6-Opinion
6 The Tribune
November 20, 2013
OPINIONS / YOURS AND OURS
Too stunned to believe what they were seeing Since the advent of airplanes, stretching nearly back to the Wright brothers, there has been air shows in Colorado. And almost since then, distinctively in Colorado, there has been air show disasters. Ralph Johnstone, who was trained by the Wright Brothers at Wright Flying School, of course established the pattern when he dropped from the sky in front of thousands of spectators at Overland Park in Denver in 1910. Arch Hoxsey, the other half of the ‘Stardust Twins’ as he and Johnstone were known for their exploits in Wright Exhibition Flying Team, crashed and was killed a very similar crash about a month later on New Year’s Eve in a Los Angeles accident while trying set the altitude record. Just a few hours before taking off in that effort, Hoxsey had telegrammed his condolences to the family John Bevins Moisant, who died in air crash near New Orleans the day before. Flying was hazardous in those early days. But it was still deadly 40 years later.
“Flagler, Colo. — As the single-engine plane roared toward the crowd, Lyle Stone saw his parents each grab two children under their arms, jump off the low air field fence, and run as fast as they could. Moments later, virtually everyone left on the fence was killed as the plane cut through the crowd like scythe. Twenty were killed including the pilot,” according to Kit Miniclier of the Denver Post in article commemorating the 50th anniversary of the tragedy. Of the twenty, thirteen were children. “Rhynold Fager remembers seeing a friend on her knees, dying, impaled by a
propeller blade. Charlie Keller, whose wife and two children were killed that day, was able to identify his wife’s remains only by a birthmark on her leg.” Today, a granite memorial with the names of those killed on Sept. 15, 1951, rests in a park across I-70 from the airfield. William Barker, a Denver Post reporter that was covering the event at the time described it this way in the Post and the weekly Flagler News the next day: “The plane crashed into the stunned mass of spectators from an altitude of less than 200 feet, cutting a bloody swath and strewing gasoline-drenched wreckage over a 150-yard area… The chaos that followed is beyond description … it was like the end of the world. Bodies were everywhere. The blood was everywhere too,” wrote Barker in 1951. “I stopped as the scene ravaged my senses. Cars crushed. Bodies … and parts of bodies … Blood on staring faces. People milling like sheep around the fallen. Voices rising and falling oddly, without hysteria. Without panic. Stunned. Too stunned yet
to believe what we were all seeing.” Flagler, a town of only 600, had a hospital, but only two doctors, John C. Straub and William L. McBride. McBride, it was said, had delivered nine of the 13 children killed in the disaster. Medical personnel from miles around soon arrived to help out. Though it was the worst, the Flagler incident was not Colorado’s last air show mishap. In June of 1997, and Korean War-era F-86 fighter jet performing before a crowd estimated at 50,000 at air show in Broomfield, crashed in a massive fireball after failing to pull out of a steep dive. Retired Colonel, “Smiling Jack” Rosamond, 63, the pilot of jet was the only casualty when the plane plowed into the ground 300 yards from the nearest spectators. In October of 2000, again it was only the pilot killed, when the Russian-made Sukhoi 26X, spun out of control at the Telluride airport during an air show, crashed near the runway and burst into flames, killing pilot Kent Pfleider, of Grand Junction.
What do Jimmy Stewart, Barry Manilow have in common? A few of us were sitting around the office a while back and out of the blue my editor, Rob Carrigan, stated “You can tell a lot about a person by their favorite movie.” Two seconds later I responded with “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Rob asked me “What version?” Without hesitation I told him “The Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed version. That’s the only version that counts.” I got to thinking about Rob’s statement of knowing a lot about a person by their favorite movie. But more on that later. Our conversation eventually turned to favorite songs and musical groups. I explained that I was somewhat diverse in my musical tastes. I liked country before country was cool; which I think was about the mid 1980s, although the 1980 movie “Urban Cowboy” got a lot of people thinking that country might be cool. I explained to Rob why I was a Beatles man over the Stones. I told him I like to rock now and then, but Boston was about as far to that side of the aisle as I would go. I mentioned that I liked the early songs of the Rock and Roll era from Elvis the Pelvis to Chuck Berry, as well as 1970s and 1980s pop.
