Death In The Line Of Duty

Every year on August 28, an anniversary passes without much, if any fanfare. It is the day , 82 years ago , on which two Streator firemen lost their lives at a fire at the Kennedy Truck Body Plant.  They were buried by a collapsing wall in a narrow alley while manning a hose. They were stationed between the burning factory and the house next door trying to keep the fire from consuming the dwelling. There were 3 men taking turns at the nozzle because of the intense heat, which could be felt over a block away, according to newspaper accounts. Battleing low water pressure as well as the flames, the men were inching out into the alley from a small yard next to the house. Fire Chief Frank Owen warned the men several times to back up because the wall had a slight lean  because of weakened mortal due to the intense heat. Adding to the danger, the roof had collapsed and part of the wreckage was being supported by the wall, adding more pressure on it to fail.  The three men running the hose were Charles Marx, city fireman, and John Norris and Fred Thomas both volunteers.
     At the time of the collapse, Marx had taken over the nozzle with Norris and Thomas holding the hose behind him. Thomas saw the wall fall and tried to pull the others back through the gate of the fence. 50 feet of the two-story wall had given way and fell outward into the alley. Falling backwards, Thomas grabbed Norris and pulled him back, but couldn't reach Marx. As the wall collapsed the scene fell into chaos as bricks, flaming debris, dust and smoke blanketed the alley. With a new rush of oxygen and a small breeze the fire leapt at the pile of bricks that had buried the two men. Another hose team managed to beat back the flames, as a dozen volunteers and firemen attacked the pile to uncover the trapped men. Mr Norris was found first because his head and one shoulder were sticking out of the debris. Badly burned and suffering several broken bones, Norris lived for severl minutes, but died at the scene. Marx had taken the full force of the collapse and had died instantly. It took several minutes of digging through the red-hot bricks and debris to uncover his body. Most of the rescuers were working without gloves and sustained burned hands while moving the debris. Fred Thomas suffered from a broken arm and cuts and bruises from the flying bricks.  The fire was eventually brought under control and finally extinguished the next morning. The destroyed factory was eventually rebuilt,except for the part which had contained the collapsed wall. The factory was eventually torn down in the early 2000's. The site is now a vacant lot at the corner of Monroe and Broadway Streets. The house and the small yard survived the fire and remain standing. The fire department recently erected a memorial in front of the station dedicated to the rememberance of the two men and all of the Streator Firefighters who have passed away. Marx and Norris are the only two Streator Firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

Yesterday, Let it be

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it seems as though they're here to stay
Oh I believe in yesterday

Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly
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When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be

For though they may be parted
There is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be

And when the night is cloudy
There us still a light that shines on me
Shine on till tomorrow, let it be

I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Hugs

Hugs, I've always liked them and always will. They say a lot to me , even cyber-hugs. It just means that someone cares enough to take the time to encourage you to like you or even love you even from far away.  This reminds me of when I was in a wrestling tournament during junior year at SHS. We went to Minooka for a one day meet. And as a heavyweight I went last. Well that day I was lucky enough to make it to the finals but lost and went for 3rd place. At the end, they had 2 mats side by side, 1st place match on one, 3rd on the other. When they were done you lined up by place on the podium and a bunch of cheerleaders would give you your medal and a hug. Well we had been watching this all night. As heavyweights you know, we were the fat guys who didnt even have to worry about cutting weight, or anything like that, so there really wasn't much of an uproar when we wrestled, unless the meet was on the line, then everybody cared ! LOL Well I was lucky enough that day to get 3rd place and a medal. We took our spots, and here came the cheerleaders. WhooHooo! Until they walked up with disgusted looks on their faces. They announced the kid in 4th, nobody clapped, and he kinda bent over so she could put his medal on and she just handed it to him and walked away. They did the same to me and even to the 2nd place guy and the champion. They just handed him the trophy and the poster with the brackets written on it and walked away. Maybe they were tired after being there all day, or maybe we were just the FAT guys at the end, who knows. But after watching them hugs everbody else in the finals, we were disgusted. When I got home I showed the medal to my parents, but  later, I took it and threw it out. Why ? Because it reminded me of my place in the world, and that it would probably never get better, and it hasn't sadly. That cheerleader tought me a very important lesson, one that I have never forgotten even now 30 years later.

A Penny For Your Thoughts

My name is Bear. I am a coin collector. I might as well put a sign on my back that says I'm a nerd. It can go right next to the one that says kick me. I like to get change to look through it to see if I get anything good. Every once in awhile I get lucky and get one that I need. If I see one on the ground I'll pick it up. I've found them everywhere, on sidewalks, in the street on the beach, in the ocean, in my garden, in the yard, everywhere. I have a metal detector that works pretty well. I would love to live by the ocean so I could walk every morning and look for shells and treasure. I usually get a sackful at the bank for $50. I find all kinds of stuff in those things.  Dimes, nickles, foreign coins, etc. I sort through them, keep the ones I want and turns the rest back in to the bank. It is pretty much a self sustaining hobby. Every once in awhile I'll order unsorted rolls on the internet to get indian head pennies (pre 1909 ) 1909-1958 are wheat pennies (they have the wheat stalks on the back) 1959-2009 have the lincoln memorial on the back. In 2010 they have designs from lincoln's life  and in 2011 they switched to a shield design. The memorial design is not going to be used again, so collectors are snatching them up along with the new designs. The quarters have switched from the states on the back to national parks, starting in 2010. Nickles have also had different designs during the past few years. Did you know that  any silver coins before 1964 are mostly silver ? The older they are the more silver they have in them. After 1964 they are silver clad copper or zinc. So if you have some change lying around, send it my way, I'll trade you dollars for it any time !

