April 16, 2025 • 32 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's that time time, time, luck and load.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The Michael Berry Show is on the air.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Michel Berry, I'm all jaked up on Mountain Dew.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
This is the Thornton Finch wishing you a good.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Morning, Good morning, Michael Berry.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
You, good morning, Michael Berry, Good morning, Michael, Good morning, Michael,
Good morning, Zar.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Good morning, Michael, Zay Sailor.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Good morning, El Casino.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Good morning, Michael.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Hello, Hello, are you there? Good morning, Michael Berry. How
you learned that?
Speaker 5 (00:50):
I read it?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Tomorrow money, good Mornay.
Speaker 6 (00:54):
Listen to this good morning exence O morning call. Good
Barney Texas.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Is on his We're happy.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
To be here to talk about everything.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Good morning.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
We're not wearing this.
Speaker 6 (01:15):
Good Barty Texas, Good Barty Texas, Good Bury, Texes. Good morning,
Wake up, district gone.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Damn good morning.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
The Texas State House to vote on a school choice
bill today. It is described as creating a one billion
dollar fund for parents. The proposal Senate bill to appears
to have enough support to pass the House.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
That's not certain.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
More than half of the chambers signed on as sponsors
of the bill, so unless something changes, than it will
Passage in the House would give it a clear path
through the Senate to the Governor's desk, where it is
expected to pass. Changes could still be made in a
conference committee of lawmakers from the Senate and House who
(02:15):
would work out differences between the versions of the bill
each chamber passed. It's a reconciliation process because those two
bills may not be the same. Similar proposals previous years
have failed in the House after rural Republicans sided with
Democrats and the teachers' unions to block school voucher like proposals.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
As the Dallas Morning News points out, this year could.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Be different after Abbott successfully canpaign to unseat several Republican
members of the House who voted against a similar bill in.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
House Speaker Dustin Burroughs, Republican from Lubbock, said that the
bill will pass during a March twenty fifth news conference
alongside the governor and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. We can
fully fund public education and do school choice at the
same time. So let me be clear what just happened.
(03:12):
The public education lobby an incredibly powerful lobby in the
state of Texas because they have all the Democrats and
the rural Republicans. You're good, old fashioned country Republican, it's
for law and order. He's also for whatever public education
(03:33):
lobby wants. He is beholden to them because they are,
in many cases, the largest employer in his district. There
is no conservatism there. The schools are his boss. So
the public schools said, hey, if kids leave the public
schools and they do school at home, or the local
(03:57):
church opens the school, or they gathered together as a
cooperative as people are doing, and the parents trade off teaching,
if that happens, then we'll lose the money because our
formula is a per student allocation. If we're no longer
attracting the same number of students because alternatives are preferable,
(04:19):
then we.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Won't make as much money, and we can't have that.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
So school choice is bad because competition is bad because
we may not win. So the Republicans said, well, that's
all right, we'll give you all the same money we
give you, and now we'll just give more money to
the school choice people. Real conservative, huh, Which is why
(04:46):
your Republican led quote unquote legislature will spend more money
than they've ever spent before, and they'll find ways to
tell you how they're being conservative. It's an amazing, amazing,
amazing ability to navigate these waters when they're lying to
(05:08):
your face. Terrell Patel, the former chief of staff for
dum Dum Fort Ben County Democrat Judge KP. George, has
accepted a plea deal for creating fake social media accounts
to post racist and zenfhobe messages against himself, which he
then used to raise money and tie to his Republican opponent.
(05:31):
As part of the plea deal, he will cooperate with
any future proceeding quote that will arise out of this conduct,
which of course means that part of his plea deal
is he will testify against dum Dum, who you will
remember has a case against him. The story from KPRCTV,
what do you.
Speaker 7 (05:51):
Have to say to the people of Fort Been County
In Houston, we caught up with Terrell Pateel coming out
of court today after entering too guilty.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Please where we talk with Patel.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Let's go back in time and show you how he
got here.
Speaker 8 (06:05):
I'm Thorold Patel, and I want to show you my
Fort Ben.
Speaker 7 (06:09):
While running for county commissioner last year. Pateau was indicted
in June on multiple felonies and misdemeanors tied to a
criminal social media hoax. The former chief of staff to
county Judge KP. George was creating fake social media accounts
with images of real people and attacking himself and his
opponent to garner sympathy votes. In September, George got indicted
(06:32):
for the same thing.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I don't have any comment at this guy.
Speaker 7 (06:35):
Fast forward to this morning, Patel whispered to guilty police
after cutting a deal with the state and admitting in
black and white he committed the offense of misrepresentation of
identity with his old boss KP.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
George.
Speaker 8 (06:51):
He has promised to cooperate any future proceeding that may
arise out of this conduct.
Speaker 7 (06:56):
Also a part of his plea deal no jail time,
two years probation. The felonies will disappear if he stays
out of trouble, Buttel also must complete four hundred hours
of community service, make a two thousand dollars donation of
Fort Bend Partnership for Youth, and write this apology letter
to the people of Fort ben County, as well as
(07:19):
a personal letter to those he victimized. So what does
Patel have to say about all this ATREUEU. We're on
live television. What do you have to say to the
people of Fort Bend County in Houston?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Thank you? Sir.
Speaker 8 (07:29):
I believe there's a written statement and you're welcome to
refer to it, and you guys have a great day.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
You in your.
Speaker 7 (07:35):
Statement and you indicated that you've had to apologize and
explain your actions to people over and over again. Here's
your chancer to explain your actions on live TV. You've
explained your actions to your family and friends. Do you
have anything to say live on television?
Speaker 5 (07:49):
Sir?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
There's a public statement. You can refer to it. Like
I mentioned earlier.
Speaker 7 (07:53):
Does your admission today also involve KP. George and involvements
in that case?
Speaker 4 (07:59):
Sir, I.
Speaker 7 (08:03):
Mean, mister Bottel, I know that you're walking quickly and
you're trying to get to a vehicle. We're here just
trying to get your side of the story, Sir, I mean,
I understand it's a difficult date. Do you have anything
to say to Fort benk County, the people you're asking
for forgiveness from.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
For the third time.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I've given you a public statement. You're welcome to refer
to it, and I have your public statement. I haven't
received one from.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
You, sir.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
You'll see it online. Oh you're gonna post it online?
