Explosion survivor wants memorial moved

The nightmare of being trapped in a building and surrounded by fire now only haunts Jack Bales occasionally nearly 57 years after he survived two explosions in downtown Richmond.

On April 6, 1968, Bales was in Marting Arms on the southeast corner of Sixth and Main streets, standing next to his friend, Greg Oler. An explosion rocked downtown as they waited to pick up an order.

“In a split second, the second blast went off right underneath our feet,” Bales told Richmond Common Council members during their March 17 meeting. “That was the last time I saw Greg alive.”

A memorial at Fifth and Main streets has honored the 41 people who died from those explosions, “but to me it’s not the proper resting place,” Bales said. “The location where the memorial stands now is almost unnoticeable.”

With the former Elder-Beerman demolished, making way for the planned 6Main apartment development, Bales wants the memorial moved to the Marting Arms location, the southeast corner of Sixth and Main, and rededicated.

Larry Parker, council’s president, said he’d like to discuss Bales’ request with Mayor Ron Oler, who did not attend the council meeting, then form a committee.

Council member Jerry Purcell agreed that the memorial is almost hidden. He remembers being at Richmond’s airport, feeling the explosions and seeing the mushroom cloud of smoke six miles away.

“No one that was alive at that time does not know where they were at and what they were doing at that moment,” Purcell said.

Council member Jane Bumbalough remembers being at home, sitting on the floor, when the china cupboard shook badly because of the explosions.

Bales regained consciousness atop a tall pile of bricks. There were fires around him, and he couldn’t breathe because of intense brick dust. He was helped by two Wayne Dairy workers, and one pulled an arrow from Bales’ back. They loaded Bales into a station wagon, and he was driven to Reid Memorial Hospital.

There, a doctor told Bales he wasn’t hurt as badly as others and to go home. A couple of days later, Bales received treatment for multiple broken bones, ruptured ear drums, severe burns and two broken vertebrae in his back. He spent months in traction before being released from the hospital.

But he survived, and 41 others, including his friend Oler, did not.

“I’ve carried his memory and all the childhood memories we made together in my heart for the last 56 years,” Bales said.