Anniversaries/Memorials

Photographs    Prints
Cemeteries

Recollections/Emails  
Contact Us

Articles/Newsletters  
History

Books/Music/Plays  
Hospitals

Documentaries  
Museum

Films/Videos
  Recollections/Emails (Page 1)
  Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
 
   
   
       
   
   
 
  Contributors  
     
  Abercrombie, Clotiele B.
Abercrombie, Loyd D. Sr.
Abercrombie, Virgie Blalock

Armstrong, John
Bain, Pamela
Bento, Lola
Box, Dorothy Womack
Campbell, Lu
Holbert, Pearl Shaw
Challis, James E. "Ike"
Cole, Beaver
Coleman, Howard
Cronkite, Walter
Degnan, Julie E.
Duch, Greg
Erikson, Charles Henry
Ezell, Alta Reigh
Farrell, Hal
Gregory, Doug
Grenley, Martha Rogers
Grigg, Horace
Grigg, William N.
Hannon, Bill
Harris, Howard
Johnson, Joe and Bobby
Kronjaeger, Jim
Lester, George
Lester, George - Playmates
Lummus, Darlene
Lummus, Don
Martinez, Nelma Cummins
Mayhew, Bessie
McAllister, Mark

Meissner, J. Raymond
Moody, Mildred
Motley, Pete
Nelson, Ron
Plant, Sally
Platton, Mike
Read, Osceola Jefferson
Robertson, William Judson
Robinson, Jimmie Jordan
Mack Thornton Rogers
Ryan, Terri Jo
Seacrist, Debra
Shaw, Marjorie
Stanley, Glenda G.
Taylor, Bob
Taylor, Jim
Thompson, Bill
Vail, Mary Lechtenberg
Vento, Eduardo
Vinson, Allen Earl
Vinson, Melvin
Williams, William B.
 
     
     
 
 
 
  In Their Own Words  
     
  "Recollections" is the "human interest" section of this site .... in the (unedited) words of the survivors, or of those closely related to them. Within these pages you will find personal accounts of the tragedy taken from newspaper articles, information sent to me, and personal interviews.  
 
  Abercrombie  
     
  Virgie Blalock Abercrombie, Clotiele B. Abercrombie, and Loyd D. Abercrombie, Sr  
  as told to Donna D. Abercrombie Bangan and Lloyd D. Abercrombie, Jr.  
     
  In 1937, a family named Abercrombie lived in New London, Texas. The father, Eric Talmage, worked in the oil field, while Virgie Blalock Abercrombie, his wife, stayed at home caring for their three sons; Boyd Anderson Abercrombie-born May 10, 1921, Loyd Dalton Abercrombie,Sr.-born June 21,1924, and Virgil Talmage Abercrombie-born December 4, 1935. During this time, Virgil Talmage had just undergone surgery to correct his legs and feet from a birth defect. On March 18, 1937, he had both legs in casts and was sitting in a high chair at breakfast with his two big brothers. That morning had started out just like any other normal day in the Abercrombie household. As Boyd and Dalton (Loyd was called by his middle name) prepared to leave for school, Boyd leaned over to talk to his baby brother and said to Virgie, "Momma, don't ever spank these little legs." No one knew that these would be the last words Boyd would speak to his mother.

Toward the end of the school day, Dalton's teacher allowed the children in her class to swap seats and visit with their friends. Dalton swapped with his girlfriend to sit in her desk located on the last row. When the explosion occured, his girlfriend was killed. Dalton managed to step over a friend's head and crawl out of the debris through a narrow slit of a window. He ran home, terrified and bleeding from his head and arms. When he ran into the house, he noticed the two hot cups of hot chocolate waiting for him and his big brother. But his mother and little brother were no where to be found, Virgie had grabbed Talmage and ran toward the school to look for her two children. Boyd had been blown from one building to another with some parts of his limbs lying along the way. It was reported that he called out to his mother before he died, although, it was decided to tell his mother that he died instantly.

By some means, unknown to us, the family came back together that day. Shocked and in a great deal of emotional pain, they took Dalton to the nearest hospital that could see him. It happened to be in Shreveport, LA. By the time he had arrived, the cement that had embedded itself in his head and arms had crusted over. The doctors decided it would be best to leave the wounds alone.

The family moved back to Louisiana. Boyd's body was buried in the family cemetery in Mt. Olive. Nightmares plagued Dalton for many years. It was so bad that his mother had to sleep with him and keep her hand on him for he would wake up screaming and try to crawl out of the window.

As time passed and everyday living started again, emotional and physical wounds began to heal. Dalton finished high school and married Clotiele Bennett in Jonesboro, LA. He joined the Navy and served in WWII. When he returned, he started working for Continental Can Co. as a machinist. He and Clotiele had two children, Loyd Dalton Abercrombie, Jr. and Donna Dahl Abercrombie ( now-Bangan), who in turn, blessed them with four grandchildren...one of these grandchildren has the oak truck that Boyd built in school just before the explosion. Clotiele went on home to be with the Lord on March 16, 1979 after suffering from leukemia. Dalton followed on May 21,1989 after a major heart attack. He still had the cement in his head and arm. He lived to see one of his great-grandchildren.

This is the story of that fatal day in 1937 in a small East Texas town as told to us, Donna D. Abercrombie Bangan and Lloyd D. Abercrombie, Jr., by our grandmother, Virgie Blalock Abercrombie, and our parents, Clotiele B. Abercrombie and Loyd D. Abercrombie, Sr.
 
     
  Top Of Page