Are you gonna go through Facebook?
Speaker 9 (08:24):
Sir?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
You will see it online. Thank you so much and
have a great day.
Speaker 9 (08:27):
And if you recall this all started via Facebook.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
That would be the theme song for I would love
to know how many people got.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
That right, talk about useless trivia, but there are lots
of people going, that's tic tak, no, that's tic tac though.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Wink Martindale would.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Host over twenty game shows in a career said to
span seventy four years.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
He passed yesterday at.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Ninety one, the name Wink being one of his signature
items that separated him from the crowd. His real name
was Winston, not so instant, not so interesting, Winston Martindale
be said that as a kid in Jackson, Tennessee, his
friend couldn't call him Winston. He had a terrible speech impediment,
(09:43):
so he called him Winky, and Winky gave way on
the air to Wink. He was a DJ at WHBQ
as a teen was very common for a lot of
folks that came up in music and television. Is that
even as a teenager, they would work at a local
radio station and his fellow DJ, Dewey Phillips, debuted Elvis's
(10:07):
first record, That's all Right, which, of course you know,
That's all Right Mama on the radio on July tenth,
nineteen fifty four, changing history. So Wink Martindale goes into
the other room, calls Elvis's mom and asks if Elvis
could visit the station, and he did, singing hound Dog
when he went, and that was his first ever interview,
(10:29):
Elvis's first interview on WHBQ because of Wink Martindale's call
to their house.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I grew up in Jackson being Winky Martindale because the
kid that I played with in the neighborhood did didn't.
Jimmy O'Neil couldn't pronounce my name.
Speaker 8 (10:47):
Most people know you as this iconic game show host
that hosted more game shows than I think anybody but.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Bill Cullen never I could never hold a job.
Speaker 8 (10:55):
Yeah, but my heavens, what an impact you've had in
the entertainment business. But what they don't know is that
you were working in radio in Memphis, Tennessee, when a
young guy in nineteen fifty four recorded an album and
a guy named Sam Phillips brought it to your radio
station in July of nineteen fifty four.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
What happened that night, Well, I was the morning man
at that radio station, WHBQ, and I happened to be
at the radio station that night. It was a hot
July night, nineteen fifty four, as you mentioned, and I
was showing some of my friends from Jackson, Tennessee, around
the station, and I heard the commotion coming out of
this studio where a DJ named Dewey Phillips did a
show called Rid, Hot and Blue. And I excused myself
(11:33):
from my group and I went in there and Sam Phillips,
founder of Some Records, had walked in with a new
record by a truck driver named Elvis Presley.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
It was called That's all Right.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Mama, That's all right now, Mama, That's all right with me.
He put it on, played it once, switchboard lit up.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
He played it seven.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Times in a row, and I was designated by Sam
to call Gladyson Vernon to see where Elvis was, because
Dewey wanted to come down to the radio station, and
Missus Presley answered the phone and they were listening. They
lived in low rent housing called Lauderdale Courts out in
East Memphis, very poor, and she said Elvis had been
so nervous about his record being tested that night on
(12:12):
the radio. He went to see a double feature Western
at the Seusors Theater. So they said we'll go get
him and bring him down to the radio station, which
they did, and I met him that night and he
remained my friend until the day he died.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Lin Martin Dall had some hits of his own. He
recorded for Dot Records, which had Pat Boone, who was
a big deal at the time. Did we play that
Pat Boon interview the other day? We did, didn't we?
We pre recorded it, so I didn't know when we
were going to air it. We were trying to figure
out win. Martin Dau had a song called Deck of Cards,
which was described as a narrative song in nineteen fifty nine,
(12:50):
and that.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Was a little more popular. That sold more than a
million copies.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
So not for nothing here also saying all hell broke,
All Love Brokelwes during.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
The nineteen fifty eight film So.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
A singer entertainer in his own right, radio DJ who
then would go into television where he found his way.
He was kind of straight out of Central casting for
a game show host. Sandy Farrah was Elvis's girlfriend for
a number of years, and Elvis would wed Priscilla Wagner
(13:25):
nineteen sixty seven, breaking up with Sandy eight years later.
Elvis would introduce his former girlfriend Sandy, who had appeared
as a dancer in Viva Las Vegas and other movies.
He would introduce his ex girlfriend to Wink Martindale, who
would marry her in nineteen seventy five.
Speaker 10 (13:44):
What I usually say. We do a lot of serious
satellite Elvis interviews and they say, what was it like?
Everybody wants to know what it was like to kiss Elvis,
And I said he was the best kisser, and that's
basically what our relationship was. Kissing for years. But he
was the best kisser. But Wink is the best h
So God really took good care of.
Speaker 5 (14:04):
Man.
Speaker 11 (14:04):
I don't I don't know. I'd I don't know. I'd
want my wife telling that. I think I'd rather not know. Yeah,
I think I'd rather not know.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
That.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Man.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
You know, i'd rather you You bad mouth, I'm just
bad mouthing. Oh yeah, no, Wink, you're the.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Man Elvis was.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Why would I want Elvis who would want Elvis? What
does he Elvis? What is not Presley? You know I'd
rather you, Wink Martindale. Yes, you're You're what I've wanted
all along, Wink Winston, you're the man Elvis Presley who
would want to be married to Elvis Presley? And here
he is over here having to hear her. Sorry, Oh,
(14:51):
heck of a kiss her?
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Oh was that?
Speaker 5 (14:52):
K he?
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Well, he could out kiss anybody now, Wink can't. Wink can't.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
But I solve that by really not ever kissing him. Yeah, yeah, Uh.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Just I don't bother to you know, kiss wank. Wing's
good because you know he brings me breakfast in bed
and coffee. Yeah, what's that? Yeah, I'll never confuse him
for Elvis. Yeah, no, he's not. He's not really a
kiss her lover looker or anything like that. But he's
a good husband because you know, he's not out horor
chasing on the road and zunked out of his head on.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
You know, he's a good husband in that way.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Uh but yeah, no, I mean if you were to
ask me the ultimate fantasy, uh yeah, that'd be Elvius,
that'd be Elvis. But win winks he's a wink's a
good husband. Elvis is a good time. That'd be rough.
