Grandma’s name was Ruth Nadine Teeter Reams Dinehart. She had a recurring dream that she told me about when I was just a little girl. She would dream about her son, Jimmy who was killed when he was only 13 years old. In her dream she said Jimmy was alive and she was picking out clothes for him to wear when something in the sky started shooting fireballs all around them. She said it was like the end of the world, and she was trying to protect herself and Jimmy.
I can only imagine how this dream must have started out so pleasant for her. She got to see the son who had been dead for more than 30 years. He was still the little boy she remembered and she was trying to take care of him. Then suddenly everything turned as fire rained down all around her, she felt helpless to save herself or Jimmy from what seemed like certain destruction.
The dream has even more significance when you know the circumstances of Jimmy’s death. He died on the Fort Ord artillery range on the day before Easter in 1943. He was there with his brother, Dickie, when a mortar shell exploded.
Amazingly, Dick managed to live all night on the ground after he had to cut off part of his own leg that was left dangling by skin after the blast. He said that blood squirted out of it like a water pistol, and he tried to scoot on his bottom for help. He was only eleven years old. It is a miracle he did not bleed to death. He lied there all night, frightened, cold, and in delirium while Grandma begged army officials to let her onto the base to search for the boys.
His dog probably saved his life. Mitsy laid on Dick’s chest and barked all night long, keeping Dick conscious and as warm as possible.
In the 40’s things like sugar, butter, and gas were rationed. One of the soldiers stationed at Fort Ord thought he was doing the boys a favor when he showed them how they could extract lead from the mortar shells on the artillery range so that they could turn it in for recycling and get some money from it. There was no fence around the artillery range. The army is supposed to keep track of the explosions to make sure that no live artillery is left on the range, but they obviously didn’t do a very good job of it.
In the morning, Dick was found and taken to the army hospital where his other leg was amputated. If he had received medical care sooner, maybe that leg could have been saved. The army had the gall to bill my grandmother. Soldiers on the base found out and took up a collection and paid the bill for her.
In 1943, nobody had ever sued the US government. It was actually against the law to bring a law suit against the government at that time, and to change that fact would take an act of congress, but Grandma did not let that daunt her. She got herself a good lawyer, a man who would later become a California state senator; Frederick Farr. With his help Grandma got a law was passed in 1946 making it possible for civilians to sue the US government for negligence, but because Dick was hurt before the law was passed, the army could not be sued for his injuries or for Jimmy’s death.
In 1949 something eerie happened. A migrant family was camping on the Monterey peninsula, and their two sons, David and Jerry Edgmon, woke up early on Easter morning and decided to collect some wild flowers for their mother. The two boys and their dog took off across the fields without a care. They never saw the signs that were posted warning of the danger, and when they wandered onto the artillery range and found a strange object, just like any curious boys, they picked it up, then dropped it.
Their parents were awakened by the sound of the explosion, and this time help and medical attention came swiftly. Both boys lived, and their injuries were not as serious as Dick’s had been. One of the boys had to have some toes amputated. The other one lost a foot and some toes, but because the law had already been passed, they were able to sue the army and my uncle Dick testified for them. They received the largest civil settlements that had ever been granted at that time.
Grandma and Uncle Dick continued to pursue justice, however, and in 1960, president Eisenhower signed a private bill giving Uncle Dick a settlement of over $200,000. Grandma only received $12,500 for Jimmy’s death.
Grandma died in 1977, and Uncle Dick followed her in 1978. All of my family members who were alive during this time have died. I have newspaper articles and the things I remember Grandma saying and things I have gathered from my mother and my Uncle Dick’s only son, but I am trying to put a book together and any information would be helpful.
If you know anything about these events, please contact me. It is possible that David and Jerry Edgmon could still be alive. If they are, I would love to speak to them or their family. I would love to speak to anybody who may have been stationed at Fort Ord at the time or family members of soldiers who were there. Even if they were not aware of the incident, I would like to know details about Fort Ord in the 1940's. My email is danna_hobart@yahoo.com
Thank you
I can only imagine how this dream must have started out so pleasant for her. She got to see the son who had been dead for more than 30 years. He was still the little boy she remembered and she was trying to take care of him. Then suddenly everything turned as fire rained down all around her, she felt helpless to save herself or Jimmy from what seemed like certain destruction.
The dream has even more significance when you know the circumstances of Jimmy’s death. He died on the Fort Ord artillery range on the day before Easter in 1943. He was there with his brother, Dickie, when a mortar shell exploded.
Amazingly, Dick managed to live all night on the ground after he had to cut off part of his own leg that was left dangling by skin after the blast. He said that blood squirted out of it like a water pistol, and he tried to scoot on his bottom for help. He was only eleven years old. It is a miracle he did not bleed to death. He lied there all night, frightened, cold, and in delirium while Grandma begged army officials to let her onto the base to search for the boys.
His dog probably saved his life. Mitsy laid on Dick’s chest and barked all night long, keeping Dick conscious and as warm as possible.
In the 40’s things like sugar, butter, and gas were rationed. One of the soldiers stationed at Fort Ord thought he was doing the boys a favor when he showed them how they could extract lead from the mortar shells on the artillery range so that they could turn it in for recycling and get some money from it. There was no fence around the artillery range. The army is supposed to keep track of the explosions to make sure that no live artillery is left on the range, but they obviously didn’t do a very good job of it.
In the morning, Dick was found and taken to the army hospital where his other leg was amputated. If he had received medical care sooner, maybe that leg could have been saved. The army had the gall to bill my grandmother. Soldiers on the base found out and took up a collection and paid the bill for her.
In 1943, nobody had ever sued the US government. It was actually against the law to bring a law suit against the government at that time, and to change that fact would take an act of congress, but Grandma did not let that daunt her. She got herself a good lawyer, a man who would later become a California state senator; Frederick Farr. With his help Grandma got a law was passed in 1946 making it possible for civilians to sue the US government for negligence, but because Dick was hurt before the law was passed, the army could not be sued for his injuries or for Jimmy’s death.
In 1949 something eerie happened. A migrant family was camping on the Monterey peninsula, and their two sons, David and Jerry Edgmon, woke up early on Easter morning and decided to collect some wild flowers for their mother. The two boys and their dog took off across the fields without a care. They never saw the signs that were posted warning of the danger, and when they wandered onto the artillery range and found a strange object, just like any curious boys, they picked it up, then dropped it.
Their parents were awakened by the sound of the explosion, and this time help and medical attention came swiftly. Both boys lived, and their injuries were not as serious as Dick’s had been. One of the boys had to have some toes amputated. The other one lost a foot and some toes, but because the law had already been passed, they were able to sue the army and my uncle Dick testified for them. They received the largest civil settlements that had ever been granted at that time.
Grandma and Uncle Dick continued to pursue justice, however, and in 1960, president Eisenhower signed a private bill giving Uncle Dick a settlement of over $200,000. Grandma only received $12,500 for Jimmy’s death.
Grandma died in 1977, and Uncle Dick followed her in 1978. All of my family members who were alive during this time have died. I have newspaper articles and the things I remember Grandma saying and things I have gathered from my mother and my Uncle Dick’s only son, but I am trying to put a book together and any information would be helpful.
If you know anything about these events, please contact me. It is possible that David and Jerry Edgmon could still be alive. If they are, I would love to speak to them or their family. I would love to speak to anybody who may have been stationed at Fort Ord at the time or family members of soldiers who were there. Even if they were not aware of the incident, I would like to know details about Fort Ord in the 1940's. My email is danna_hobart@yahoo.com
Thank you
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