The NEW BERN
VOLUME 4
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 1961
NUMBER 20
On our desk Is a recent issue of
Or?ss Talk, a n^sy trade publica
tion that Carolina Telephone and
Telegraph Company prints for the
benefit of its many employees.
Among other thtogs in the issue
at hand is the story of how four
of the firm’s directory advertising
salesmen were credited with saving
.the lives of three men at Atlantic
Beach on June 12. The youths are
John Byrd, Don Collier, Ed Lee
find Bennie Harker.
The story carries their photo
graphs, and the thoughts of this
newspaperman went rushing back
through the years — six years to
be exact — as we* spied Bennie’s
bmMng likeness. in the publication.
ive’ll never torget young Barker,
hor will he forget us. Call it a
ooineidence, a miracle, a God in
tended thing, or vidiatever you like,
Bennie will tell you that he is un
doubtedly alive today because un
usual circumstances which neither
of us can explain in mortal terms
came about.
The writer will simply detail the
events, and let you decide whether
a guiding hand directed the actions
of this newspaperman on a tragic
afternoon. We’ve never spent much
time on tales of the supemnatural,
, nor are we inclined to pay hpmage
to superstitions. Ehren so, there
was sbmething exceedingly strange
about the indent we’re going to
rel^e. - ,
"iSh "the afterndon^ referred- to,
w« were up BroaA ^toeet
j ust as- w«
that t^roughfare thousandCtof
times before. As we got directly
across toe street from Kafer Memo
rial Hospital, something told us to
cr^ over to enter that institution.
To say the urge was unusual is
an understatement. Never before,
so far as we can recall, had we
ever visited toe hospital without
a definite purpose in mind. Oc
casionally we went there to see
some friend who was ill. Almost
always i it was to cover a news
, story — usually a serious accident
that toe writer already kn^ about.
'This time we didn’t have the
sli^test inkling of an accident. As
if drawn by a magnet, we crossed
over, climbed the steps and enter
ed the big front door.
Then, and not until then, we dis-
covered that Bennie Harker had
been in an automobile accident.
' His chest was crushed, and his
condition wns so desperate that he
wasn’t expected to live. We were
told he needed toe attention of
^^cialists at Duke Hospital in
Durham, 1>ut that he probably
wouldn’t survive an ambulance trip
if one'were attempted.
Forgive us for believing, if we
ne^ forgiveness, that God had
plwed us in toe right spot at toe
right time. Thinking with clarity
that isn’t always typical of us, mid
probably wasn’t of our own doing,
we made the most of precious
minutes.
Getting approval from the young
ster’s relatives and the attending
physician, we called toe control
tower at Cherry Point and got
through to the high command. Hur
riedly we informed them o^ the
dire situation here, and requested
a mercy flight to Durham from
New Bern’s municipal airport.
A flying boxcar took off from
toe Marine Corps Air Station at
* once. It was large enough, of
course, to accomodate a stretcher
and attendants on toe scheduled
trip to Durham. Bennie was hur-
ribd to the airpart in an ambu
lance. Another ambulance and a
Highway Patrol escort was arrang
ed for at Durham.
In a matter of miAutes from toe
time we walkfed into Kafer, Memo
rial Ho^tal, for no apparent rea
son, he was on his'-^vay. A surgeon
was waiting when he reached an
(Cehtiiwwi on Pago 81
I
1
i
SWEET MISSES—New Bern always has emphasized history
in its parades, and this float is a typical example of that em
phasis. We’ll l|!t you guess how long ago this photograph
was taken, after you identify Elizabeth Nunn, Betsy War
ren, Martha Hurst, Florrie Gibbs, Martha Waters, Catherine
Waters, Rachel Raynor, Sallie Pat Kafer, Annie Kinsey
Whitford, Cecil Lupton and Catherine Matthews. Our
thanks to the countless Mirror readers who have expressed
delight at these pictorial excursions into the past.
'f
i
, I.
LOADS OF FUN—Pictured here is the Trent Court sum
mer playground provided for happy youngsters by the New
Bern Recreation Department. John Anderson has been its
director, and did a fine job. EquaUy qffipient at thej gther
local playgrounds in their roles as directors were Carolyn
Nelson, Eloise Reel and Shirley Rogers. The season ends
today, but the memories will Unger much longer.—^Photo
by John R. Baxter. , .,.