I think I might pull her aside and go, hey,
let's uh, let's knock that line off.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
What you think how about.
Speaker 10 (15:53):
Listening to Michael Barry's show.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
It's Elena Kentonia or if you prefer Selena Kinania was
born on this day in nineteen seventy one, Lake Jackson,
delivered by obstetrician doctor Ron Paul.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
True story.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Doctor Ron Paul has done some things in life other Wow, and.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
For being a famous person.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
To have a son who grew up so grounded and
solid as rand is a senator from Kentucky, that's a
big deal.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I mean that that is something to be proud of.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
It was on this day in nineteen forty seven one
of the worst disasters on American.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Soil of all time.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
An explosion on board a freighter in port caused the
city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost
six hundred people. I saw a little documentary on that
bad deal.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Ramon that's it.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
If you ever been to the site of it, you've
been to it. Yeah, y'all were the stingarees. What's a
sting aree? What was there's been a sting Ray and
a Stingaree. Stingaree is a state champion nineteen what, ninety
seven and ninety nine, which would be something to brag
about if you were in school then, But you weren't
on that team, were you?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
You were a substitute teacher at that time. Okay, how
did y'all do? Your senior year? Made the playoffs? Texas
City was what were y'all? Four A or five A?
Back then? Five A?
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Y'all were a state champion.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Five A team?
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Who was I talking to recently that was talking about
powerhouse football teams and brought up Texas City that Texas
City used to be a powerhouse football team. Somebody that
was a high school football nut. So nineteen forty seven,
that's seventy eight years ago. There are probably.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Some people.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Ten years who were ten years old at that time
who remember that explosion and can provide some detail as
to what they remember happening. Seven one, three, nine, nine
nine one, nineteen forty seven, the Texas City explosion.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
I wonder whose freighter it was.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
I saw the documentary and what the what the whole
deal that happened? And if I remember correctly, there were
multiple explosions, and with the first one, I maybe getting
a different natural disaster wrong. But with the first one,
people kind of went to it to see what was
going on. And then the bigger explosion, and so it
actually increased the damage that was done because more people
(18:39):
were attracted to the nuisance out of you know, I
think especially in those days, you didn't have television, you
didn't have the internet, you didn't have an ability when
something was happening, you better go see it, because if
you didn't see it, it didn't happen. You know, you
really appreciate that when you watch a high school football game.
You to a high school for football game and there's
(19:02):
a play, it's a it's a flea flicker or a
double reverse, and all of a sudden, your guy or
hopefully not but the other team's guy comes squirting around
the end and he's ten yards fifteen yards down the
field and its obviously nobody's gonna catch him, and you go, oh,
what happened?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I didn't see it because.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
You got tricked out like everybody else the fumble, rouski
or whatever else, and you instinctively look up to the
stands like you're at a college football game for the
instant replay, and there's no replay, and then you have
people have to tell you what happened, and you're so
bummed out. That was life in nineteen forty seven. What happened,
that explosion was up to ha ha. And you don't
(19:43):
you don't see it. You don't see it. Something happens today, amazingly,
a fight in a classroom.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
There's you're gonna know about it. You're gonna know about it.
You know, somewhere somebody.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Sits all day hoy long and puts the label inside
the shirt right at about your shank, right there, And
I estimate that about three point eight million man hours
are spent putting that label slash dagger in the side
(20:18):
of your shirt right on your left side, about three
inches above your waist, for the whole purpose of inconveniencing you.
And then I estimate another eight point nine hours is
spent cutting that label out of there to get it
off of your skin and keep it from stabbing you
all day long, and I estimate another six hundred and
(20:39):
eighty five million man hours are spent suffering under that
label that shouldn't have been there. Can we just agree
it's twenty twenty five, and we'll all pay a dollar
more per shirt if you'll just throw the ink onto
the back of the shirt right there so we can
stop with the labels. I think it's a personality type
(21:00):
forcing down one of them, because there are certain people
that are really really bothered by labels, you know, scratching
at you and stabbing at you. And then there's everybody
else that just says, I don't understand what the big
deal is.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Dudley Hudson was eight.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
I understand in nineteen forty seven when the explosion occurred.
That's correct, So that makes you eighty six.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
Well, I said, I'm eighty five. Oh I'm missy.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Well that's okay.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
My grandmother lived in Texas City. She was out of town.
When she got back, we took her down to Texas City.
We drove around in the neighborhood where I don't remember
exactly where the house was, not too far from the
where the ship was, and I remember, like yesterday, the
(22:01):
ten patches that were on the roofs of the most
of them were cedar shingle houses. At that time, or
maybe I don't think composition was that popular, and there
were thousands of houses that had little silver ten patches
(22:21):
on their roof. That metal just went all over the neighborhood.
We actually heard and felt in the explosion here in Houston.
It was that big, It was that bad. But I'll
never forget those patches on the roofs. Today, the insurance
(22:42):
would replace the whole roof, I'm sure, but there was
no replacement. I mean they were just like each roof
would have like four or five or ten or fifteen
patches where people had gone up on the roof and
put a little piece of tin there where the hole was,
(23:03):
and you know what the inside of that. I don't
know how far that metal went, but I know it
mark holes in a lot of roofs. That's what I remember.
Mister Dudley Hudson. Can you hold with us for just
a moment. Yes, I'm so happy you called. Were you
just listening?
Speaker 3 (23:20):
You heard us talking about it and somebody tell you
to call?
Speaker 5 (23:23):
I listened to you every day. Yeah, uh huh.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
I like to know you're out there. That makes me
feel good.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
Yeah, you're you're a big fan. I want you club
A couple of times. I was a member there for
a year or two.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Oh wow, Okay, I went by there and looked at
it yesterday. They've got it for sale again. That the
folks that we sold it to h went under and
they've got it.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Anyway, we'll talk about that this morning.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
I want to hear more of these stories about Texas
City nineteen forty seven. Make America Great Again in Spanish.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
Also that Medica.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Michael Barry America Grande, A kind of.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
It was called the Grand comp It was an American
ship that was loaned to the French and then I
think it was under German flag as it was flying.
