January 19, 2021 • 20 mins
The year is 1963. Bud Massie and Joe Jones are both Dallas firefighters and both they, and their wives Marsha and Betty, are close friends. On Monday, August 26, Bud and Joe are riding Truck 15 in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas while Marsha and Betty are spending the day together. This is a story of tragedy told from a different perspective, not a firefighter perspective, but a family member perspective, because a line of duty death does not occur in a vacuum. Like a stone cast in a pond, the ripples expand outward.
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Speaker 01 (00:00):
The date is Monday, August 26, 1963.
Firefighter Bud Massey and hiswife, Marsha Massey, drive to
the home of their friends, Joeand Betty Jones.
The two couples are closefriends, but also Bud and Joe
(00:21):
are both Dallas Fire Departmentfirefighters, and they are about
to head to work for a 24-hourshift.
Bud is actually going to dropoff Marsha, who will stay with
Betty, and he is going to pickup Joe, who will ride with him
to Station 15 in Oak Cliff.
At Station 15, Bud and Joe aregoing to be riding Ladder Truck
15.
They will have a house fireduring the course of their
(00:43):
shift, and early the nextmorning at 1 a.m., they will be
on the truck again, racing toanother reported fire.
At the same time, two Dallaspolice officers...
L.B.
Kirkpatrick and Ray Underwoodare in a squad car racing to
intercept a car that anotherofficer is chasing.
The firefighters and policeofficers will meet fatefully and
(01:07):
fatally at the intersection ofZang and Davis.
But the men on the rigs are notthe only ones who are going to
be affected when steel meetssteel on the streets of Oak
Cliff.
Today, we're gonna get adifferent perspective on fire
service life.
Not a firefighter'sperspective, but a family
member's perspective.
Specifically, we're gonna talkto Marsha Massey, who years
(01:31):
later took the time to writeabout her experience in a story
that she titled, Sound of aSiren.
I was very moved by Marsha'sstory, and I didn't want to just
read her story to you myself.
I wanted her to read it to youSo that we could hear it in her
own words, and we are veryfortunate that we were able to
(01:53):
get in touch with her.
So what you are about to hearnow is Marsha Massey telling her
story, Sound of a Siren.
Speaker 00 (02:04):
Sound of a Siren by Marsha Massey, written spring
1976.
The loud demanding sound of thefire siren means different
things to different people.
There is, however, one groupwho react in unison to that
sound, the wives of thefirefighters, and they react
with good reason.
Firefighting is America's mosthazardous occupation.
(02:25):
According to the InternationalFirefighter of November 1975,
over the last 10 years,firefighters have suffered an
average of 86 deaths per 100,000men.
These deaths turned wives intowidows and left many children
fatherless.
Much has been written aboutthese men and their dangerous
job, and rightly so.
Less has been written about thewives and the parts that they
(02:46):
have played.
Each has a stirring story totell.
This is one of those stories.
I married William A.
Massey, also called Bud, in Mayof 1961, five days after my
high school graduation.
During the first weeks of ourmarriage, we began spending a
lot of time with Joe, alsocalled Alabama, and Betty Jones.
Bud and Joe were both assistantdrivers on the Dallas Fire
(03:08):
Department, working at No.
15 Station in the Oak Cliffsection of the city.
Betty and I began spending someof the long 24-hour shifts
together, sometimes at the 1961,Joe and Betty had their first
child, a daughter.
They named her Belinda Gale.
The following June, our son,William Robert, was born.
We called him Bill after Bud'sfather.
(03:31):
Betty and I continued spendingsome of the shifts together.
August 27, 1963 started outlike many other duty days.
Bud took Bill and me to Betty'shouse, picked up Joe, and then
headed for the fire station.
Their shift started at 11 a.m.
This was a special day forBetty.
The next day, they wereplanning to leave for vacation
to go see family in Bessemer,Alabama.
(03:53):
This was their first trip backhome since their marriage.
I had never seen Betty soexcited.
Marcia, she said gleefully, Ican hardly wait to show off
Belinda.
Belinda was a beautiful babywith huge blue eyes.
She was almost two years old.
Our Bill had just had his firstbirthday.
We had lunch early so we couldgo shopping before the kids' nap
time.
Bud and Joe arrived at the firestation about 10.45 a.m.
(04:16):
Boy, Joe said excitedly, I canhardly wait for our trip.
I can already taste that mintjulep.
In the kitchen, the guys weregiving him a good-natured
rubbing about the mint julepwhen the alarm bell sounded.
It was closely followed by thebooming dispatcher's voice
saying, Okay, boys, let's rollthem.
We got a house fire on 9th andTyler.
Let's go.
Within seconds, the giant redfire truck was rolling out of
(04:39):
the station.
