Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories.
The May 22, 2011 Joplin tornado remains one of the
costliest tornadoes in American history. Despite this, the disaster brought
out the best in many people wanting to help in
any way they could. One of those people was Thad Beeler,
who found a unique way to lend a hand to
(00:31):
his fellow neighbor by founding the National Disaster Photo Rescue Organization,
a group which seeks to reunite people with their lost photographs.
after disasters like Joplin. Take it away, Thad.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Well, I am Thad Beeler. I live in Carthage, Missouri,
and am from Joplin, Missouri. Grew up there. I have
multiple generations of family that have grown up in Joplin.
I spent a great deal of time in the church.
I grew up in the church, loved the church. I
have spent time as a pastor and ministered to people
(01:05):
there of all generations. It's been a a wonderful part
of my life and it's what brought us here today
to talk about the photo work we've done. It was
a Sunday night, it was six o'clock and we had
(01:27):
Bible study at the church in Carthage and my parents
live in Joplin. I knew the weather was getting bad
and I was on the phone with my dad And
he was describing how the clouds and the atmosphere looked.
And I looked outside and began to see some of
(01:48):
it in Carthage, which was kind of a green look
to the clouds and to the sky. And come to
find out that was ground being churned up. While I
(02:09):
was talking to my dad, I lost connection with him
on his cell phone. And I tried several times to
get a hold of him and I was concerned but
not terribly concerned because tornado sirens are.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Something that we're very used to here.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
We don't necessarily react in a frantic manner, but we
are always elevated during that time. When I turned on
the weather channel, I see Mike Bettis standing in front
of what was left of the St.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
John's Hospital in Joplin.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
And we began to see insulation, things dropping out of
the sky all over Carthage. For most people, they would
be concerned because of what they were seeing. What maybe
most would know is that my parents were directly west
of the hospital, about a mile, which means that the
(03:06):
tornado had passed over their house before it got to
the hospital.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
So as I talked to my wife, I said, you know,
I'm gonna come home here shortly.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
And I said, we're gonna have to go to Joplin,
because I really didn't know. Finally, I got down there
and it was dark by then. And it was like
driving into a tunnel without lights. I got to the
(03:38):
end of the lights of the street lights and the.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Lights of my truck.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Just didn't seem to penetrate the darkness. I could see
trees everywhere, cars turned upside down, power lines down everywhere.
There was a smell of gas and there were fires
and every single landmark from road sign to mailbox was gone.
(04:08):
People are crawling out of their homes. There were people
up and down the roads, wandering around as if they
just didn't know where they were. People were lost. They
were in their neighborhood, but they were lost. But I
got to them and they were fine. What was God's
(04:30):
great miracle in their life was they didn't have a
basement in their home. They're on a single story house.
and the neighborhood is loaded with trees. Well, it just
so happened that the big, huge oak trees that surrounded.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Their home all fell on the roof of their house.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
And if you've ever seen how a tornado works, it
finds its weakest point of these.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Structures, and that's how it blows the roof off.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Well, it kept the roof from blowing off, except for
a couple of areas of the home So when I
see them, of course, they're ecstatic to see me. I'm
glad that they're okay. I'm thankful that everything's fine. And
I'm going, by the grace of God, you're still here
because the neighbor's house, all that was left was the
center stairwell. So I spent time trying to assess their needs.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
They weren't hurt. They were unharmed.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
We settled them down and got them a place to be.
And then I come back the next day.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
And wow, when you come back the next day, you
thought you didn't know it in the dark. You really
don't know it in the day.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
There's a toaster in the kitchen with half a tube
of four driven through it. But what was amazing and
that hit me, not knowing what I know today, was
I walked down the hallway of.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
My parents' house.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
And the same things that were on the wall and
had always been on the wall when we grew up
were still there. And that was the pictures, our photographs,
our family photos. Our family photos were there and sitting
there untouched, had not been moved, weren't turned cockeyed, not
(06:27):
even touched.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
And down the hallway.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I went into a bedroom which was at the far end,
and I looked out the window, and it hit me
right then. My folks have their pictures, and the neighbor
doesn't even have a house. So the question comes is,
where did it all go?
Speaker 1 (06:59):
And you're listening to the voice of Thad Beeler. Joplin
torn to shreds on May 22nd by a monstrous tornado.
167 people lost their lives. More property damage than anyone
would care to witness. When we come back, more of
Thad Beeler's story. Joplin's story, here on Our American Story.
(07:30):
Lee Habib here and I'd like to encourage you to
subscribe to Our American Stories on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify,
or wherever you get our podcasts. Any story you missed
or want to hear again can be found there daily. Again,
please subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple Podcasts,
(07:51):
the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you get your podcasts. It
helps us keep these great American stories coming. And we
return to Our American Stories and the story of the
(08:12):
National Disaster Photo Rescue Organization as told by its founder,
Thad Buehler. Let's continue with the story.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
It is hard to know what is important in life
until you no longer have it. Our memories are caught
in snapshots all over our home, and we realize that
without those snapshots, we are losing part of our memory.