It was World War II vessel that had been mothballed
and was loaned as a goodwill gesture to help rebuild
the French German economies. On Wednesday, April sixteenth, nineteen forty seven,
(24:25):
around eight am, smoke was spotted in the cargo hold
of Grand Camp.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
While she was still moored.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Longshoremen used a gallon jug of water and two fire extinguishers,
but they had no effect and the cargo hold filled
with smoke.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
The longshoremen were then ordered to leave.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
At this point, the captain of the ship ordered that
no water be used lest the cargo be ruined. Instead,
he ordered all hatches sealed and the hold to be
filled with steam in an attempt to smother the fire.
This was unlikely to be effective, as ammonium nitrate is
an oxidizer, thus neutralizing the extinguishing properties of steam. The
(25:05):
steam may have contributed to the fire by converting the
ammonium nitrate to nitrous oxide while augmenting the already intense
heat in the ship's hold. Around eight thirty am, the
steam pressure became so great that it blew off the hatches.
A column of yellow orange smoke billowed out, the typical
color for nitrogen dioxide fumes. The fire and its unusual
(25:29):
looking smoke attracted spectators along the shoreline who believed they
were at a safe distance. Responding fire departments included the
Texas City Volunteer Fire Department and the Republic Oil Refining
Company Firefighting Team. I don't know if it says it here,
but I read somewhere that every person except for one
in the Texas City of Volunteer Fire Department died. At
(25:51):
nine to twelve am, the ammonium nitrate reached an explosive threshold.
From the combination of heat and pressure, the vessel detonated,
causing utter destruction with two thousand feet and extreme damage
throughout the port. What's a mile fifty two to eighty,
so it's almost a half mile of damage.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
That's pretty good distance.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
The tremendous blast produced a fifteen foot tsunami and a
shock wave, leveling nearly one thousand buildings on land along
the building. Among the buildings destroyed was a Monsanto Chemical
Company plant, killing one hundred and forty five of its
four hundred and fifty workers. Flying shrapnel resulted in ignition
of refineries and chemical tanks along the waterfront. Falling bales
(26:32):
of burning wire i sorry, burning twine from Grand Camp's
cargo added to the damage, and her anchor was hurled
across the city. Two sightseeing airplanes flying nearby were blown
out of the sky, while eight miles away, half of
the windows in Galveston were shattered. The explosion blew almost
(26:53):
six three hundred and fifty short tons of the ship's
steel into the air, some at super speed. Official casualty
estimates came to a total of five sixty seven, including
all the crewmen who remained aboard Grand Camp.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
All but one member.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Here we are all but one member of the twenty
eight man Texas City Volunteer Fire Department were killed in
the initial explosion on the docks while fighting the fire.
With fire raging through Texas City, first responders from other
areas were initially unable to reach.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
The site of the explosion.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
The first explosion had set high Flyer free from its moorings,
and it had drifted across the harbor, coming to rest
against the Wilson Keene. Her cruise stayed aboard for an
hour before the smoke of the burning oil and the
harbor forced them.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
To leave so that vessel would explode.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
It's considered the worst industrial accident in American history.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
That is the devastation, much larger than the aftermath of
the atomic bomb dropped at Nagasaki. Wow. That's uh. There's
there's a There are a couple good documentaries I checked.
If you if you just go to YouTube and look
for Texas City explosion, you'll see what it is. Dudley
(28:18):
Hudson is our guest. He's eighty five, not eighty six.
From on eighty five. Dudley Hudson, what were you doing
on that day? Do you remember?
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Gosh, I don't remember, but being that young, I remember
getting in the car with my parents and my grandmother,
and she was out of town at that time, and
we went to see her house. I don't know how
far away it was from where the ship was the
(28:51):
ship exploded, but I remember, like yesterday, driving up and
down the streets in her neighborhood, and all of the
ten patches that were on the roofs of those houses,
like I mentioned a minute ago, they wouldn't have passed
them today, they would have just put a new roof on.
(29:14):
It was. Uh. She probably lived within a half a
mile where that ship was.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
That was my next question. Was she widowed at that point?
Speaker 5 (29:25):
No, she had. She had a husband, my grandpa, and
they both had were out of town. They weren't at home.
I don't know. I don't think they would have been
killed because the house was still there. You just mentioned
about so many buildings were demolished. I don't remember seeing that.
(29:50):
Maybe we couldn't get in that close. I'm not I'm
not quite sure.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Yeah, they may have. They may have kept you back
from that. Do you do you remember what car y'all
would have had in nineteen forty seven that you rode
over to see your grandmother's house in.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Gosh. I don't know. I know we had a forty
nine Dodge, so that would have been later on. Gosh,
I don't.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Remember what did your What did your father do for
a living?
Speaker 5 (30:26):
He worked for Exon, which at that time was Umble
and here in Houston. My two uncles. I was born
in Baytown. My two uncles worked for Umble and until
they passed here several years ago. Exon was a big
(30:49):
Most people don't know. Exon produced more oil during World
War Two than any of the oil at that time.
It was more oil produced out of Baytown than any
place in the world, the refineries. It was that big.
(31:11):
Everyone that lived in Baytown worked for Humble or Excell.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
You know, Dudley.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
We were coming out of Galveston this weekend and a
friend of mine named Gary Peterson, who.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Owns a.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Does a lot in the oil business, and I think
would have a good reason to know we were coming
across the causeway. Maybe we were a little further in
and it must have been I don't know, if we
were at Leed City, Texas where we were and all that,
And he said, do you realize that forty percent of
America's chemical plant capacity is located right here in this region?
(31:52):
And now I think he's talking about Glena Park and
you know, all the way over forty percent of the
nation's capacity.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
That's pretty that's pretty impressive.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
Yes, it's huge. Yes, And the chemical plants go all
the way down even the corpus in Port Lavaka, the
big alumnum plant that was down there, and I believe
the Chinese have take them out over now I don't know.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Tudley Hudson, thank you for calling and sharing your perspective.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
Yeah, you're welcome. I enjoyed the conversation, sir
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Not as much as I did, but thank you.