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But ultimately, I said with confidence, that my favorite style of music was probably ballads; especially the kind that dripped with love lost and love found. I then I mentioned that Barry Manilow was my main man when it came to that style of music. At that point you could have heard a pin drop in the room. I am confident enough in my manhood to be able to admit - without hesitation that I love Barry Manilow ballads. You see, I’m a heart guy. I wear my emotions on my sleeve much of the time. I like to ask questions - that’s probably why I’m a reporter - and I love to find out about people and what makes them excited and how they got to this point in their lives.
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Movies and music are two things that generally stir up emotions in a person. They take us back to a time and place and remind us of special people in our lives and some of those great and not so great times. Now back to It’s a Wonderful Life. So why do I place that movie No. 1 on my list? Before I answer that question you must look at the rest of my Top 5 - in order: Rocky, Field of Dreams, Scrooge (the Albert Finney 1970 version) and Hoosiers. Making their way into the top 25 would be Forrest Gump, The Sandlot, Bruce Almighty, The Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile, Citizen Kane, Glory, the Best of Times and the Grapes of Wrath. I love It’s a Wonderful Life because I believe it defines who and what we should strive to be as people. Selfless hoarding, as in the case of Mr. Potter, leads to a miserable life. Sacrificial giving, as exemplified by George Bailey, leads to a most wonderful life. George, of course, failed to realize this until it was brought to his attention by Clarence Odbody, AS2 (Angel Second Class). Clarence was given a snapshot of George’s life and came to know him as
a gentle, giving, kind and loving human being. Clarence didn’t transform George, he just allowed him to see what life around him would have been like had he never been born. I must not be the only one who enjoys this movie. NBC, as most of you know, shows this film each Christmas Eve. The movie has a larger following today than when it was released in 1946. By the way, Rob’s favorite movie is “Cool Hand Luke.” A classic and definitely in the Danny Summers top 25. Rob loves the opening scene when Luke, played by Paul Newman, gets arrested. Luke is drunk as a skunk and sitting on a sidewalk after cutting off the tops of parking meters. Great scene indeed. My favorite scene of the movie is when the Captain (the prison warden played by Strother Martin) addresses the prisoners, mainly Luke, by saying “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” I know that I am not alone in being a fan of that line. So what is your favorite movie or song or band? We would like to find out. Thanks for your input.
Model T’s were easy to steal Just before World War I, there were some serious changes going on. One of them had to do with cars. The most amazing car in the country was the Ford Model T. It was introduced in 1908 and each year saw more of them on the road. They were easy to drive, as compared to other cars. They were being mass produced, unlike others that were handcrafted. There really unusual problem was that they were really easy to steal! The discovery of this problem was really novel. It was happening all over the country, but mostly in places like here! Who was stealing Fords? School boys mainly! Starting an old car was not easy. I am sure you have seen how it was done, and maybe have even done it. There were no electric starters on most cars back then. You had to set the spark on the ignition, and then crank the engine over from the front of the motor. Hopefully you also remembered to take it out of gear. The cranking usually started the motor running. You had to get back in the seat and adjust the ignition, and sometimes fuel, before getting the motor running smoothly. A young man somewhere figured out another way. The word spread, and this was before electronic communications! Our young man discovered that if you found a Ford, or even another similar car, on a hill, it could be started. The driver simply depressed the clutch, and off it rolled. This was before there were two developments — emergency brakes and
locks on ignitions. Once the car was rolling at a reasonable speed, the motor could be started by simply releasing the clutch once the ignition was ready. All around Fords were being reported stolen, usually in the afternoon after school. They were usually found later, sometimes out of gas, not far away. It did not take the police, and even car owners, long to figure out how this was happening. It did take a while for the solution to be figured out. In places with no hills, cars were not as easy to steal, but owners actually helped! The car was hard enough to start, that often they were simply left running while the owner was doing a bit of quick shopping. Cars are still stolen because of that. Soon the key ignition switch came along. It helped eliminate the casual joy rider, as they were called. The newspapers of the day were full of ideas as to how to stop these thefts, but we still see the problem today! The other big complaint in the day is also still around — speeding!