The Heartland Heritage Museum & Gallery had a wonderful turnout for their commemorative event remembering the bombs that rocked Checotah forty years ago on Aug. 4, 1985. Several residents told their recollections of what happened that eventful day and how it impacted them personally. Local newspapers lined the museum room giving insight of how a military truck laden with 10,000-pound bombs collided with another vehicle on an entrance ramp at I-40 and 69 causing several explosions to occur, marking the day “Checotah got bombed” in history.
Residents were literally shaken from their beds when seven out of ten bombs exploded on the highway, shattering windows, damaging property and rocking foundations. This accidental collision between a tractor-trailer loaded with bombs from the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant and a passenger vehicle would cause two small explosions. Then the biggest explosion would carve out a crater 27-feet deep and 35-feet across the highway. Because of this destructive blast the National Guard would be brought in, the town would be evacuated and unforgettable memories would forever be engraved on the minds of each civilian that lived in Checotah.
Shanna (Wood) Utley recalled being 15 and listening to her parents discuss what was going on when they were all awakened by the initial crash and first small explosion. Then she remembered the huge explosion that happened next that blew everything off one side of her wall in her bedroom to the opposite side of her room. She stated she literally thought the roof was going to cave in on top of them before they could get out of their home safely.
Wayne Williams lived closest to where the bombs went off. He stated that the blast blew out one of his home’s walls and he could reach out and touch the grass. He worked for the City of Checotah back then and told the community how he was asked to stay in town and secure the area as the rest of the town was evacuated. He told about how some people during all the excitement left home without their medication so he and another gentleman had to break back into those residents’ homes to retrieve their medications. Williams also explained to the group at the event that the bombs actually cooked off which caused them to explode at different times and differently than being detonated or there wouldn’t be a Checotah. Plus because the accident was on the access ramp, the blast repercussion went up which actually kept the town intact because if the explosions had been at ground level there would have been a lot more damage and devastation.
Former Checotah councilman Ernie Moore was a volunteer firefighter in 1985 and had responded to the first explosions when the biggest explosion occurred; knocking him several feet off his truck. One fire truck was literally disabled by the blast.
Don Campbell, who worked for the local newspaper in town, the McIntosh County Democrat, stated that he lived just outside of town but came running in to see what happened to get pictures. However, he was told that everyone was being evacuated and no one was being let back inside city limits.
Only the late Gene Housley, whose father Virgil Housley was part of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, was able to take up-close and personal pictures as the event unfolded. One of Housley’s best pictures was actually taken when the biggest blast occurred and Housley went flying into the air. Though 47 people were injured that day, it was no doubt a miracle that no one died.
Carol Spindle, who was co-owner of the newspaper with her husband Davie Spindle at the time, told how they weren’t at their home when the blast occurred but they were trying to make it home and they were rerouted.
“As we were looking around wondering where everyone was and why windows were broken out, my husband rolled down the vehicle window and asked what happened. That’s when Jerry Davidson who was directing traffic said, “They bombed us, Dave!”
During the special commemorative event, Jamie Hilbert, daughter of Carol and the late Davie Spindle, read from the official incident report from the government and told the community “Because of this incident national laws were established on how bombs had to be transported across the United States, which is really an interesting little piece of Checotah’s history today.”
The late Lloyd Beard was the mayor at the time of the incident and on a 20/20 clip that the crowd watched during the commemoration, he stated how everyone blamed the other person but nobody took responsibility for all the damage that was in the millions. Besides residents’ homes and businesses being damaged, the school was also damaged. One teacher, Cindy Updyke, was interviewed for 20/20 right after the bombing and at the commemorative event she stated, “If the bomb had gone off during school hours, several of my children would’ve been most likely killed. So it was really a miracle that it went off when it did – in the early morning hours when most were in bed sleeping.”
Jason McPeak remembered the response of Mayor Beaird when asked what could have happened if the bomb had gone off during school or business hours to which Beaird replied “Oh my Lord man, I don’t want to even think about it.” McPeak also remembered going downtown and seeing all the broken glass from all the downtown businesses. “It looked like it had been swept in a line in the middle of the street but no one had swept it that way. That’s just how the blast pulled it out,” he said.
Robert Jennings with Peoples National Bank confirmed their windows exploded and Karen Martin stated her business also received damage.
Imogene Duvall recalled her husband telling her to get her clothes on because they were being bombed. Then after they made it to a safe area they went back to get their famous rodeo horse, “Cadillac” who later became a two-time PRCA/AQHA Horse of the Year in 2014 and 2016 before retiring.
Teri Fields remembered having nothing but her pajamas on and curlers in her hair when her family was forced to evacuate.
Iris Park, Dir. of the Heartland, read from another newspaper and gave a totally different perspective of the accident from the ladies who were actually hit by the truck and then pulled out of their vehicle to safety before the bombs exploded.
Others who didn’t get to attend the event shared their stories on the McIntosh County Democrat’s social media page.
Sandy Chronister stated “We lived on Broadway by Pizza Hut. We thought Apex blew up and then we found bomb metal pieces on our roof!”
Darlene Lemon lived in the mobile home park on the north side of I-40. She wrote “Shrapnel went through the roof and it blew out windows. My son was asleep on the couch and the window blew out and was lying on top of him. It was a wild and crazy morning!”
Even residents who lived outside of town, like Don Johnson and his wife Glenda, heard the blast.
“It woke us from a dead sleep,” Glenda Johnson said. “We thought something like a neighbor’s house had blown up.”
Cory Ketch recalled that day as well.
“My sister Cari and I lived out on Texanna Road, in the Belle Starr area. That morning, we were at my dad’s place and I remember hearing what I thought was thunder and looked up to see the sky lit up. I thought, ‘Man, that’s some crazy thunder and lightning.’ Later that day, when we went back to our house, I saw the news on TV and realized what had actually happened. Later that week at football practice, I fell on some shrapnel. It was about half the size of my palm. I tried to keep it, but Coach Grandstaff made me put it down.”
Several people claim to have pieces of the shrapnel still today and the museum also has pieces one can look at when touring the museum.
“The Checotah Bombing exhibit with all the newspaper articles, the 20/20 news video, the government report and even pieces of shrapnel will be on display at the Heartland Heritage Museum & Gallery through the end of next month,” Dir. Park said. “We also have commemorative t-shirts that say ‘I got bombed 40 years ago’ on sale as well. Though I didn’t live here at that time, a lot of people still remember that eventful day and one thing all the residents agreed upon was that they were grateful no lives were lost the day Checotah got bombed. However, the stories that would come from this memorable event would forever mark the memory of many and would definitely go down as part of Checotah’s most talked about event in history.”