Betty and I finished ourshopping and returned home about
1.30 p.m.
The kids were hot and cranky.
We quickly put them to bed.
Then I called the station totalk to Bud.
Nobody answered.
Well, I remarked to Betty, theymust be out on a run.
He'll call when they get back.
I didn't like not getting ananswer.
I never did.
The men from 15th Station wereback in the house around 3.30
(05:03):
that afternoon.
Captain William J.
Jones, no relation to Joe, waspleased with the job his crew
had done.
Well over half the shiftremained, though, and the men
were already tired.
Bud told Joe he would call thegirls.
I felt a sense of relief whenthe phone rang.
It was so good to hear Bud'svoice.
Hi, honey, he said.
What are you gals up to?
Oh, I said I'm just up in bedto get ready for the trip.
(05:24):
Did you have a fire?
Yeah, he said a house burned.
He told me all the drearydetails.
Fortunately, no one was hurtthis time.
Before we finished talking, thealarm sounded again.
Bud quickly said goodbye andhung up.
I stood there listening to thedial tone.
The kids got hungry, so we hadjust started supper when the
phone rang again.
(05:44):
This time it was Joe.
Betty answered.
That was a fast fire, she said.
There was no fire, he grumbled.
It was a false alarm.
The police think that it wassome kids with nothing better to
do.
They talked for a few minutes.
Naturally, their discussionturned to their trip.
Back at the station, CaptainJones was concerned about the
false alarm.
Dallas had been plagued withhim for the last two weeks.
(06:06):
He was glad that the kids wouldsoon be back in school.
Maybe then things would slowdown.
It was August.
It was hot.
The kids were bored.
Not a good combination.
The men fixed their favoritesupper, steak, gravy, They were
able to eat without anyinterruptions.
During the meal, they listenedto the radio reports of several
more false alarms in the city.
About 8.30 that evening, acouple of police officers came
(06:29):
into the station.
They had picked up three youthsthat were suspected of pulling
the alarms in the Oak Cliffarea.
The policemen felt that thefirefighters, that they wouldn't
be having any more falsealarms.
The guys were relieved to hearit.
The evening wore on, it washot, and the men were edgy.
Joe thought the shift wouldnever end.
Betty and I put the kids to bedfor the night.
(06:50):
Belinda went right to sleep,but Bill kept whining and
standing up in the baby bed.
After the late news on TV, Icalled the station once again.
Bud told me that they hadn'thad any more runs, and he was
going to bed.
Betty talked briefly to Joeabout the trip.
We would see them in themorning.
I love you.
Good night.
in the spare bedroom where billand i slept he continued to
(07:11):
frisk and fuss i got up and laidhim down several times when he
finally did go to sleep he wasstill restless i dozed off it
seemed like only a few minuteshad passed when i felt betty
shake me wake up marcia i've gotto go to the hospital joe's
been hurt She left the roombefore I could say anything.
On my way out into the hall, Iglanced at the clock.
It said 2.23 a.m.
(07:31):
Betty was busy getting dressed.
"'What happened?' I asked her.
Her voice was quivering.
"'There are some firemen outfront.
They said Joe was hurt.' Untilthat moment, I hadn't even
thought about Bud, but it hit melike a bolt of lightning.
I ran back into my room andgrabbed a robe and ran outside.
Now I could hear the firedepartment radio out front.
Standing in the yard wasCaptain Kenneth Toney, who was
(07:54):
riding District Fire ChiefSchiff that night.
Another fireman, Jimmy Blair,was driving him.
They were whispering,trembling.
I approached them and told themwho I was.
For a moment, they stared atme.
Then Blair got in the car andradioed someone.
Captain Tony told me that 15Truck had been in an accident
with a police car about an hourearlier.
(08:14):
I was crying and asking aboutBud.
All he would say was that Budwas hurt pretty bad and that I
needed to come with him to thehospital right now.
From his facial expression andtone of voice, I feared the
worst.
Before going back into thehouse, I asked about Joe.
Well, he said softly, Joe waskilled.
I reeled back, gasping.
He grabbed me to keep me fromfalling.
(08:36):
"'There's no need for Betty togo anywhere right now,' he
continued in a slow, measuredvoice.
"'We've got to tell her, andyou must get to the hospital
now.' I stood there dazed withdisbelief and terror.
Captain Tony helped me getmyself together.
After a few moments, I told himI would tell Betty.
He said he would be rightbehind me.
Inside the house, Betty wasbustling about in a daze
(08:59):
herself." I embraced myself.
As she was coming out of thebathroom, I grabbed her by the
shoulders.
Betty, I've got something totell you.
Joe was killed in a wreck onthe fire truck.
I'm so sorry.
I hugged her and she screamed,no, we're going on vacation
today, no, no.
Her heart-wrenching sobs brokemy heart.