This Is a Joke

What did one eye say to the other ... Between you and me something smells !  Thank you and good night ! Its 6:15 am, what more do you want ?! I'll expostulate tonight, you my loyal readers ! Have a nice day ! No my account wasn't hacked, I actually wrote this ! LOL

Wolves

Lord please shine a light of hope
On those of us who fall behind
And when we stumble in the snow
Could you help us up , while there's still time

Well I don't mean to be complainin' Lord
You've always seen me through
And I know You've got your reasons
For each and every thing You do
But tonight outside my window
There's a lonesome, mournful sound
And I just can't keep from thinkin'
' Bout the one the wolves pull down
Oh Lord, keep me from bein'
The one the wolves pull down

Once again, an old Garth Brooks song that speaks  volumes to me. This isn't the whole song. The entire thing is good, but I only put the end here. Why ? probably because  I didn't feel like typing it all in. Besides, this is the part that really speaks to me for fairly obvious reasons. Did you know that a company of firemen going floor to floor in one of the World Trade Center towers came upon a large room full of handicapped people on crutches and wheelchairs etc.. Who had been told to wait there, out of the way, for help to come . Each of these people had someone with them,who had helped them down, to this area where they were, and wouldn't leave,despite being ordered to leave. Every one of them stayed with their disabled person. The firemen called for help and they got everyone down and out of the building Most of these people were carried down the steps by firemen, who kept going back up until everyone and their helpers were out. Minutes later, the building collapsed. Now what does any of this have to do with anything? You see I  think about these things all of the time. I am not very fast anymore and stairs are not my strongpoint, so if there's a major problem I probably wouldn't make it out. That's not being negative, thats just facing a brutal reality, like those people in the WTC.They had no idea what was goingon because basically they were left to fend for themselves . I hope that I never have to face that reality because I know what would happen. I've seen it already, and I know what would happen. It's only human nature.

Encounters of The Uncertain Kind

It's past 3am, and the witching hour is upon us ! According to all the ghost hunting shows that I watch (faithfully, I may add) this is the time of night when the action happens. This is the time  when you wake up for no reason, to flip over to the cool side of the pillow. But is that the true reason you woke up or was it something else ? Do I believe in ghosts ? Sure. I used to cut the grass in an old cemetary, I've seen things during the daytime there. I wouldn't get caught in there at night by anyone or anything ! Maybe its the heat and riding a lawn mower for 3 straight hours that plays tricks on you. I wear headphones to block the noise, and I am always looking down, because the rows of headstones are not straight, and if you hit one it knocks your teeth out. Now I have seen things out of the corner of my eye. I have heard my name called out as clear as day, I've glanced up to see people standing in front of me, and seen people walking on the far side of the place, all when there's no one there but me. ONE time I drove around the entire cemetary looking for someone that wasn't there. I finished up and left, but I was chilly the rest of the day, even in the middle of summer ! Now,am I afraid to go back there ? In the daytime, not really. But you couldn't drag me in there after sunset.  Maybe in the more fitting part of the year I'll let you have a peek at some details. Oh, I remember them all. Its hard not to.

Reading and Writing

I do a lot of reading and a lot of writing. You may know that I am finishing a book of stories from the history of the Streator, Il fire department. It is called Dancing With The Devil. I got the title from the original Batman movie. It's a line the Joker uses a lot in the film : "Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight ?"  In order to learn more about fires, and firefighters and their equipment I will generally read anything that has to do with the subject. Most of the 35 books that I had found through the years, I gave to the SFD for their library at the station. Some of them I read a lot, some were only once. The story of the Ringling Bros Circus big top fire in 1944, in which over 160 people died, was a one timer. So was the book about the school fire in Chicago that killed 95 people in 1958. Another was the book about the theater fire in Chicago that killed over 600 people. Now, why do I search for these books for a long time, then read them only once ? Frankly, they scared the shit out of me. They are all brilliantly written, graphically detailed stories about events that took a lot of lives and taught a lot of hard lessons. Most of which were learned, some of which were not. For a small town, Streator has seen its fair share of tragic fires. The worst was the Williams Hardware Store explosion and fire in 1958 that took 6 lives, and a fire on Nov. 2, 1932 which killed 4 children on N. Vermillion St. Another fire, on August 29, 1929 took the lives of 2 Streator firemen when a wall collapsed and buried them in an alley. They are the only 2 men to die in the line of duty of the SFD. I tell their stories so that people will remember them. Even if its only for a little while. I believe that everybody should be remembered, even for a little while.  Now these stories scared me because I have a tendency to put myself in the story. I am a huge fan of Stephen King. He likes to do that, get his readers involved in the story then scare the hell out of them,playing on their emotions todraw them in. But if you write about history, most of the time your supposed to leave your emotions at the door. If you get emotional, even  little towards one side or the other, you wont tell the whole story, and to understand most events you have totell the whole tale, no matter what. Otherwise you become biased  to one side and the whole thing becomes slanted, and the truth gets lost. If you want people to remember, tell them the truth, and prove it with as many facts as you can get. People may not like it, but they will remember. Telling the stories that I tell is a nasty business sometimes. But that's what history is about for me.Looking under the bed to see what people dont normally see, or want you to see, and presenting things so people might actually learn about something they didn't know before. If I can get one person to say "Huh, well I've never heard about that before." Then I've done a good job.