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- Story Listed as: True Life For Adults
- Theme: Inspirational
- Subject: History / Historical
- Published: 04/25/2020
USAF BOMBER CRASHED ON MY SCHOOL YARD
Born 1953, M, from Salem Oregon, United StatesMarch 31, 1960, my Dad was Pastor of a small Baptist Church in Little Rock Arkansas. We lived practically on the banks of the Arkansas River just a short distance from where I attended first grade at Pulaski Heights Elementary School.
The day started just like every school day. Mom making breakfast, my baby sister Margaret just waking up and Dad reading the morning paper. The ‘every day’ routine was suddenly interrupted by what sounded like a sonic boom. The Little Rock Air Force Base was just a few miles away so it wasn’t unusual to hear jets breaking the sound barrier. This one seemed different though, sharper, louder, seemed to last longer and even rattled the windows.
Mom kept cooking and Dad kept reading the paper but both stopped when the sound of sirens was heard in the distance. Not just one but many. My Dad went to the front door and stepped out on to the porch. He looked in the direction the sirens and then saw the evidence that this was not a sonic boom.
In the sky was a very visible vapor trail leading down and accumulating in a huge billowing smoke cloud in the direction of my school. We quickly turned on the radio and all local programs were interrupted with everyone speculating on what had happened.
The entire capital city was in a panic. First of all, this was a very intense period in what was known as the ‘Cold War’ with the Soviet Union. With the Air Force base located down the road, and also it was a known fact that there were plans to build several underground missile silos across Arkansas. Many thought we had been attacked. Once it was determined what had actually happened the fear turned to everyone being afraid the plane may have been carrying bombs. And if so, where were they?
What had happened was an Air Force B47E Bomber took off from the Air Base around 5:30 that morning heading for a base in Houston Texas. Shortly after take off and at around 15,000 feet a malfunction in the craft caused it to literally fall apart in the air and burst in to flames. Three out of the four crew members perished with one parachuting to safety, although he was seriously injured. Fortunately, there were no bombs on the plane.
It was quickly announced over the radio that all schools in town were cancelling classes that day. Especially my school. Well my Father being the curious man he was and still is, told Mother that he was going to drive over to the area. I immediately said “Can I go, Daddy”? And off we went.
As we got closer to the scene, road blocks were everywhere. We parked and set out on foot for my school. Fireman and police officers were everywhere. It was chaotic but also seemed to be controlled chaos by the local authorities. We stood with other onlookers staring across the play ground area. There was a section that was already sectioned off by yellow tape and debris was scattered across the lot. We learned later that one of the crew members ejection seat had landed right near the section of the playground were the swing sets and other play equipment was located.
Dad and I walked around the playground and approached the neighborhood that had taken the brunt of the crash. There were several fires and the area was totally roped off. We saw a large object stuck in the ground in front of one of the houses. It was an engine from the plane, the impact had buried it some 6 feet in to the earth. This suburban area sustained massive damage, many injuries and two residents lost their life.
The smell of fire and smoke was heavy in the air and after maybe a half hour we went back to the car and returned home. I heard Dad telling my Mom about what we had seen and her covering her mouth with her hand in shock.
The crew member who survived the crash had one of the most miraculous survivor stories of all time. Lieutenant Thomas Smoak, the co-pilot, was in the mid-section of the plane completing a check list when he realized something was wrong. The plane began to bank sharply in an uncontrolled dive causing the g forces to stress out the frame. Before the pilot could correct the malfunction the structure just, came apart!
He described later that his seat was right on top of the fuel tank which was immediately punctured causing the plane to erupt in fire. He told of the pain he was in and just wishing he would die quickly to end the torment. At that moment when it seemed all hope was gone the area below him opened up and he fell out. His parachute for some reason opened automatically and suddenly he was in the quiet serenity of the open air. No more pain, no more noise, just the wind. He looked around for his crew mates but saw no one. He then looked up and to his horror what he saw was a parachute on fire and coming apart. Now once again he was preparing to die.
As he descended, he looked down at the city, the river, the down town area and wondered what part of Little Rock he would perish in? He then began to float towards a residential area and was dropping so fast that he convinced himself it would all be over so quick that he probably wouldn’t feel a thing. His feet then hit the ground and in total surprise he began to rise again?
When the Lieutenant looked up, he was astonished to see that the parachute had become tangled in two trees that had acted as a recoil spring lifting him. He did come back down and not gently but harshly, just not deadly.
As if the miracle of the tree landing wasn’t enough, the yard he crashed in just happened to be the home of Jimmye Lee Holeman, a registered nurse. She immediately came to his rescue and administered care to him until an ambulance arrived.
Thomas Smoak was in the hospital for nearly 2 years recovering from the injuries he sustained from the crash. A book was written about him entitled
“IN THE ARMS OF GOD”.
Several years later we were watching a TV show when we heard them introduce as one their featured guests, Thomas Smoak, a man who survived a 15,000-foot drop with only a burning parachute to help him. Thomas Smoak and his wife Betsy became missionaries. They spent most of their time in Columbia where he continued to fly and used his plane to deliver supplies and much needed medical equipment and medicine to remote areas of the country. In 1983 his plane developed engine trouble and crashed in a remote area of Columbia! He spent time in a hospital in Bogota and eventually had to return to the states for recovery.
Did that stop him? No way, He and Betsy and their 6 children returned to Columbia and continued to serve in the missionary field until Betsy passed away in 1997. Thomas retired in 2000 and was last reported to be living in Richmond Virginia!
Five people were lost that day and many lives were changed. It was a tragic day, but as the saying goes...
It Could Have Been So Much Worse!
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