Our Lady of the Angels: The fire that 'changed everything'

Firefighter Richard Scheidt rushes from the school with John Jajkowski, 10. (Steve Lasker / Chicago American) More photos

50 years later: The fire that 'changed everything'

Our Lady of the Angels: The fire that 'changed everything'
By Rex W. Huppke Tribune reporter
November 29, 2008

On Dec. 1, 1958, a fire consumed Our Lady of the Angels grade school on the West Side of Chicago, killing 92 children and three nuns.

A wire story from that day captured a fragment of the desperation:

"Max Stachura stood outside the burning building, begging his little boy, Mark, 9, to jump into his arms. Children were falling all about the father and he caught or stopped the fall of 12 of them. But little Mark was too frightened or he didn't understand his father. Mark didn't jump."

Fifty years later, Mark's mother has the day in crisp focus, and adds a missing detail.

As Mark stood at that second-floor window, fire to his back, he held a small statue in his hand and waved it proudly through the black smoke, hoping his father would notice. Mark had won the statue that day — a figure of an infant Jesus — for being first to answer a quiz question.

"I guess he was just so proud of that prize," said Mary Stachura, now in a retirement home in Bartlett. "I don't think he really understood what was happening."

Few of the children trapped in the school could have grasped the enormity of the danger they faced, and few of the panicky adults on the ground — parents and neighbors and firefighters — had time to reflect. They acted, grabbing ladders of all lengths from garages, reaching through broken windows to haul small, waterlogged bodies from the flames.

Max Stachura watched as other children pushed his son back, away from the window and into the flames. The boy was later identified by a homework sheet crumpled in his pocket.

Max rarely spoke of that day. He died suddenly of a heart attack at 52.

"He was much too young," said Mary, now 85. "That fire. It changed everything."

The fire at Our Lady of the Angels remains one of the worst tragedies in Chicago's history, a ghastly few hours on a cold, sunny afternoon that shattered families and knocked a hopeful, growing community forever off its path.

The cause of the fire was never officially determined, and no one was held accountable. Some parents who lost a child--or children-- found ways to blame each other and wound up divorced. Others sold their tidy two flats and moved away, hastening the flight of the middle class from the city's West Side.
click link for more

2 heroes risk life to save soup kitchen manager after firey crash

SNN PHOTO / CRAIG BURDICK A soup kitchen manager died Friday morning when her car was rear-ended in front of Wal-Mart near U.S. 301. The driver that hit her is charged with DUI manslaughter.

Woman killed in fiery crash

By HALLE STOCKTON
Published: Saturday, November 29, 2008 at 1:00 a.m.

MANATEE COUNTY - Two witnesses fought flames spurting out the back of a car that was crumpled by an alleged drunken driver in a rear-end collision that killed a local soup kitchen manager around 6 a.m. Friday.

One man reached into the car to check for the occupant's pulse and felt nothing, while the other used a fire extinguisher from their Waste Management truck to douse the flames.

The two then smashed the window and cut off the 77-year-old woman's seat belt to remove her because the blaze continued to flare.

"We weren't sure if she was gone," said Charlie Hall, a driver for Waste Management. "And even though she was, I didn't want that lady to burn up because that would have been more horrific for the family."

Hall and co-worker Lorne Hancock were two of the first people at the fiery accident on State Road 70 and 30th Street East -- a busy intersection of retail hubs on the biggest shopping day of the year.

A 20-year-old Bradenton woman was the driver of the midsize sport-utility vehicle that plowed into the rear of the elderly Bradenton woman's car, Florida Highway Patrol said. Both vehicles were headed west in front of the Wal-Mart.

Mary DeLazzer -- the manager for more than 20 years at Our Daily Bread soup kitchen in the 1400 block of 14th Street West -- died at the scene. She was most likely on her way to the kitchen when she was hit, a friend said.
click post title for more

Chicken soup for a complex problem, homelessness

Maybe you're like I was at a time in my life when I thought the homeless people received enough help so they didn't need me. I was actually afraid of them when I was walking around. My excuse, well I was just a teenager at the time. When I grew up, my attitude did too.

