At the time of the TMI partial melt-down, I was a thirty-year old woman with an 18-month old son, employed by a bicameral legislative committee of the Commonwealth of PA. I lived in York, which is just beyond the 10 mile radius. I was commuting to Harrisburg on 83 N, passing TMI twice daily on the west side of the Susquehanna River. I listened attentively to the news releases to decide how best to provide for my safety and that of my baby.
a 5 radius and a 10 mile radius seemed too arbitrary to be safe
The news was, at best, confusing. A shelter for women and children was opened near Hershey, and the pregnant wife of Lieutenant Governor William Scranton III was very publicly reported as going there. The location of the shelter was closer to TMI than was my own home; also, a 5 radius and a 10 mile radius seemed too arbitrary to be safe. Despite government reassurances to the public, my boss came to me and told me to take my son and leave the area. I went to Selinsgrove, approximately 60 miles away, to stay with my brother’s family. I returned when my boss advised me it was safe to return.
Incidentally, the magnolia tree in my backyard, whose blossoming every year I eagerly looked forward to, was just about to bloom. After the partial meltdown, the flowers immediately died.
I later realized that the PA Director of Civil Defense, the agency directly involved in handling the TMI crisis, was Oran Henderson, of My Lai massacre notoriety. He was the Brigade Commander at the time of the massacre in 1968. According to his own testimony, “only 20 noncombatants were inadvertently killed.” He had been witnessing the massacre from a helicopter hovering overhead. But so was Hugh Thompson, an observation helicopter pilot who, when witnessing the slaughter of civilians, landed his helicopter and loaded as many civilians as he could on board to take them to safety, returning several times to rescue more. He filed complaints about the incident with Brig. General George Young.
Not only was Oran Henderson observing this massacre when he had the power and responsibility to stop it, but he covered up the massacre and then lied during the investigation.
What were you thinking, Governor Dick Thornburgh
So, we have a PA Director of Civil Defense, who
- condoned the massacre of an estimated 500 civilians, including young children and babies who were shot after crawling out from under the bullet-ridden corpses of their mothers who tried to protect them,
- covered up the incident,
- then lied in his court martial,
Once again in charge of an incident involving civilians, directing his subordinates to herd women and children to an unsafe location.
What were you thinking, Governor Dick Thornburgh, when hiring a person with such a record to be responsible the safety of civilians?
Valerie