It's that time time, time, luck and load.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The Michael Berry Show is on the air.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Michel Berry, I'm all jaked up on Mountain Dew.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
This is the Thornton Finch wishing you a good.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Morning, Good morning, Michael Berry.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
You, good morning, Michael Berry, Good morning, Michael, Good morning, Michael,
Good morning, Zar.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Good morning, Michael, Zay Sailor.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Good morning, El Casino.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Good morning, Michael.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Hello, Hello, are you there? Good morning, Michael Berry. How
you learned that?
Speaker 5 (00:50):
I read it?
Speaker 4 (00:50):
Tomorrow money, good Mornay.
Speaker 6 (00:54):
Listen to this good morning exence O morning call. Good
Barney Texas.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Is on his We're happy.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
To be here to talk about everything.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Good morning.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
We're not wearing this.
Speaker 6 (01:15):
Good Barty Texas, Good Barty Texas, Good Bury, Texes. Good morning,
Wake up, district gone.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Damn good morning.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
The Texas State House to vote on a school choice
bill today. It is described as creating a one billion
dollar fund for parents. The proposal Senate bill to appears
to have enough support to pass the House.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
That's not certain.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
More than half of the chambers signed on as sponsors
of the bill, so unless something changes, than it will
Passage in the House would give it a clear path
through the Senate to the Governor's desk, where it is
expected to pass. Changes could still be made in a
conference committee of lawmakers from the Senate and House who
(02:15):
would work out differences between the versions of the bill
each chamber passed. It's a reconciliation process because those two
bills may not be the same. Similar proposals previous years
have failed in the House after rural Republicans sided with
Democrats and the teachers' unions to block school voucher like proposals.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
As the Dallas Morning News points out, this year could.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Be different after Abbott successfully canpaign to unseat several Republican
members of the House who voted against a similar bill in.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
House Speaker Dustin Burroughs, Republican from Lubbock, said that the
bill will pass during a March twenty fifth news conference
alongside the governor and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. We can
fully fund public education and do school choice at the
same time. So let me be clear what just happened.
(03:12):
The public education lobby an incredibly powerful lobby in the
state of Texas because they have all the Democrats and
the rural Republicans. You're good, old fashioned country Republican, it's
for law and order. He's also for whatever public education
(03:33):
lobby wants. He is beholden to them because they are,
in many cases, the largest employer in his district. There
is no conservatism there. The schools are his boss. So
the public schools said, hey, if kids leave the public
schools and they do school at home, or the local
(03:57):
church opens the school, or they gathered together as a
cooperative as people are doing, and the parents trade off teaching,
if that happens, then we'll lose the money because our
formula is a per student allocation. If we're no longer
attracting the same number of students because alternatives are preferable,
(04:19):
then we.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Won't make as much money, and we can't have that.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
So school choice is bad because competition is bad because
we may not win. So the Republicans said, well, that's
all right, we'll give you all the same money we
give you, and now we'll just give more money to
the school choice people. Real conservative, huh, Which is why
(04:46):
your Republican led quote unquote legislature will spend more money
than they've ever spent before, and they'll find ways to
tell you how they're being conservative. It's an amazing, amazing,
amazing ability to navigate these waters when they're lying to
(05:08):
your face. Terrell Patel, the former chief of staff for
dum Dum Fort Ben County Democrat Judge KP. George, has
accepted a plea deal for creating fake social media accounts
to post racist and zenfhobe messages against himself, which he
then used to raise money and tie to his Republican opponent.
(05:31):
As part of the plea deal, he will cooperate with
any future proceeding quote that will arise out of this conduct,
which of course means that part of his plea deal
is he will testify against dum Dum, who you will
remember has a case against him. The story from KPRCTV,
what do you.
Speaker 7 (05:51):
Have to say to the people of Fort Been County
In Houston, we caught up with Terrell Pateel coming out
of court today after entering too guilty.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Please where we talk with Patel.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Let's go back in time and show you how he
got here.
Speaker 8 (06:05):
I'm Thorold Patel, and I want to show you my
Fort Ben.
Speaker 7 (06:09):
While running for county commissioner last year. Pateau was indicted
in June on multiple felonies and misdemeanors tied to a
criminal social media hoax. The former chief of staff to
county Judge KP. George was creating fake social media accounts
with images of real people and attacking himself and his
opponent to garner sympathy votes. In September, George got indicted
(06:32):
for the same thing.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I don't have any comment at this guy.
Speaker 7 (06:35):
Fast forward to this morning, Patel whispered to guilty police
after cutting a deal with the state and admitting in
black and white he committed the offense of misrepresentation of
identity with his old boss KP.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
George.
Speaker 8 (06:51):
He has promised to cooperate any future proceeding that may
arise out of this conduct.
Speaker 7 (06:56):
Also a part of his plea deal no jail time,
two years probation. The felonies will disappear if he stays
out of trouble, Buttel also must complete four hundred hours
of community service, make a two thousand dollars donation of
Fort Bend Partnership for Youth, and write this apology letter
to the people of Fort ben County, as well as
(07:19):
a personal letter to those he victimized. So what does
Patel have to say about all this ATREUEU. We're on
live television. What do you have to say to the
people of Fort Bend County in Houston?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Thank you? Sir.
Speaker 8 (07:29):
I believe there's a written statement and you're welcome to
refer to it, and you guys have a great day.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
You in your.
Speaker 7 (07:35):
Statement and you indicated that you've had to apologize and
explain your actions to people over and over again. Here's
your chancer to explain your actions on live TV. You've
explained your actions to your family and friends. Do you
have anything to say live on television?
Speaker 5 (07:49):
Sir?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
There's a public statement. You can refer to it. Like
I mentioned earlier.
Speaker 7 (07:53):
Does your admission today also involve KP. George and involvements
in that case?
Speaker 4 (07:59):
Sir, I.
Speaker 7 (08:03):
Mean, mister Bottel, I know that you're walking quickly and
you're trying to get to a vehicle. We're here just
trying to get your side of the story, Sir, I mean,
I understand it's a difficult date. Do you have anything
to say to Fort benk County, the people you're asking
for forgiveness from.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
For the third time.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I've given you a public statement. You're welcome to refer
to it, and I have your public statement. I haven't
received one from.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
You, sir.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
You'll see it online. Oh you're gonna post it online?
