by Wanetta Ayers
(Anchorage, Alaska)
My mom was in the kitchen making sloppy Joes for dinner.
The three of us were huddled around the television watching the start of Fireball XL5.
Events are a bit jumbled, but I remember running and being tossed around. The freezer nearly fell on my sister, but my dad caught it. The television fell over. Dinner slid off the stove.
I tried to run out the front door where the family car was rolling back and forth. My dad grabbed me by the collar and pulled me back inside.
It lasted a long time. And then it was quiet.
We were lucky in Spenard - our home was intact. Most of the streets were passable. We filled the bathtub with snow and boiled it for water. We lined up at the school for various shots. The volunteer poked through my skin and shot the vaccine right out the other side at me. Second time was better for her, not so much for me.
Over the course of the next month, my dad was gone a lot. He mustered out to Kulis ANG and flew many aid flights during that time. He brought home flight MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), fixed the television with a soldering iron, and still had time to let me and Denise stand on his boots and "dance" with us.
I burned the palm of my hand during this time and he sat and held me on his lap while my mom put a baking soda poultice on it.
On April 25, on a flight from Valdez to Anchorage, after dropping off Governor Egan and others, the ANG C-123 he was on crashed into Prince William Sound shortly after takeoff. Accounts are that the fuselage remained on the surface for a short time before sinking.
All four souls on-board perished.
A Note from Anchorage Memories
Wanetta:
So sorry for your loss -
And thank you for sharing your Earthquake story.
Comments for We were lucky in Spenard
|
||
|
||
>>>Hey, I like this website<<<
then let us know
by clicking the "Like" button
thank you
Can I Share My Anchorage Memories?
Yes... you can share your stories and memories
about life in Anchorage and vicinity.
Show Me How to Share My Stories Right Now
This Anchorage Memories website
created by Mike and Mary Dougherty
Copyright © 2016 - 2021
AnchorageMemories.com
All Rights Reserved
Wonderful Anchorage Memories
that fill your heart and feed your soul