(09:19):
She started saying that itwasn't true, but of course it
was.
Captain Tony helped me get herto the couch and he gently told
her what had happened as best heknew at the time.
The alarm had sounded at 12.57a.m.
on August 27th.
With sirens wailing, the engineleft the station, followed by
the truck.
Two blocks from the station, atthe intersection of Zangs and
(09:41):
Davis, a police car hit the firetruck broadside.
It was going somewhere around85 miles per hour to intercept a
speeding car.
It struck just a few feet fromwhere Bud was standing on the
side of the truck, and Joe wassitting on the turntable.
The impact threw them andCaptain Jones, who was riding
beside the driver A.E.
Chesney, some distance ahead ofthe truck.
(10:02):
All three landed in the middleof the intersection, side by
side, with Joe Jones in themiddle.
The police car was also thrownin the same direction, landing
on top of the threefirefighters.
Joe and the captain were killedinstantly.
Massey ended up lodged in theleft rear fender well of the
squad car.
I knew from this that Bud, whohad somehow survived, must be in
(10:23):
pretty bad shape.
A cold fear came over me.
How could have survived ifthose right beside him had died.
Captain Tony and I tried tocomfort Betty.
She cried almost hystericallyas she laid her head on my
shoulder.
I cried too, partly for her andpartly for myself.
Soon I might be in hersituation.
The commotion wakened Belinda.
She came into the living room,dragging her blanket.
(10:44):
She didn't go anywhere withoutthat blanket.
The baby's presence had acalming effect on Betty.
Belinda promptly crawled intoher mother's lap.
Captain Tony told us then thatthere was a group of wives from
the fire department ladies'auxiliary, and they were on
their way to Betty's house.
They would stay with her andlook after Bill for me.
When they arrived, Betty and Iboth felt better.
(11:05):
We knew they understood, reallycared.
Willingly, they had left theirfamilies in the middle of the
night to come to our aid.
Although we didn't know any ofthem personally, there was a
strong bond between us.
Once again, Captain Tony urgedme to come with him to the
hospital.
I hated to leave Betty, but Iknew I had to go.
We started for the door whenthe phone rang.
Captain Tony answered it, spokebriefly to someone, and then he
(11:28):
asked me to come to the phone.
Marsha, he said, this is thechaplain for Methodist Hospital.
He wants to speak to you.
It was as if my heart stoppedbeating and time stood still.
I was shaking so hard I couldbarely hold the phone.
Had Bud died too?
Hello, I said.
This is Marsha Massey.
Mrs.
Massey, the chaplain, saidkindly, I've got good news.
(11:49):
Your husband is right here andwants you to know that he is all
right.
Oh, burning tears of relief andjoy flowed down my face.
I turned and told everyone inthe room what the captain had
said.
Betty smiled and said she wasvery happy for Bill and me.
I knew she meant it.
Within minutes, I was in thechief's car headed for Methodist
Hospital.
As I sat in the back seat,feeling great joy and great
(12:12):
sadness, Captain Tony told memore about the accident.
As he had told Betty the policecar had hit the fire truck,
knocking the three men ahead ofthe truck and that the car had
landed on top of them.
Miraculously, the impact hadsomehow missed Bud.
Also, it had been a falsealarm.
A false alarm! Before beingsent to the Jones home, they had
(12:35):
been told via radio that boththe Joneses had been killed and
that Massey was expected to beDOA.
That explained Captain Tony'srush to get me to the hospital
and his reluctance to tell memuch about Bud's condition.
Furthermore, finding me atBetty's house had been a
complete surprise, obviously.
Another car had been sent to myhouse.
This was all more than I couldtake in.
(12:56):
One thing stood out in my mind,though.
Bud was alive.
I thanked God for that andprayed for Betty and Belinda,
Captain Jones' family and thepolice officers and their
families.
Overwhelmed is not a strongenough word to describe it all.
We arrived at the hospital atabout 3.15 a.m.
I found myself standing besidea stretcher, and on it was Bud.
(13:17):
He was pale and quiet.
We talked for a few moments.
He didn't know who had beenkilled, but he suspected it was
Joe.
I confirmed his fears and toldhim about Captain Jones.
The driver of the truck, A.E.
Chesty, and the tiller man,W.B.
Strickland, had also survived.
The ER was swarming with policeand firefighters along with
medical personnel.
(13:38):
There was so much blood on thefloor, a maintenance man was
mopping it up, men relying onstretchers.
Then I saw a young woman cryingin a private room and talking
to doctors and policemen.
I later learned that she wasthe wife of one of the police
officers in the car.
He had died at the hospital ashort time earlier.
I lost count of the firemen whowere there, and all the names
(13:59):
were running together.
A gentleman with gray hair andin full uniform introduced
himself to me.