And I am sitting there walking through that from a
hundred feet with the neighbors of my parents going, oh
(08:44):
my gosh, all of those memories, all of those snapshots,
they no longer have them.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
And we still do. You feel blessed, but all at
the same time, you weep for them.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Because even though you have the joy of knowing you
still have it and you still have your family, there
are people who lost their lives because And then to
think on top of that, maybe they were safe and
maybe they were okay, but now they can build their house,
but they no longer have that great wedding picture that's
sitting over the mantle or their children's pictures of when
(09:21):
they were born, you know, and mama cradling them or
memories of church baptisms.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
None of that.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
We grieve that because there's nothing that takes the place
of that picture. The people may be standing beside you,
but the moment in time that those folks were together
in that moment is gone. Well, as communities come together,
(09:54):
some communities come together better or quicker than others in
the Joplin disaster. people came from everywhere and they came
quickly and they wanted to help. Local communities wanted to
help and just do something to make a difference. The
people at the church wanted to do something. Most of
them older weren't able to get out and pick up
(10:16):
pieces of wood and debris and but they could do
something to try to help their neighbors. And that's when
we had a gentleman come by the church and said,
I found a photograph in my yard.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
And he said, what am I supposed to do with it?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
And that's when, truly, when the idea of the National Disaster.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Photo Rescue was born.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
We started asking questions and we saw on Facebook good
intending people from everywhere trying to connect these pictures that
they were finding in their neighborhoods, in their backyards, in
their farm fields, out in the street. They were picking
them up as they were trying to help people. They
were posting them on Facebook, hoping that someone would see
them so they could get them back. I sent a email,
(11:08):
a blanket email off to the American Red Cross. I
had no idea what I was doing. I basically said
a prayer before I said it. And I said, God,
if this is supposed to go somewhere or this means something,
then bear fruit from it.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
And so three days later, I got a call from
a gentleman. His name was Michael.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
And Michael said, I heard that you were interested in
trying to return photographs. And he says, I've been looking
for people that want to do the same thing. And
he says, I will help you if you want to
do this. So with his help, with learning to do
press releases and the right equipment and how we were
supposed to scan, I don't know how he knew all
(11:53):
these things. And I will tell you, if you're a
faith believer at all, Michael walked with me from about
June of 2011 through Christmas Day of 2013. That was
(12:15):
the last correspondence I heard from him. And several times
after that, I wanted to go back and tell him,
thank you. And that I appreciated all the work and
everything he had done, but he had disappeared. I went
back to the American Red Cross and I said, I'm
trying to find Michael. And they looked and searched through everything.
(12:38):
And long story short, Michael doesn't exist with the American
Red Cross. I've done everything I can to find him.
So all of this has been put together with the
help of so many people and faith-believing people, people in
the community that just want to help. Our first picture,
(13:05):
photograph that we gave back, was the 1st of September
of 2011. And it was such a big homecoming for
these folks to get the picture back because they lost
their mother. Well, our local TV station, bless their hearts,
was so helpful, and they would put three or five
(13:27):
images that we selected every day on an afternoon and
evening broadcast. One photograph in particular was actually, it was
a picture of pictures.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
And if you have.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
One of those long mirrors that goes on the back
of your bedroom door. Someone had taken this green frame,
removed the mirror and placed photographs. There had to be
a hundred pictures on that frame. The next day I
receive a phone call from a lady who says, I
think you may have my pictures. She says, I saw
(14:07):
it on the evening broadcast and I have to come
and pick them up. Will you be there where I
could pick them up tomorrow?
Speaker 3 (14:13):
And I said, yes.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I didn't know specifically what she was referring to because
she was so anxious to just come and pick it up.
The next day she walks in and introduces herself. And
she says, the photograph I'm looking for actually is many
photographs and it's in a green frame. I said, ma'am,
we have your pictures. And she broke down. She could
(14:41):
not hold it. And what I didn't understand more than
just about the photographs and the fact that we had
it was it was the only picture of her grandfather
that was remaining was a little picture in the center
of that frame with him and.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
A hat and a vest.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Her life was on and in that frame. And She says,
I got my life back. I don't know how else
to describe a situation where you give somebody something back and.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
They say, I got my life back. Because she did.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
And it was a blessing to me to know that
I can make such a difference.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Over one frame in somebody's life. It changes you.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
When you hear stories like this, it changes you as
a person. First of all, you're so grateful and thankful
to be there for them. You're thankful for your own life.
And you realize just how important these little, seemingly unimportant
pieces of paper put people's lives together. By the way,
(16:02):
we are still giving away pictures to this day. Ten
years later, we're still giving them back. In total, in Joplin,
we've reunited right at 18,400 photographs with over 1,000 families.
But for us, it's never been asking for something in return,
(16:26):
only being willing to give to others. So many times
as a pastor, we tell our congregations that we need
to be neighborly to those around us, Sometimes we find
it easier to give money to someone who's going to
a foreign land to spread the word of God than
it is to be across the street from someone who's
(16:50):
our neighbor to ask them if.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
You need God.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
This is a ministry that completely takes away that veil.
We're not there trying to get money because we don't
ask for anything.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
We're not asking for their time. We're not asking for.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Anything except for them to have something that is so
special back. What Jesus did on the cross was to
give his life and ask for nothing in return. When
we give something and ask for nothing in return, I
(17:27):
don't know a more Christ-like thing. It is exactly what
we're supposed to be. in the shadow of the cross.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
And a great job by Monty on the production, and
a special thanks to Thad Beeler. And to find out
more about the National Disaster Photo Rescue, go to nationaldisasterphotorescue.org.
Thad Beeler's story, here on Our American Stories.