I started to see them as people that once had families and friends, jobs, places to live and bank accounts. After all, my father did. He was a Korean War veteran and 100% disabled. He was also an alcoholic. My father never ended up homeless but spent about a year in a project living in a tiny apartment. Because of him, I understood how families could turn their backs on one of their own. Having a parent come home drunk with half the neighborhood talking about him was not something to be proud of. There were constant fist fights and shouting matches. He stopped drinking when I was 13 and joined AA. My parents separation ended and he moved back home.

His alcoholism and recovery changed my mind about homeless people. I understood that my father could have been one of them. Then as I grew older, they captured my heart.

It was not until my husband's PTSD got so bad that I was considering sending him to the homeless shelter in Boston that my eyes were fully opened. Homeless veterans also walk the streets with all the others. Imagine being willing to lay down your life for the sake of the other people in the country only to be left abandoned by them, homeless and walking the streets for the rest of you life. Fighting for a bed to sleep in or someplace out of the snow, rain and freezing temperatures. Wondering when you'll eat next or when you have taken your last chance. While all homeless people mattered to me, the veterans being homeless broke my heart. Considering I almost had two of them in my own life, it isn't hard to understand why that is.

Some use drugs and alcohol to the point where their lives fall apart but others see hard times come into their lives and they cannot cope with them. There are as many reasons for homeless people as there are homeless people. Some never had a close family to take care of them. Some have mental illness and there are no jobs for them even if they could work.

What really go to me is that there is the most famous homeless person in the history of mankind. His name is Jesus. Remember He didn't really have a home to go to at the end of working a long day spreading the word of God. He didn't have a stock of food to eat whenever He wanted to or clothes in suitcases. He had to rely on the kindness of strangers to take care of His needs. His Disciples gave up their homes, families and livelihoods to follow Him. They were taken care of by the people in the towns they traveled to. No one asked them why they didn't have a place to live. No one asked them why they couldn't find real jobs to take care of their own needs. No one judged them. They just took care of them.

Think about it the next time you find nothing wrong with homeless people walking our streets with not enough people to take care of them, feed them, shelter them and clothe them.

Senior Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
www.youtube.com/NamGuardianAngel
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Chicken soup for a complex problem

By Cristina Silva and Austin Bogues, Times Staff Writers
In print: Sunday, November 30, 2008

Laura Lanciotti was hooked on cocaine and liquor, unemployed and living under a highway overpass in downtown St. Petersburg when advocates for the homeless told her about Pinellas Hope.

She moved into the outdoor tent shelter in unincorporated Pinellas County in October, quit the booze and drugs and got a job as a security guard at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

Pinellas Hope "helped me put my life back together," said Lanciotti, 55.

Once regarded as an experimental, quick fix to the area's growing homeless problem, Pinellas Hope has quickly become Pinellas County's leading social service provider since the shelter opened 12 months ago.
click link above for more

Darryl E. Owens: Salvation Army needs your sweaters, not just pennies

A couple of times a year I go thru what we don't need anymore and donate them to the Vietnam Veterans. After reading this, I'm going to do it one extra time this year and drop them off at the Salvation Army. How about you? I know times are tough and you may want to sell some of the things you don't need at a yard sale, but you do get a tax deduction with donating to the Salvation Army at the same time you're doing something good for someone else.

Darryl E. Owens: Salvation Army needs your sweaters, not just pennies
Black Friday

with shoppers lining up at ungodly hours to nab heavenly deals -- traditionally starts the winter-holiday shopping season.

Traditionally, it has also marked high tide in the flood of donations to charitable groups such as the Salvation Army, as enlightened altruists think end-of-the-year tax breaks.

But then, traditions are made to be broken.

If the past six months are prologue, the group known for trotting out a red kettle during Christmastime may need to pass around a tin cup to scare up enough donations to serve the swelling ranks of the needy who depend on its thrift stores to clothe their families.

From the beginning, donated items plunged. Daily donations that once averaged about 8,000 pieces of clothing have slumped to between 4,000 and 5,000.

"We don't know if people are wanting to hold on to items or stretch the life of their clothing or bric-a-brac," says Justine Birmingham, a spokeswoman for the charity.

Meanwhile, the plunging financial markets sparked soaring thrift-store sales, Birmingham says.