It was Chief Penn, head of theDallas Fire Department.
He had come to see Bud and theother men involved, and then he
was going to go see Betty andthen the other Mrs.
Jones.
He was grief-stricken over thesenseless loss of these fine
men.
As it turned out, Bud'sinjuries were not threatening.
(14:22):
Shock was his biggest problem.
He also had a back injury thatultimately plagued him his
entire career.
He had a few bangs and bruisesand was in no real danger.
By 6 a.m., he was in a room andresting.
So many firefighters werecoming and going that the nurse
finally said no one could comein but family.
One firefighter said that wasfine since they were all
(14:42):
brothers.
By then, Bud's mom and myparents had arrived.
Since Mrs.
Massey could stay with Bud, myparents took me back to Betty's
house to be with her and to getBill.
When we arrived, The house wasfilled with firefighters,
friends, and neighbors.
Food was stacked everywhere.
The original group of wives wasstill there.
Betty was in her bedroom.
With tearful eyes, she told meher plans.
(15:04):
Neither she nor Joe had familyin Texas.
They were all in Alabama andKentucky.
Therefore, she was going tohave a service for Joe in Dallas
that day.
Then she and Belinda wereflying to Alabama.
Another memorial in Joe'sburial would be there.
How long will you be gone, Iasked.
She didn't know.
It was sadly ironic.
(15:25):
In spite of Joe's death, theywere still going home.
Joe's funeral was held atCampbell's Funeral Home, right
across the street from Station15 and within sight of the fatal
intersection.
The flags of all Dallasfirehouses were at half-staff.
I sat in the family sectionwith Betty and a few close
(15:47):
friends.
For me, the service passed in ablur.
At the conclusion, my heartbroke as I watched a large group
of uniformed firefighters passby Joe's casket.
Many had tears in their eyes,crying for their fallen brother.
It did not seem real.
My mind returned to the groupof firefighters' wives who had
gathered around Betty.
They too had shed tears, tearsof grief for her, tears of joy
(16:11):
for me, and tears of fear forthemselves.
Each knew what the sound of thenext siren could mean.
A quote from the fireman'sprayer.
And if according to my fate Iam to lose my life, please bless
with your protecting hand mychildren and my wife.
Speaker 01 (16:37):
What a powerful story.
That is the voice of someonewho has been in a situation none
of us ever want to findourselves in, and which none of
us ever want to put our familyin.
As someone who has been there,Marcia uses the power of her
prose to communicate to us whatwe otherwise could not possibly
(17:00):
understand.
I have huge respect for Marcia.
Volunteering to tell her friendBetty the bad news when there
was somebody else already therethat was going to do it.
I've delivered a lot of badnews.
It's a part of the job I hate,and that was delivering bad news
(17:20):
to strangers.
Marsha had to deliver it tosomeone she loves, and it just
rips my heart out of my chest.
Words can't really express thedevastating consequences this
loss would have for the familymembers of the three men who
lost their lives that night.
In light of just how much everyone of you listening means to
(17:45):
your family, I'm going to askyou for two small favors.
First, I want you to buckle upand drive safely, and I want you
to remember the words of my oldparamedic partner, Raymond
Mundy.
When I was just a green rookieright out of paramedic school,
he said to me, Listen up, Rook.
(18:06):
When you're driving, I want youto stop at the reds and be able
to stop at the greens.
That was good advice I gotearly in my career.
And I'd like for you also tonever assume that green means go
because it doesn't.
Green means you can probably goif everyone else has stopped.
(18:27):
And that's true whether you'redriving a ladder truck Code 3 or
taking your kids to soccerpractice in a Honda minivan.
So at work and at home, stop atthe Reds and be able to stop at
the Greens.
And the other favor I want toask of you is this.
The next time you're out on ahot summer day and find yourself
(18:49):
somewhere where they servecocktails, I want you to order a
mint julep.
and offer up a toast to JoeJones for that mint julep he
never got to enjoy with hisfamily.
This episode is dedicated tothe two firefighters and the one
police officer who lost theirlives in this collision and to
(19:10):
their family members.
Their names were CaptainWilliam Jones, Fireman Joseph
Jones, and Police Officer RayUnderwood.
More information about theincident can be found on the
website firefightinglegends.com,including information about the
(19:30):
history of the reserve truckthey were riding that day, which
was known as the CentennialTruck, because it was bought for
the Texas Centennial Expositionand World's Fair in 1936.
The website also has newspaperarticles about the incident.
I want to thank retiredLieutenant Mike Otto, who first
(19:50):
told me this story.
Were it not for Mike, I wouldnot have known anything about
the incident and we would not behaving this conversation.
And of course, a very specialthank you to Marsha Massey for
taking pen to paper and pouringher heart out all those years
ago and for taking the time toread the story out loud for us
today.
