The Crash

by Jerry Blackerby

Dad went to Okinawa in 1949 as a Civil Service Assistant Fire Chief. After a year, his replacement came over and Dad was due to return home. On Dad’s last scheduled night to work, the new Assistant Chief told Dad that he would take over. Dad did not need to work. He could finish packing so he could leave a day or two early.

Dad went by the club and had a nice meal before going to his Quonset hut. He finished packing and went to bed. In the early hours, he awakened enough to know that bombers were taking off for another raid on Korea. As he dozed off again, he heard the sounds of a crash. He jumped out of bed and was dressed before realizing that he was not on duty. He went back to bed. Within a few minutes, he heard the explosion of bombs. He thought they were being bombed, ran out of the Quonset hut, and jumped into a nearby ditch.

When he did not hear any more bombs, he went back in the hut and called the fire station. The dispatcher on duty was crying as he told Dad that a B-29 had crashed into a ditch at the end of the runway during takeoff. The new Assistant Chief and a fire truck had responded to the crash. After a short time, the bombs exploded and some of the firemen were injured.

Dad rushed to the station and found that the new Assistant Chief, filling in for him, was one of the injured. He and some others had been bringing the crew from the plane when the bombs exploded. He survived, but was seriously injured. A couple of firefighters were killed. Dad stayed an extra two months until a new replacement could arrive.

Dad had felt for nearly 20 years that God was calling him to preach. He had disregarded the call because he felt his lack of education would prevent him from being an effective preacher. After this incident, he decided that God had spared him so he could preach the gospel. He came home and became a Baptist preacher. Dad was 40 years old when he began preaching. He was the pastor of many churches until he was 80.

Dad died of congestive heart failure just before his 83rd birthday. Dad had his first heart attack when he was 25 and the doctors told him he would not live to see 30. He outlived their expectations by over 50 years and preached the gospel for 40 of those years. Many incidents in our lives show the hand of God taking care of someone.