The Missile Base

In 1980, my family and I lived in Bee Branch, Arkansas; however, I worked in Conway about 25 miles farther south. One Monday morning I got up and started to work. I noticed when I got to Damascus that there sure were a lot of policemen out. It seemed as if at every sideroad all the way to Greenbrier cops were stationed still they didn't stop me, so they must know exactly who they looking for I figured and drove on to Conway.

I stopped in Conway at the Waffle House and got a cup of coffee like I did every morning befoe going on to work like I did every morning. I actually worked about three miles south of town, and I would kill 30 or 45 minutes at the Waffle House until it was work time. The Waffle House seemed to be busier than usual this day. I asked the waitress why there were so many people there this day, and she looked at kind of strangely as she said, "The missle base blew up, and everyone had to evacuate." She must have thought I was just passing through or something, as it was a different waitress than was usually on duty at that time of morning. She didn't explain any further There was a man sitting there talking about it blowing up, so I asked him about it. He told me the one near Damascus blew up Saturday evening late.

It happened that when it blew up, it shook his house. He told me that he lived in Quitman about 12 miles away from the Base. I only lived about three miles from it. I called my boss and told them that I wouldn't be in that day, because that missle base was near my house. I told them that i was going back home to get my family out of there.

I started back home, and when I got to Damascus I started to turn left. This time the policeman stopped me and said that everyone had been evacuated from that area Saturday afternoon, because of a gas leak at the missile base. I told him not everyone has been evacuated; my family is still in there and I'm going after them. Again the cop assured me that everyone had been evacuated Saturday afternoon; however, I knew better. I told him that we had all been home all weekend, and I left about 6:00 o' clock that morning.

The cop asked me why we didn't leave Saturday when everyone was being evavuated from their homes. I told him that no one came by our house to tell us. We have been home all weekend no one has been there yet unless they came by after 6:00 o' clock this morning. The cop said well the news has been carrying live coverage of the Base all weekend. I told him that I wouldn't know about that. I hadn't had the radio on and the TV is in the shop.

The policeman finally said go all the way around by Rabbit Ridge and don't cross Brickey Creek, as the gas seems to be settling in that part of the valley most. I took off toward Rabbit Ridge, but at the second road that went toward Brickey I took off that way, because it was the fastest and shortest way home. When I got to the driveway, I saw Shawn still standing out by the road waiting on the school bus. I stopped and told him to get in the truck. He asked would I take him to school, because the bus hadn't come yet. I told him there wouldn't be any school that day as we drove on to the house. We lived back off the road about the length of a city block. When we got in the house I told Carolyn to pack us some clothes, because we were going to spend a few days with Mother in Conway.

She couldn't imagine why we were going to stay with Mother, but she began packing our clothes, and while she did I told her about the missle base exploding. We all went to Mother's to spend the week.

We didn't go home again until Friday afternoon after I got off work. Saturday, I was outside doing something and someone from the Air Force came by and asked if we were happy with the way they handled the situation.

I didn't say that we were or weren't happy, because we didn't know they did anything except notify the sheriff about the leak? It was our understanding that the County Sheriff Gus Anglin had taken it upon himself to do the evacuation of everyone around there. A few didn't evacuate by choice and a few didn't get notifed by accident. Still without Gus no one would have been evacuated was our understanding then and still is our understanding now, because the Air Force wasn't going to do anything about it but try to stop the leak and hope they got it stopped in time which they didn't.