(20:10):
Until next time, y'all, and Imean this, y'all stay safe out
there.
That is all.
KKN 377, Fire Department, Cityof Dallas.
Unknown (20:27):
Thank you.
The date is Monday, August 26, 1963.
Firefighter Bud Massey and hiswife, Marsha Massey, drive to
the home of their friends, Joeand Betty Jones.
The two couples are closefriends, but also Bud and Joe
(00:21):
are both Dallas Fire Departmentfirefighters, and they are about
to head to work for a 24-hourshift.
Bud is actually going to dropoff Marsha, who will stay with
Betty, and he is going to pickup Joe, who will ride with him
to Station 15 in Oak Cliff.
At Station 15, Bud and Joe aregoing to be riding Ladder Truck
15.
They will have a house fireduring the course of their
(00:43):
shift, and early the nextmorning at 1 a.m., they will be
on the truck again, racing toanother reported fire.
At the same time, two Dallaspolice officers...
L.B.
Kirkpatrick and Ray Underwoodare in a squad car racing to
intercept a car that anotherofficer is chasing.
The firefighters and policeofficers will meet fatefully and
(01:07):
fatally at the intersection ofZang and Davis.
But the men on the rigs are notthe only ones who are going to
be affected when steel meetssteel on the streets of Oak
Cliff.
Today, we're gonna get adifferent perspective on fire
service life.
Not a firefighter'sperspective, but a family
member's perspective.
Specifically, we're gonna talkto Marsha Massey, who years
(01:31):
later took the time to writeabout her experience in a story
that she titled, Sound of aSiren.
I was very moved by Marsha'sstory, and I didn't want to just
read her story to you myself.
I wanted her to read it to youSo that we could hear it in her
own words, and we are veryfortunate that we were able to
(01:53):
get in touch with her.
So what you are about to hearnow is Marsha Massey telling her
story, Sound of a Siren.
Speaker 00 (02:04):
Sound of a Siren by Marsha Massey, written spring
1976.
The loud demanding sound of thefire siren means different
things to different people.
There is, however, one groupwho react in unison to that
sound, the wives of thefirefighters, and they react
with good reason.
Firefighting is America's mosthazardous occupation.
(02:25):
According to the InternationalFirefighter of November 1975,
over the last 10 years,firefighters have suffered an
average of 86 deaths per 100,000men.
These deaths turned wives intowidows and left many children
fatherless.
Much has been written aboutthese men and their dangerous
job, and rightly so.
Less has been written about thewives and the parts that they
(02:46):
have played.
Each has a stirring story totell.
This is one of those stories.
I married William A.
Massey, also called Bud, in Mayof 1961, five days after my
high school graduation.
During the first weeks of ourmarriage, we began spending a
lot of time with Joe, alsocalled Alabama, and Betty Jones.
Bud and Joe were both assistantdrivers on the Dallas Fire
(03:08):
Department, working at No.
15 Station in the Oak Cliffsection of the city.
Betty and I began spending someof the long 24-hour shifts
together, sometimes at the 1961,Joe and Betty had their first
child, a daughter.
They named her Belinda Gale.
The following June, our son,William Robert, was born.
We called him Bill after Bud'sfather.
(03:31):
Betty and I continued spendingsome of the shifts together.
August 27, 1963 started outlike many other duty days.
Bud took Bill and me to Betty'shouse, picked up Joe, and then
headed for the fire station.
Their shift started at 11 a.m.
This was a special day forBetty.
The next day, they wereplanning to leave for vacation
to go see family in Bessemer,Alabama.
(03:53):
This was their first trip backhome since their marriage.
I had never seen Betty soexcited.
Marcia, she said gleefully, Ican hardly wait to show off
Belinda.
Belinda was a beautiful babywith huge blue eyes.
She was almost two years old.
Our Bill had just had his firstbirthday.
We had lunch early so we couldgo shopping before the kids' nap
time.
Bud and Joe arrived at the firestation about 10.45 a.m.
(04:16):
Boy, Joe said excitedly, I canhardly wait for our trip.
I can already taste that mintjulep.
In the kitchen, the guys weregiving him a good-natured
rubbing about the mint julepwhen the alarm bell sounded.
It was closely followed by thebooming dispatcher's voice
saying, Okay, boys, let's rollthem.
We got a house fire on 9th andTyler.
Let's go.
Within seconds, the giant redfire truck was rolling out of
(04:39):
the station.
Betty and I finished ourshopping and returned home about
1.30 p.m.
The kids were hot and cranky.
We quickly put them to bed.
Then I called the station totalk to Bud.
Nobody answered.
Well, I remarked to Betty, theymust be out on a run.
He'll call when they get back.
I didn't like not getting ananswer.