Are you gonna go through Facebook?
Speaker 9 (08:24):
Sir?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
You will see it online. Thank you so much and
have a great day.
Speaker 9 (08:27):
And if you recall this all started via Facebook.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
That would be the theme song for I would love
to know how many people got.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
That right, talk about useless trivia, but there are lots
of people going, that's tic tak, no, that's tic tac though.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Wink Martindale would.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Host over twenty game shows in a career said to
span seventy four years.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
He passed yesterday at.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Ninety one, the name Wink being one of his signature
items that separated him from the crowd. His real name
was Winston, not so instant, not so interesting, Winston Martindale
be said that as a kid in Jackson, Tennessee, his
friend couldn't call him Winston. He had a terrible speech impediment,
(09:43):
so he called him Winky, and Winky gave way on
the air to Wink. He was a DJ at WHBQ
as a teen was very common for a lot of
folks that came up in music and television. Is that
even as a teenager, they would work at a local
radio station and his fellow DJ, Dewey Phillips, debuted Elvis's
(10:07):
first record, That's all Right, which, of course you know,
That's all Right Mama on the radio on July tenth,
nineteen fifty four, changing history. So Wink Martindale goes into
the other room, calls Elvis's mom and asks if Elvis
could visit the station, and he did, singing hound Dog
when he went, and that was his first ever interview,
(10:29):
Elvis's first interview on WHBQ because of Wink Martindale's call
to their house.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I grew up in Jackson being Winky Martindale because the
kid that I played with in the neighborhood did didn't.
Jimmy O'Neil couldn't pronounce my name.
Speaker 8 (10:47):
Most people know you as this iconic game show host
that hosted more game shows than I think anybody but.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Bill Cullen never I could never hold a job.
Speaker 8 (10:55):
Yeah, but my heavens, what an impact you've had in
the entertainment business. But what they don't know is that
you were working in radio in Memphis, Tennessee, when a
young guy in nineteen fifty four recorded an album and
a guy named Sam Phillips brought it to your radio
station in July of nineteen fifty four.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
What happened that night, Well, I was the morning man
at that radio station, WHBQ, and I happened to be
at the radio station that night. It was a hot
July night, nineteen fifty four, as you mentioned, and I
was showing some of my friends from Jackson, Tennessee, around
the station, and I heard the commotion coming out of
this studio where a DJ named Dewey Phillips did a
show called Rid, Hot and Blue. And I excused myself
(11:33):
from my group and I went in there and Sam Phillips,
founder of Some Records, had walked in with a new
record by a truck driver named Elvis Presley.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
It was called That's all Right.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Mama, That's all right now, Mama, That's all right with me.
He put it on, played it once, switchboard lit up.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
He played it seven.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Times in a row, and I was designated by Sam
to call Gladyson Vernon to see where Elvis was, because
Dewey wanted to come down to the radio station, and
Missus Presley answered the phone and they were listening. They
lived in low rent housing called Lauderdale Courts out in
East Memphis, very poor, and she said Elvis had been
so nervous about his record being tested that night on
(12:12):
the radio. He went to see a double feature Western
at the Seusors Theater. So they said we'll go get
him and bring him down to the radio station, which
they did, and I met him that night and he
remained my friend until the day he died.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Lin Martin Dall had some hits of his own. He
recorded for Dot Records, which had Pat Boone, who was
a big deal at the time. Did we play that
Pat Boon interview the other day? We did, didn't we?
We pre recorded it, so I didn't know when we
were going to air it. We were trying to figure
out win. Martin Dau had a song called Deck of Cards,
which was described as a narrative song in nineteen fifty nine,
(12:50):
and that.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Was a little more popular. That sold more than a
million copies.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
So not for nothing here also saying all hell broke,
All Love Brokelwes during.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
The nineteen fifty eight film So.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
A singer entertainer in his own right, radio DJ who
then would go into television where he found his way.
He was kind of straight out of Central casting for
a game show host. Sandy Farrah was Elvis's girlfriend for
a number of years, and Elvis would wed Priscilla Wagner
(13:25):
nineteen sixty seven, breaking up with Sandy eight years later.
Elvis would introduce his former girlfriend Sandy, who had appeared
as a dancer in Viva Las Vegas and other movies.
He would introduce his ex girlfriend to Wink Martindale, who
would marry her in nineteen seventy five.
Speaker 10 (13:44):
What I usually say. We do a lot of serious
satellite Elvis interviews and they say, what was it like?
Everybody wants to know what it was like to kiss Elvis,
And I said he was the best kisser, and that's
basically what our relationship was. Kissing for years. But he
was the best kisser. But Wink is the best h
So God really took good care of.
Speaker 5 (14:04):
Man.
Speaker 11 (14:04):
I don't I don't know. I'd I don't know. I'd
want my wife telling that. I think I'd rather not know. Yeah,
I think I'd rather not know.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
That.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Man.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
You know, i'd rather you You bad mouth, I'm just
bad mouthing. Oh yeah, no, Wink, you're the.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Man Elvis was.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Why would I want Elvis who would want Elvis? What
does he Elvis? What is not Presley? You know I'd
rather you, Wink Martindale. Yes, you're You're what I've wanted
all along, Wink Winston, you're the man Elvis Presley who
would want to be married to Elvis Presley? And here
he is over here having to hear her. Sorry, Oh,
(14:51):
heck of a kiss her?
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Oh was that?
Speaker 5 (14:52):
K he?
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Well, he could out kiss anybody now, Wink can't. Wink can't.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
But I solve that by really not ever kissing him. Yeah, yeah, Uh.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Just I don't bother to you know, kiss wank. Wing's
good because you know he brings me breakfast in bed
and coffee. Yeah, what's that? Yeah, I'll never confuse him
for Elvis. Yeah, no, he's not. He's not really a
kiss her lover looker or anything like that. But he's
a good husband because you know, he's not out horor
chasing on the road and zunked out of his head on.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
You know, he's a good husband in that way.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Uh but yeah, no, I mean if you were to
ask me the ultimate fantasy, uh yeah, that'd be Elvius,
that'd be Elvis. But win winks he's a wink's a
good husband. Elvis is a good time. That'd be rough.