Only supply isn't meeting the record demand.

"While we have large numbers coming in wanting to purchase, wanting to make their dollars stretch more, unfortunately, we don't always have the products," Birmingham says.
click link for more

3 killed by Amtrak train after their car bypasses crossing gate

3 killed by Amtrak train after their car bypasses crossing gate With Video
Willoughby Mariano | Sentinel Staff Writer
11:11 AM EST, November 29, 2008

Two men and one woman died Friday night after the sedan in which they were riding bypassed crossing gates and flashing lights and was hit by a passenger train in south Orange County.

The crash occurred about 7 p.m. at east Lancaster Road and South Orange Avenue, as the occupants of a four-door, 1994 Buick were traveling between the homes of friends, said Sgt. Kim Miller, a Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman.

The sedan was crossing the tracks eastbound on Lancaster when a northbound Amtrak train carrying about 170 passengers crashed into it. The car went airborne, landing hundreds of feet away near a warehouse parking lot. It smashed into a parked tractor-trailer before overturning.

Driver Walter Martinez, 22, was pinned under the car. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Cristina Rosa, 19, and John Penaloza, 27, were pronounced dead at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Victor Carrillo, 22, was in serious condition at ORMC.
click link for more

War-zone accidents down; off-duty wrecks rise

War-zone accidents down; off-duty wrecks rise


By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Nov 29, 2008 7:15:20 EST

Fatal accidents in the war zone declined sharply and claimed fewer soldiers’ lives in fiscal 2008, but the number of soldiers dying in off-duty accidents back home continues to creep up.

Motorcycle accidents once again top the list of off-duty killers, followed by accidents in sedans and other privately owned vehicles, according to data compiled by the Combat Readiness/Safety Center at Fort Rucker, Ala.

Of the 130 soldiers who died in privately owned vehicle accidents in fiscal 2008, 48 were in sedans, compared with 38 last year, and 51 were on motorcycles, up from 38 in fiscal 2007.

Sport bikes — lighter, more powerful motorcycles that accelerate faster and cost less than heavier cruisers — are the most popular motorcycles among soldiers, according to Army safety experts.

Of the 51 motorcycle accident fatalities, 37 occurred on sport bikes, compared with 29 in fiscal 2007.

Soldiers receive free basic and experienced rider courses through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, and dozens of rider mentorship courses have sprung up across the Army. A new sport-bike course was launched May 30 and motorcycle simulators are being installed at several posts.
click link for more

Grace After Fire, online group for women after war

Grace After Fire
Grace After Fire is a resource solely for women veterans to support their need to connect with each other and share yet remain anonymous. These women can reach out to others who have experienced the same concerns of re-entry, alcoholism, drug addiction, or prescription addiction due to chronic pain, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), incidents of service time rape, depression, unwarranted anger or traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to wartime trauma.

Go to http://www.graceafterfire.org/

NOONIE FORTIN
1SG, USAR (Ret)
Author and Speaker
Researcher and Consultant
http://www.nooniefortin.com/
http://www.colonelmaggie.com/
http://www.talesandwhalespublishing.com/
www.myspace.com/nooniefortin

My video Women at War


My video, The Voice, Women At War


This video shows the rich history of women in the military. I used some of Noonie's information in this video.

VETERAN'S GROUP GIVES 10,000 DISTURBING DVDs TO VETS ON REQUEST

VETERAN'S GROUP GIVES 10,000 DISTURBING DVDs TO VETS ON REQUEST


David M. Bresnahan
Posted; 1:05 AM Eastern
February 9, 2006
NewsWithViews.com

VERSAILLE, Mo. -- The American Gulf War Veterans Association, in conjunction with The Power Hour Productions, is giving away 10,000 DVDs of the video documentary "Beyond Treason" to veterans who simply ask for them.

Winner of the Grand Festival Award at the 2005 Berkeley Film Festival, "Beyond Treason" documents over 50 years of neglect and abuse of veterans by the DOD, VA and government officials. Using Senate reports, Congressional transcripts, military records and veteran testimony, the documentary explores the history of chemical warfare, Agent Orange, secret experiments, Gulf War illness and depleted uranium exposure.