I never did.
The men from 15th Station wereback in the house around 3.30
(05:03):
that afternoon.
Captain William J.
Jones, no relation to Joe, waspleased with the job his crew
had done.
Well over half the shiftremained, though, and the men
were already tired.
Bud told Joe he would call thegirls.
I felt a sense of relief whenthe phone rang.
It was so good to hear Bud'svoice.
Hi, honey, he said.
What are you gals up to?
Oh, I said I'm just up in bedto get ready for the trip.
(05:24):
Did you have a fire?
Yeah, he said a house burned.
He told me all the drearydetails.
Fortunately, no one was hurtthis time.
Before we finished talking, thealarm sounded again.
Bud quickly said goodbye andhung up.
I stood there listening to thedial tone.
The kids got hungry, so we hadjust started supper when the
phone rang again.
(05:44):
This time it was Joe.
Betty answered.
That was a fast fire, she said.
There was no fire, he grumbled.
It was a false alarm.
The police think that it wassome kids with nothing better to
do.
They talked for a few minutes.
Naturally, their discussionturned to their trip.
Back at the station, CaptainJones was concerned about the
false alarm.
Dallas had been plagued withhim for the last two weeks.
(06:06):
He was glad that the kids wouldsoon be back in school.
Maybe then things would slowdown.
It was August.
It was hot.
The kids were bored.
Not a good combination.
The men fixed their favoritesupper, steak, gravy, They were
able to eat without anyinterruptions.
During the meal, they listenedto the radio reports of several
more false alarms in the city.
About 8.30 that evening, acouple of police officers came
(06:29):
into the station.
They had picked up three youthsthat were suspected of pulling
the alarms in the Oak Cliffarea.
The policemen felt that thefirefighters, that they wouldn't
be having any more falsealarms.
The guys were relieved to hearit.
The evening wore on, it washot, and the men were edgy.
Joe thought the shift wouldnever end.
Betty and I put the kids to bedfor the night.
(06:50):
Belinda went right to sleep,but Bill kept whining and
standing up in the baby bed.
After the late news on TV, Icalled the station once again.
Bud told me that they hadn'thad any more runs, and he was
going to bed.
Betty talked briefly to Joeabout the trip.
We would see them in themorning.
I love you.
Good night.
in the spare bedroom where billand i slept he continued to
(07:11):
frisk and fuss i got up and laidhim down several times when he
finally did go to sleep he wasstill restless i dozed off it
seemed like only a few minuteshad passed when i felt betty
shake me wake up marcia i've gotto go to the hospital joe's
been hurt She left the roombefore I could say anything.
On my way out into the hall, Iglanced at the clock.
It said 2.23 a.m.
(07:31):
Betty was busy getting dressed.
"'What happened?' I asked her.
Her voice was quivering.
"'There are some firemen outfront.
They said Joe was hurt.' Untilthat moment, I hadn't even
thought about Bud, but it hit melike a bolt of lightning.
I ran back into my room andgrabbed a robe and ran outside.
Now I could hear the firedepartment radio out front.
Standing in the yard wasCaptain Kenneth Toney, who was
(07:54):
riding District Fire ChiefSchiff that night.
Another fireman, Jimmy Blair,was driving him.
They were whispering,trembling.
I approached them and told themwho I was.
For a moment, they stared atme.
Then Blair got in the car andradioed someone.
Captain Tony told me that 15Truck had been in an accident
with a police car about an hourearlier.
(08:14):
I was crying and asking aboutBud.
All he would say was that Budwas hurt pretty bad and that I
needed to come with him to thehospital right now.
From his facial expression andtone of voice, I feared the
worst.
Before going back into thehouse, I asked about Joe.
Well, he said softly, Joe waskilled.
I reeled back, gasping.
He grabbed me to keep me fromfalling.
(08:36):
"'There's no need for Betty togo anywhere right now,' he
continued in a slow, measuredvoice.
"'We've got to tell her, andyou must get to the hospital
now.' I stood there dazed withdisbelief and terror.
Captain Tony helped me getmyself together.
After a few moments, I told himI would tell Betty.
He said he would be rightbehind me.
Inside the house, Betty wasbustling about in a daze
(08:59):
herself." I embraced myself.
As she was coming out of thebathroom, I grabbed her by the
shoulders.
Betty, I've got something totell you.
Joe was killed in a wreck onthe fire truck.
I'm so sorry.
I hugged her and she screamed,no, we're going on vacation
today, no, no.
Her heart-wrenching sobs brokemy heart.
(09:19):
She started saying that itwasn't true, but of course it
was.
Captain Tony helped me get herto the couch and he gently told
her what had happened as best heknew at the time.
The alarm had sounded at 12.57a.m.
on August 27th.