I think I might pull her aside and go, hey,
let's uh, let's knock that line off.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
What you think how about.
Speaker 10 (15:53):
Listening to Michael Barry's show.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
It's Elena Kentonia or if you prefer Selena Kinania was
born on this day in nineteen seventy one, Lake Jackson,
delivered by obstetrician doctor Ron Paul.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
True story.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Doctor Ron Paul has done some things in life other Wow, and.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
For being a famous person.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
To have a son who grew up so grounded and
solid as rand is a senator from Kentucky, that's a
big deal.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I mean that that is something to be proud of.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
It was on this day in nineteen forty seven one
of the worst disasters on American.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Soil of all time.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
An explosion on board a freighter in port caused the
city of Texas City, Texas, to catch fire, killing almost
six hundred people. I saw a little documentary on that
bad deal.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Ramon that's it.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
If you ever been to the site of it, you've
been to it. Yeah, y'all were the stingarees. What's a
sting aree? What was there's been a sting Ray and
a Stingaree. Stingaree is a state champion nineteen what, ninety
seven and ninety nine, which would be something to brag
about if you were in school then, But you weren't
on that team, were you?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
You were a substitute teacher at that time. Okay, how
did y'all do? Your senior year? Made the playoffs? Texas
City was what were y'all? Four A or five A?
Back then? Five A?
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Y'all were a state champion.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Five A team?
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Who was I talking to recently that was talking about
powerhouse football teams and brought up Texas City that Texas
City used to be a powerhouse football team. Somebody that
was a high school football nut. So nineteen forty seven,
that's seventy eight years ago. There are probably.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Some people.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Ten years who were ten years old at that time
who remember that explosion and can provide some detail as
to what they remember happening. Seven one, three, nine, nine
nine one, nineteen forty seven, the Texas City explosion.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
I wonder whose freighter it was.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
I saw the documentary and what the what the whole
deal that happened? And if I remember correctly, there were
multiple explosions, and with the first one, I maybe getting
a different natural disaster wrong. But with the first one,
people kind of went to it to see what was
going on. And then the bigger explosion, and so it
actually increased the damage that was done because more people
(18:39):
were attracted to the nuisance out of you know, I
think especially in those days, you didn't have television, you
didn't have the internet, you didn't have an ability when
something was happening, you better go see it, because if
you didn't see it, it didn't happen. You know, you
really appreciate that when you watch a high school football game.
You to a high school for football game and there's
(19:02):
a play, it's a it's a flea flicker or a
double reverse, and all of a sudden, your guy or
hopefully not but the other team's guy comes squirting around
the end and he's ten yards fifteen yards down the
field and its obviously nobody's gonna catch him, and you go, oh,
what happened?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
I didn't see it because.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
You got tricked out like everybody else the fumble, rouski
or whatever else, and you instinctively look up to the
stands like you're at a college football game for the
instant replay, and there's no replay, and then you have
people have to tell you what happened, and you're so
bummed out. That was life in nineteen forty seven. What happened,
that explosion was up to ha ha. And you don't
(19:43):
you don't see it. You don't see it. Something happens today, amazingly,
a fight in a classroom.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
There's you're gonna know about it. You're gonna know about it.
You know, somewhere somebody.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Sits all day hoy long and puts the label inside
the shirt right at about your shank, right there, And
I estimate that about three point eight million man hours
are spent putting that label slash dagger in the side
(20:18):
of your shirt right on your left side, about three
inches above your waist, for the whole purpose of inconveniencing you.
And then I estimate another eight point nine hours is
spent cutting that label out of there to get it
off of your skin and keep it from stabbing you
all day long, and I estimate another six hundred and
(20:39):
eighty five million man hours are spent suffering under that
label that shouldn't have been there. Can we just agree
it's twenty twenty five, and we'll all pay a dollar
more per shirt if you'll just throw the ink onto
the back of the shirt right there so we can
stop with the labels. I think it's a personality type
(21:00):
forcing down one of them, because there are certain people
that are really really bothered by labels, you know, scratching
at you and stabbing at you. And then there's everybody
else that just says, I don't understand what the big
deal is.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Dudley Hudson was eight.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
I understand in nineteen forty seven when the explosion occurred.
That's correct, So that makes you eighty six.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
Well, I said, I'm eighty five. Oh I'm missy.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Well that's okay.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
My grandmother lived in Texas City. She was out of town.
When she got back, we took her down to Texas City.
We drove around in the neighborhood where I don't remember
exactly where the house was, not too far from the
where the ship was, and I remember, like yesterday, the
(22:01):
ten patches that were on the roofs of the most
of them were cedar shingle houses. At that time, or
maybe I don't think composition was that popular, and there
were thousands of houses that had little silver ten patches
(22:21):
on their roof. That metal just went all over the neighborhood.
We actually heard and felt in the explosion here in Houston.
It was that big, It was that bad. But I'll
never forget those patches on the roofs. Today, the insurance
(22:42):
would replace the whole roof, I'm sure, but there was
no replacement. I mean they were just like each roof
would have like four or five or ten or fifteen
patches where people had gone up on the roof and
put a little piece of tin there where the hole was,
(23:03):
and you know what the inside of that. I don't
know how far that metal went, but I know it
mark holes in a lot of roofs. That's what I remember.
Mister Dudley Hudson. Can you hold with us for just
a moment. Yes, I'm so happy you called. Were you
just listening?
Speaker 3 (23:20):
You heard us talking about it and somebody tell you
to call?
Speaker 5 (23:23):
I listened to you every day. Yeah, uh huh.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
I like to know you're out there. That makes me
feel good.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
Yeah, you're you're a big fan. I want you club
A couple of times. I was a member there for
a year or two.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Oh wow, Okay, I went by there and looked at
it yesterday. They've got it for sale again. That the
folks that we sold it to h went under and
they've got it.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Anyway, we'll talk about that this morning.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
I want to hear more of these stories about Texas
City nineteen forty seven. Make America Great Again in Spanish.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
Also that Medica.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Michael Barry America Grande, A kind of.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
It was called the Grand comp It was an American
ship that was loaned to the French and then I
think it was under German flag as it was flying.
