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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2019)
A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM FROM A1 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019 DARK DAY WALDEN Continued from Page A1 Continued from Page A1 Pennington, stayed behind to work at a railroad site. At 9:29 p.m. something went wrong. Later, some would spec- ulate that one of the bombs mal- functioned. Others thought it might have been dropped “just right.” Whatever the case — the mystery has never been com- pletely solved — a massive boom shook the depot as the igloo containing 264 bombs exploded, killing all six people. Clara Ellen Fraser Brown was 15 when her father Ken- neth was killed in the explosion, which leveled the specially-re- inforced concrete bunker and Photo courtesy the U.S. Army destroyed two vehicles. It took hours to ascertain who had died A cross marks the site of the explosion at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in modern day. in the explosion, as there were second time through the phone costal Tabernacle, presided over serves as a memorial on the por- no remains to identify. “We had nothing to bury,” as the sound reached Pendleton by Rev. S.E. Graves. Altogether tion of the Depot that has been she said. “It was just a horrible 30 miles away. five women lost their husbands turned into a National Guard thing.” Emotional shockwaves came and 13 children lost their father. training facility. Most of those who were next, as word of the explosion A partnership of local gov- Fraser’s family held their working 75 years ago at the traveled, leaving the families own memorial in Irrigon. ernment bodies known as the Depot are no longer living. Eve- of hundreds of ordnance work- Brown, who at age 90 is the Columbia Development Author- lyn Guerrant Thomas of Mil- ers to spend a sleepless night last surviving member of Fras- ity hopes to gain ownership of ton-Freewater, who died in waiting to hear if their loved er’s immediate family, said her the rest of the property some- 2015, told the East Oregonian ones were among the victims. mother’s grave at Hermiston time soon. in a 2010 interview that she was Brown remembers hearing her Cemetery has a plaque in his Don Russell, chairman of the waiting in a car at to go home mother Minnie crying as a local honor. CDA board, said the CDA plans when the blast caused her to hit minister brought the news after Little mention of the blast to turn the section of the Depot the ceiling. She was in a dress midnight. was made in subsequent edi- with the igloos into a wildlife and high heels, but immediately The loss of the Fraser fam- tions of the Hermiston Herald preserve managed by the Con- reported for duty and visited ily patriarch hit them hard. Ken- — two brief notices the next federated Tribes of the Umatilla the still-hot crater in the sage- neth had always done whatever week stated that contributions Indian Reservation. He said his- brush with photographer Jimmy it took to support his fam- were being made to the families torical preservation is one of the ily through the Great Depres- of victims, and that while there last pieces being negotiated for Drake to document the scene. Linda Gilleese told the sion, but even when he worked had been fear that the accident the transfer, and the site of the Hermiston Herald in 2008 that long hours he took time to play would put a damper on recruit- explosion will likely end up fea- the front axel of one of the vehi- games like Chinese checkers ment, “actual reports were that turing a plaque telling the story. cles landed 20 feet from her with his children and train them more and more workers were Brown, the spunky girl who desk at her office nearly a mile to do quick mental math. seeking employment at the delivered newspapers in boys’ away. clothes and won scholarships “He was a very intelligent Depot.” In Hermiston, shock waves person— very math-minded, The paper also praised the for college, became a teacher from the blast rippled through and he loved reading when he engineers for the U.S. Army after her mother encouraged the city, shattering plate glass had time,” Brown said. who came up with the igloo her to pursue a higher educa- windows downtown and knock- The United States was at war, design. The 1,001 triangular tion. Now retired and living ing merchandise off store and the blast at a military instal- igloos at the depot were built in Hermiston, she said she has shelves. Some residents who lation brought to mind fears of off-center from each other to been to several past memorials had been outside reported see- sabotage. The military acted keep any explosion from setting for the victims of the explosion ing a flash of light in the direc- quickly, and the Hermiston off a chain reaction. The sandy in honor of her father. tion of the Depot about 15 sec- Herald reported that all guards soil and other design elements “He did a lot of things in his onds before the concussion employed at the Depot were also kept the disaster from being life,” she said. reached them. called into work immediately, magnified. Information taken from inter- N.W. O’Donnell, the local taking “complete charge of the The 1944 explosion would views, the Morrow County manager of Pacific Telephone & situation” and remaining on turn out to be the only fatal Chronicles and the Hermis- Telegraph Co., called the com- high alert the rest of the night. accident at the Depot during its ton Herald and East Oregonian pany’s Pendleton office after The following Friday, a joint decades of use. Today, a sim- archives. See A2 for a reprint of hearing the boom, and was sur- funeral service for five of the ple white cross marks the spot, the original Hermiston Herald prised to hear the explosion a victims was held at the Pente- and a ragged chunk of the igloo article about the explosion. negotiate a number with Congress in good faith, then try to use emergency powers to get more money anyway. Keeping in mind that Congress is sup- posed to have “the power of the purse,” he said he believed the separation of powers between the branches of gov- ernment was essential to democracy and required protection. “It’s a lonely fight protecting the Constitution from executive overreach, and it’s especially uncomfortable when it’s your own president,” he said. Walden pointed out that Washing- ton Governor Jay Inslee, who is run- ning for the Democratic nomination for president, has said he will declare cli- mate change a national emergency on “day one” if elected. Other Democrats could use the precedent set by Trump to declare a national emergency on gun violence to pursue a gun control agenda. Walden also said he was concerned by Trump’s plan to take the money from the budget for military construction projects that had been planned to “pro- tect our men and women in uniform.” “This isn’t some slush fund,” he said. Maier pushed back on Walden’s answers several times, stating it was frustrating to see the lack of progress on border security and immigration reform, and disagreeing with Walden about whether additional funding for a border wall was an emergency. “When they flood over and kill our agents and break into families’ homes, when is it a national emergency?” she asked. Tony Justus of Pendleton asked Walden if he thought the law that allowed Trump to declare a national emergency should be repealed. Walden replied that he thought it needed reviewed. He said there were other routes the president could have taken to get more funding, and refer- enced a comment Trump had made pub- licly that he didn’t need to declare an emergency but wanted to do it to build the wall faster. 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