With sirens wailing, the engineleft the station, followed by
the truck.
Two blocks from the station, atthe intersection of Zangs and
(09:41):
Davis, a police car hit the firetruck broadside.
It was going somewhere around85 miles per hour to intercept a
speeding car.
It struck just a few feet fromwhere Bud was standing on the
side of the truck, and Joe wassitting on the turntable.
The impact threw them andCaptain Jones, who was riding
beside the driver A.E.
Chesney, some distance ahead ofthe truck.
(10:02):
All three landed in the middleof the intersection, side by
side, with Joe Jones in themiddle.
The police car was also thrownin the same direction, landing
on top of the threefirefighters.
Joe and the captain were killedinstantly.
Massey ended up lodged in theleft rear fender well of the
squad car.
I knew from this that Bud, whohad somehow survived, must be in
(10:23):
pretty bad shape.
A cold fear came over me.
How could have survived ifthose right beside him had died.
Captain Tony and I tried tocomfort Betty.
She cried almost hystericallyas she laid her head on my
shoulder.
I cried too, partly for her andpartly for myself.
Soon I might be in hersituation.
The commotion wakened Belinda.
She came into the living room,dragging her blanket.
(10:44):
She didn't go anywhere withoutthat blanket.
The baby's presence had acalming effect on Betty.
Belinda promptly crawled intoher mother's lap.
Captain Tony told us then thatthere was a group of wives from
the fire department ladies'auxiliary, and they were on
their way to Betty's house.
They would stay with her andlook after Bill for me.
When they arrived, Betty and Iboth felt better.
(11:05):
We knew they understood, reallycared.
Willingly, they had left theirfamilies in the middle of the
night to come to our aid.
Although we didn't know any ofthem personally, there was a
strong bond between us.
Once again, Captain Tony urgedme to come with him to the
hospital.
I hated to leave Betty, but Iknew I had to go.
We started for the door whenthe phone rang.
Captain Tony answered it, spokebriefly to someone, and then he
(11:28):
asked me to come to the phone.
Marsha, he said, this is thechaplain for Methodist Hospital.
He wants to speak to you.
It was as if my heart stoppedbeating and time stood still.
I was shaking so hard I couldbarely hold the phone.
Had Bud died too?
Hello, I said.
This is Marsha Massey.
Mrs.
Massey, the chaplain, saidkindly, I've got good news.
(11:49):
Your husband is right here andwants you to know that he is all
right.
Oh, burning tears of relief andjoy flowed down my face.
I turned and told everyone inthe room what the captain had
said.
Betty smiled and said she wasvery happy for Bill and me.
I knew she meant it.
Within minutes, I was in thechief's car headed for Methodist
Hospital.
As I sat in the back seat,feeling great joy and great
(12:12):
sadness, Captain Tony told memore about the accident.
As he had told Betty the policecar had hit the fire truck,
knocking the three men ahead ofthe truck and that the car had
landed on top of them.
Miraculously, the impact hadsomehow missed Bud.
Also, it had been a falsealarm.
A false alarm! Before beingsent to the Jones home, they had
(12:35):
been told via radio that boththe Joneses had been killed and
that Massey was expected to beDOA.
That explained Captain Tony'srush to get me to the hospital
and his reluctance to tell memuch about Bud's condition.
Furthermore, finding me atBetty's house had been a
complete surprise, obviously.
Another car had been sent to myhouse.
This was all more than I couldtake in.
(12:56):
One thing stood out in my mind,though.
Bud was alive.
I thanked God for that andprayed for Betty and Belinda,
Captain Jones' family and thepolice officers and their
families.
Overwhelmed is not a strongenough word to describe it all.
We arrived at the hospital atabout 3.15 a.m.
I found myself standing besidea stretcher, and on it was Bud.
(13:17):
He was pale and quiet.
We talked for a few moments.
He didn't know who had beenkilled, but he suspected it was
Joe.
I confirmed his fears and toldhim about Captain Jones.
The driver of the truck, A.E.
Chesty, and the tiller man,W.B.
Strickland, had also survived.
The ER was swarming with policeand firefighters along with
medical personnel.
(13:38):
There was so much blood on thefloor, a maintenance man was
mopping it up, men relying onstretchers.
Then I saw a young woman cryingin a private room and talking
to doctors and policemen.
I later learned that she wasthe wife of one of the police
officers in the car.
He had died at the hospital ashort time earlier.
I lost count of the firemen whowere there, and all the names
(13:59):
were running together.
A gentleman with gray hair andin full uniform introduced
himself to me.
It was Chief Penn, head of theDallas Fire Department.
He had come to see Bud and theother men involved, and then he
was going to go see Betty andthen the other Mrs.
Jones.
He was grief-stricken over thesenseless loss of these fine
men.
