During the time of the accident at Three Mile  I lived with my husband and two small children in Maytown, PA. Maytown is in Lancaster County and is within the 10 mile radius of Three Mile Island. My husband worked at AMP, Inc in Harrisburg, PA and I worked part time as a pediatric nurse in Lancaster. Several of our neighbors worked at Three Mile Island.

As soon as I asked her I was met with several seconds of silence

I knew that ” something” had happened at the nuclear energy plant on Wednesday,  March, 28, 1979, but locally no one seemed particularly alarmed. Local news reported that everything was under control and there was no danger to the public.

On Thursday evening I spoke to a neighbor whose husband worked at the power plant. I clearly remember her saying, “some of the guys are saying there was a meltdown.” That increased my concern, but again, the officials were downplaying any danger.

Friday, March 30 was a beautiful day. My daughter was in first grade and my son was 4. I spent part of the morning planting onion sets in a little garden patch outside. As soon as I came inside I called a girlfriend in Carlisle to make sure she and her husband and twin boys were still planning on visiting us for the weekend. As soon as I asked her I was met with several seconds of silence followed by, “do you have your radio on?” I said, “No. Why?” She then said, “they’re talking about evacuating a lot of people, even several counties around Three Mile Island.” I asked if she was serious and she replied in the affirmative.

I’ve come for my daughter. I want her dismissed NOW!

I never moved faster. My 4 year old son was still in his footed pajamas. I didn’t change his clothes. I quickly threw a few clothes in a bag, put a leash on our miniature schnauzer, buckled my son in his car seat and headed to Maytown Elementary School.

I parked at the school, carried my son into the school, walked directly into the office and said, “I’ve come for my daughter. I want her dismissed NOW!” The secretary was rather rude and dismissive. She started to tell me I couldn’t just take her out of school. I told her I was taking my daughter with me.   Just then the phone rang and within a few seconds the principal joined us in the office. He said to the secretary, “get her daughter and get all kids off the playground NOW! ” Then they started running.

Do you need anything? Money, food, booze?

Jane Fonda an Tom Hayden at a TMIA press conference.

So off I went with my two kids and one dog… destination unknown, but away from Three Mile Island. It occurred to me that I had very little money on me. This was long before there were ATMs. And, of course, there were no cell phones.

My first stop was at the house of one of the physicians I worked with; his wife was also a nurse at the same pediatric office. When I arrived she was in a panic and also in the process of evacuating. She looked at me and said, “Do you need anything? Money, food, booze?” I replied that I could use all three, which she gave me, and we were off again.

My next stop was at a friend’s apartment in Reading, PA. Sometime that afternoon my husband caught up with us. I can’t even remember how that happened. But that evening we all headed to Wellsboro, PA, our original hometown, and stayed with my mother. My husband returned home after 2 days, but the children and I stayed away for more than a week. Interestingly the news we heard upstate re: the accident was MUCH more concerning than our local news had been.

About a week after we returned home, my 7 year old daughter brought home the “journal” that her teacher was having each child keep every day. This is what my 7 year old had written:

“this is firday wane the three miell
land was hared (heard) and wane
the laby clood me (lady called me)
I new it was going to be about the
three miel land thing abegabgeg.
(thingamajig) and I was scared to
Death.”

Proof that kids usually know what their parents are feeling!

Several weeks later my son and I traveled to Three Mile Island and met Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden. I started to hand Ms. Fonda a copy of the Lancaster Newspaper which had a featured story about their visit. As I reached out, she flinched and I realized she felt vulnerable and afraid. But then she saw what it was, said hello and briefly held my four year old son!

Yes, all these years later I have vivid memories of the accident at Three Mile Island. And I think we’ll never know the WHOLE truth.

Susan