It was World War II vessel that had been mothballed
and was loaned as a goodwill gesture to help rebuild
the French German economies. On Wednesday, April sixteenth, nineteen forty seven,
(24:25):
around eight am, smoke was spotted in the cargo hold
of Grand Camp.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
While she was still moored.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Longshoremen used a gallon jug of water and two fire extinguishers,
but they had no effect and the cargo hold filled
with smoke.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
The longshoremen were then ordered to leave.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
At this point, the captain of the ship ordered that
no water be used lest the cargo be ruined. Instead,
he ordered all hatches sealed and the hold to be
filled with steam in an attempt to smother the fire.
This was unlikely to be effective, as ammonium nitrate is
an oxidizer, thus neutralizing the extinguishing properties of steam. The
(25:05):
steam may have contributed to the fire by converting the
ammonium nitrate to nitrous oxide while augmenting the already intense
heat in the ship's hold. Around eight thirty am, the
steam pressure became so great that it blew off the hatches.
A column of yellow orange smoke billowed out, the typical
color for nitrogen dioxide fumes. The fire and its unusual
(25:29):
looking smoke attracted spectators along the shoreline who believed they
were at a safe distance. Responding fire departments included the
Texas City Volunteer Fire Department and the Republic Oil Refining
Company Firefighting Team. I don't know if it says it here,
but I read somewhere that every person except for one
in the Texas City of Volunteer Fire Department died. At
(25:51):
nine to twelve am, the ammonium nitrate reached an explosive threshold.
From the combination of heat and pressure, the vessel detonated,
causing utter destruction with two thousand feet and extreme damage
throughout the port. What's a mile fifty two to eighty,
so it's almost a half mile of damage.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
That's pretty good distance.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
The tremendous blast produced a fifteen foot tsunami and a
shock wave, leveling nearly one thousand buildings on land along
the building. Among the buildings destroyed was a Monsanto Chemical
Company plant, killing one hundred and forty five of its
four hundred and fifty workers. Flying shrapnel resulted in ignition
of refineries and chemical tanks along the waterfront. Falling bales
(26:32):
of burning wire i sorry, burning twine from Grand Camp's
cargo added to the damage, and her anchor was hurled
across the city. Two sightseeing airplanes flying nearby were blown
out of the sky, while eight miles away, half of
the windows in Galveston were shattered. The explosion blew almost
(26:53):
six three hundred and fifty short tons of the ship's
steel into the air, some at super speed. Official casualty
estimates came to a total of five sixty seven, including
all the crewmen who remained aboard Grand Camp.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
All but one member.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Here we are all but one member of the twenty
eight man Texas City Volunteer Fire Department were killed in
the initial explosion on the docks while fighting the fire.
With fire raging through Texas City, first responders from other
areas were initially unable to reach.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
The site of the explosion.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
The first explosion had set high Flyer free from its moorings,
and it had drifted across the harbor, coming to rest
against the Wilson Keene. Her cruise stayed aboard for an
hour before the smoke of the burning oil and the
harbor forced them.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
To leave so that vessel would explode.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
It's considered the worst industrial accident in American history.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
That is the devastation, much larger than the aftermath of
the atomic bomb dropped at Nagasaki. Wow. That's uh. There's
there's a There are a couple good documentaries I checked.
If you if you just go to YouTube and look
for Texas City explosion, you'll see what it is. Dudley
(28:18):
Hudson is our guest. He's eighty five, not eighty six.
From on eighty five. Dudley Hudson, what were you doing
on that day? Do you remember?
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Gosh, I don't remember, but being that young, I remember
getting in the car with my parents and my grandmother,
and she was out of town at that time, and
we went to see her house. I don't know how
far away it was from where the ship was the
(28:51):
ship exploded, but I remember, like yesterday, driving up and
down the streets in her neighborhood, and all of the
ten patches that were on the roofs of those houses,
like I mentioned a minute ago, they wouldn't have passed
them today, they would have just put a new roof on.
(29:14):
It was. Uh. She probably lived within a half a
mile where that ship was.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
That was my next question. Was she widowed at that point?
Speaker 5 (29:25):
No, she had. She had a husband, my grandpa, and
they both had were out of town. They weren't at home.
I don't know. I don't think they would have been
killed because the house was still there. You just mentioned
about so many buildings were demolished. I don't remember seeing that.
(29:50):
Maybe we couldn't get in that close. I'm not I'm
not quite sure.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Yeah, they may have. They may have kept you back
from that. Do you do you remember what car y'all
would have had in nineteen forty seven that you rode
over to see your grandmother's house in.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Gosh. I don't know. I know we had a forty
nine Dodge, so that would have been later on. Gosh,
I don't.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Remember what did your What did your father do for
a living?
Speaker 5 (30:26):
He worked for Exon, which at that time was Umble
and here in Houston. My two uncles. I was born
in Baytown. My two uncles worked for Umble and until
they passed here several years ago. Exon was a big
(30:49):
Most people don't know. Exon produced more oil during World
War Two than any of the oil at that time.
It was more oil produced out of Baytown than any
place in the world, the refineries. It was that big.
(31:11):
Everyone that lived in Baytown worked for Humble or Excell.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
You know, Dudley.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
We were coming out of Galveston this weekend and a
friend of mine named Gary Peterson, who.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Owns a.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Does a lot in the oil business, and I think
would have a good reason to know we were coming
across the causeway. Maybe we were a little further in
and it must have been I don't know, if we
were at Leed City, Texas where we were and all that,
And he said, do you realize that forty percent of
America's chemical plant capacity is located right here in this region?
(31:52):
And now I think he's talking about Glena Park and
you know, all the way over forty percent of the
nation's capacity.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
That's pretty that's pretty impressive.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
Yes, it's huge. Yes, And the chemical plants go all
the way down even the corpus in Port Lavaka, the
big alumnum plant that was down there, and I believe
the Chinese have take them out over now I don't know.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
Tudley Hudson, thank you for calling and sharing your perspective.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
Yeah, you're welcome. I enjoyed the conversation, sir
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Not as much as I did, but thank you.
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