlook on life, which has kind of blended into, to my life, personal life, and how I kinda treat things and just look at things the, the bigger scope, bigger picture versus, you know, dialing it down. Obviously, you gotta dial it down sometimes, but I, you know, I just... You wanna make sure that you kinda ebb and flow instead of, you know, spike and bottom out. So that's- Mm kinda the way I've always treated things, and I, I think I've learned that from him as well. Although we do kinda have a crash out every once in a while. We, we learned, you know, we, we grew up on a farm, so there was an occasional wrench or something to beat the hell out of because we were pissed off at something. But,

James Hoelscher 28:48

Sure

Al Miller 28:48

Yeah you know, I mean, that, that is what it is. Yes. Yeah, don't waste time. You never know. You know, what you got left. But- Yeah. I think that's about all I got for interesting things, actually. Well,

David Miller 29:06

That's quite the story.

Al Miller 29:08

e- that's more than enough

David Miller 29:11

I'm sure, I'm sure there's more we could share. We, we just need to get a, a pint of whiskey or something in you first and, uh- Well, it gets, it gets better.

Al Miller 29:21

He starts to talk about those books that he was reading from the nurse's

David Miller 29:25

No, yeah, we don't wanna do that. No, I actually s- told this story. I, we're, we have a, a thing at, uh, the lakes. I, I am in a social membership at the golf course there. So every Friday we all get together and have numerous drinks, and all of a sudden somebody realized that, that I had been in an airplane accident, so they wanted to know. So I had to stand up and give this story then too, and everybody had a good laugh, you know

Al Miller 29:52

Well, we sh-certainly appreciate you sharing it today

David Miller 29:56

And I think for, you know, anyone listening and wanting to look up and dig some more, it is, uh, Ozarks Flight 982, uh, out of Sioux City back in 1968, December 27. Uh, again, traumatic in a way. Uh, lucky, I think, nobody was very seriously injured or, or killed. I think it's even luckier that the thing didn't ignite going down. Yeah. I know your story of the, the, the plane shearing tree, tree tops off, watching it go through is That's always most the- Yeah impactful for me, and definitely seeing the photos of it, you can, you can see how that happened, so. I kinda passed that part, didn't I? It's okay. Uh, you know, I, I think it's interesting. I, I think people have, uh, go through traumatic things. You know, I think for us here in, in Rock Valley that we've dealt with on a flooding side, um, you know, my past life with helping on EMS, we, we see people at their worst, uh, and those kinda things too. And I think just being tolerable of people and humanity in general to know people are just dealing with things, you know? You never know if somebody went through a traumatic event like this when they're 10 or 12 or- Yeah 25 or 50, uh, or what other things they're dealing with that are pounding on top of each other. So I think it's a, it's a life lesson to learn. People go through things. But it's also, uh, important to learn from others through their stories to, to kinda figure out how they made it through too, so. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think for, for-

James Hoelscher 31:23

question. Uh, so Dave has v- and I was-- with the flooding that went on in Rock Valley, but I would imagine having gone through pr- an ex- uh, an experience like that early, at an early age kind of ingrains in you that it's always gonna be something, and it's kind of like there's gonna be a lot of storms in everybody's life. And so when something like the Rock Valley flood comes, it's more something that you deal with versus up your hands and just, like, get completely overwhelmed.

David Miller 31:59

Yeah. It's out of your hand. Just do what you can to make it work, you know? You know, I've always been impressed with, uh, the community here. Everybody works. Everybody does. It's... They all, you know, they all get together and, uh, you know, m- they ask you, "Can you, can you run a forklift? Can you do this?" Can, you know, just to try and help out where you can and... But yeah, y- like I said, you, you never know what's happened to other people, you know? You, you just don't know what trauma's been in their life. I just-

James Hoelscher 32:30

Sometimes, they ask you to run the siren and you just sit there to run

David Miller 32:33

Yeah, that was fun. That was the best part. Yep. Well, cool. Well, thanks for coming and sharing your story. Now we, we do legitimately have it on, you know, a perpetual recording so we don't have, uh, mother's crazy video that she took around a campfire one day, so. A lot of drinks involved in that one.

Al Miller 32:59

Well, thank you very much, Al

David Miller 33:01

Oh, no problem