"We are making this effort to reach out to veterans and their families, because hundreds of thousands remain ill and untreated by the VA. They are being denied any explanation or causation. ‘Beyond Treason' provides answers to questions that government officials and the DoD don't want asked, said Joyce Riley, RN, BSN, narrator of the documentary.

Riley, who is also spokesperson for the American Gulf War Veterans Association, said that "Beyond Treason" is sent at no charge to any veterans who request it. Details of the offer can be found at the web site www.beyondtreason.com.

The video contains actual documentation from U.S. government records giving the details of experiments on military and civilians. It also contains interviews with scientists, veterans, and government officials who verify the claims and describe a government cover-up for the past 60 years.
go here for more
http://www.newswithviews.com/news_worthy/news_worthy70.htm

Memories of Maggie—Martha Raye: A Legend Spanning Three Wars

Saturday 29 November 2008
9:00-10:00 AM Eastern
http://www.veteransradio.net/



Since just before World War II, the USO has been the bridge between the American people and our men and women in uniform, conveying the heartfelt appreciation and support of a grateful nation. Whether it is a quiet place to go for rest and relaxation, movies, refreshments, or a friendly face, the USO delivers its special brand of service to the military.

For over 67 years the USO has been there for us.

Join Veterans Radio and our guest John Hanson, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications as we talk about some of the history and stories of the USO.

One of the best known and loved performers on the USO circuit for over fifty years was Martha Raye. From the deserts of North Africa to the jungles of Vietnam , Martha(Maggie)Raye entertained America’s finest.

Join our guest Noonie Fortin, retired Army Reserve First Sergeant, and author of Memories of Maggie—Martha Raye: A Legend Spanning Three Wars. Did you know that “Maggie” was an honorary member of the Special Forces. She received her cherished Green Beret and title of Lieutenant Colonel from President Lyndon Johnson? And that she was buried with special permission at Ft. Bragg?

Tune in Saturday morning to learn more about this incredible American heroine.

Call us with your USO or Martha Raye story at 877-573-7825
Tune in Saturday morning on
WDEO (990-AM Ann Arbor/Detroit),
WMAX (1440-AM, Saginaw),
WDEO-FM (99.5 FM, Naples, FL),
KAGY (1510-AM Port Sulphur / New Orleans, LA),
KIXW (960-AM, Apple Valley CA) and
KMRC (1430-AM Morgan City, LA)…
…or, at http://www.veteransradio.net/

Brenden Foster's last wish for homeless already raised $95,000 in cash plus truck loads of food

Brenden's mom: 'Amazing what he accomplished'
Watch the story

BOTHELL, Wash. -- The truckfuls of food donated in Brenden Foster's honor are now in the hands of the hungry.

The beloved boy lived long enough to see his final wish to help the homeless come true. After he died, his mother was able to see what he had accomplished.

Wendy Foster hadn't left home since her son died in her arms last Friday. But this week, she and her family went to Food Lifeline to see what a difference he made just one day before he passed.

Wendy saw boxes stacked to the ceiling marked with her boy's name to be shipped to shelters and food banks.

"This is amazing," Wendy said. "This is the biggest gift. I couldn't ask for a better gift."

And what Wendy saw was only a small part of what was left. A food drive in Brenden's honor collected enough food to fill seven semi-trucks as well as $95,000 in cash donations. And this week, Wendy herself delivered a huge check to Food Lifeline.

"I am very pleased to hand this over to you -- $43,300," she said.

"Oh, my gosh," said Camilla Bishop of Food Lifeline as she accepted the donation.

Wendy herself has needed help feeding her family. Caring for Brenden became her full-time job and wiped out the family's finances.

"We've been very close to being on the streets ourselves," she said.

All memorial services for Brenden Foster will be closed to the public. However, those who wish to send flowers can do so to Evergreen Washelli at 11111 Aurora Avenue North Seattle, WA 98133 on Dec. 6, the day of his funeral. Red roses are said to have been his favorite.

Donations can be made to the Brenden Foster Cancer Fund at any branch of Washington Mutual Bank.
click link for more
Related Content
Brenden Foster: 'I had a great time'
Brenden Foster: 'I could have done more'
Dying boy inspires goodwill in people near and far