I was a sophomore in 2nd period Civics class at CD East High school on March 28th, 1979 when I was summoned to the office. I thought someone in my family had died which scared me immediately but when I got to the office and saw my mother’s face and felt the fear and tension coming from every adult in the office…I knew something else had happened and it was bad?!?
As we pulled away I remember thinking I might not see anyone ever again
My mother worked at the New Cumberland Army Depot at the time and had very early notice of the event. When she heard the there was a possibility of an evacuation that would send West Shore occupants one direction and East Shore occupants in another…she left to grab me from school.
I remember as we were leaving the building (which would have been approximately 9 am) there were other cars pulling up and parents running in to do the same. As we pulled away I remember thinking I might not see anyone ever again and I was very, very sad.
‘Three Mile Island’ … everyone knew where that was.
I spent the rest of the day at the Depot with my Mom…and then we went home, packed up some belongings and went to stay with relatives in NYC. In hindsight, that was probably NOT the best choice of evacuation destinations but the news kept emphasizing the “15 miles as the crow flies” danger zone so we were at least out of that range.
For years afterwards as I lived in other parts of the country whenever someone asked me where I was from I would say ‘Harrisburg’…and if they didn’t know where that was I would say ‘Three Mile Island’ and watch everyone knew where that was.