As it turned out, Bud'sinjuries were not threatening.
(14:22):
Shock was his biggest problem.
He also had a back injury thatultimately plagued him his
entire career.
He had a few bangs and bruisesand was in no real danger.
By 6 a.m., he was in a room andresting.
So many firefighters werecoming and going that the nurse
finally said no one could comein but family.
One firefighter said that wasfine since they were all
(14:42):
brothers.
By then, Bud's mom and myparents had arrived.
Since Mrs.
Massey could stay with Bud, myparents took me back to Betty's
house to be with her and to getBill.
When we arrived, The house wasfilled with firefighters,
friends, and neighbors.
Food was stacked everywhere.
The original group of wives wasstill there.
Betty was in her bedroom.
With tearful eyes, she told meher plans.
(15:04):
Neither she nor Joe had familyin Texas.
They were all in Alabama andKentucky.
Therefore, she was going tohave a service for Joe in Dallas
that day.
Then she and Belinda wereflying to Alabama.
Another memorial in Joe'sburial would be there.
How long will you be gone, Iasked.
She didn't know.
It was sadly ironic.
(15:25):
In spite of Joe's death, theywere still going home.
Joe's funeral was held atCampbell's Funeral Home, right
across the street from Station15 and within sight of the fatal
intersection.
The flags of all Dallasfirehouses were at half-staff.
I sat in the family sectionwith Betty and a few close
(15:47):
friends.
For me, the service passed in ablur.
At the conclusion, my heartbroke as I watched a large group
of uniformed firefighters passby Joe's casket.
Many had tears in their eyes,crying for their fallen brother.
It did not seem real.
My mind returned to the groupof firefighters' wives who had
gathered around Betty.
They too had shed tears, tearsof grief for her, tears of joy
(16:11):
for me, and tears of fear forthemselves.
Each knew what the sound of thenext siren could mean.
A quote from the fireman'sprayer.
And if according to my fate Iam to lose my life, please bless
with your protecting hand mychildren and my wife.
Speaker 01 (16:37):
What a powerful story.
That is the voice of someonewho has been in a situation none
of us ever want to findourselves in, and which none of
us ever want to put our familyin.
As someone who has been there,Marcia uses the power of her
prose to communicate to us whatwe otherwise could not possibly
(17:00):
understand.
I have huge respect for Marcia.
Volunteering to tell her friendBetty the bad news when there
was somebody else already therethat was going to do it.
I've delivered a lot of badnews.
It's a part of the job I hate,and that was delivering bad news
(17:20):
to strangers.
Marsha had to deliver it tosomeone she loves, and it just
rips my heart out of my chest.
Words can't really express thedevastating consequences this
loss would have for the familymembers of the three men who
lost their lives that night.
In light of just how much everyone of you listening means to
(17:45):
your family, I'm going to askyou for two small favors.
First, I want you to buckle upand drive safely, and I want you
to remember the words of my oldparamedic partner, Raymond
Mundy.
When I was just a green rookieright out of paramedic school,
he said to me, Listen up, Rook.
(18:06):
When you're driving, I want youto stop at the reds and be able
to stop at the greens.
That was good advice I gotearly in my career.
And I'd like for you also tonever assume that green means go
because it doesn't.
Green means you can probably goif everyone else has stopped.
(18:27):
And that's true whether you'redriving a ladder truck Code 3 or
taking your kids to soccerpractice in a Honda minivan.
So at work and at home, stop atthe Reds and be able to stop at
the Greens.
And the other favor I want toask of you is this.
The next time you're out on ahot summer day and find yourself
(18:49):
somewhere where they servecocktails, I want you to order a
mint julep.
and offer up a toast to JoeJones for that mint julep he
never got to enjoy with hisfamily.
This episode is dedicated tothe two firefighters and the one
police officer who lost theirlives in this collision and to
(19:10):
their family members.
Their names were CaptainWilliam Jones, Fireman Joseph
Jones, and Police Officer RayUnderwood.
More information about theincident can be found on the
website firefightinglegends.com,including information about the
(19:30):
history of the reserve truckthey were riding that day, which
was known as the CentennialTruck, because it was bought for
the Texas Centennial Expositionand World's Fair in 1936.
The website also has newspaperarticles about the incident.
I want to thank retiredLieutenant Mike Otto, who first
(19:50):
told me this story.
Were it not for Mike, I wouldnot have known anything about
the incident and we would not behaving this conversation.
And of course, a very specialthank you to Marsha Massey for
taking pen to paper and pouringher heart out all those years
ago and for taking the time toread the story out loud for us
today.
(20:10):
Until next time, y'all, and Imean this, y'all stay safe out
there.
That is all.
KKN 377, Fire Department, Cityof Dallas.
Unknown (20:27):
Thank you.
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