HERALD PHOTO BY CAROL MOORMAN
Mark Anderson holds a photo of the burned bus that he and fellow students escaped from on Feb. 28, 1958. A 17-year-old senior at the time, Anderson opened the back door, holding it open and helping students out of the bus.
By Carol Moorman and Bryan Zollman
People celebrate birthdays and anniversaries.
On Feb. 28 Mark Anderson's family held another celebration at his Sauk Centre home. It was 50 years ago to the day, back in 1958, that Anderson, then 17 and a high school senior, helped a bus load of fellow students and the bus driver off the bus following a two-vehicle accident. Four people were injured, one critically who died a few days later.
Yes, Anderson was surprised with the celebration organized by his wife, Jeanette, and two daughters, Laurie Jennissen and Kathy Beckermann and their families. But his thoughts of the 1958 bus accident surfaced recently, with a similar incident occurring in Cottonwood, Minn., on Feb. 19.
Besides that, two weeks ago Anderson, while doing a bit of cleaning, came across a box filled with newspaper clippings, photos, thank you letters and cards and even plaques he received from Lions Clubs in Montevideo and Watson, following that 1958 accident. It prompted him to locate the son of the now deceased bus driver, via the internet, and he talked over the phone with him.
Bus Accident 50 years ago
Last Wednesday afternoon Anderson reminisced about that 1958 February day, as he sat at the kitchen table with his wife.
It started out much like every school day, with him riding the bus to school. Living 16 miles from his school in Montevideo, Anderson was one of the first students and the oldest on the bus, usually sitting in the back where, on this morning, he was studying.
It was about 7:30 a.m. and they were traveling along when he felt a big crash. A car traveling south and the eastbound bus collided, both eventually landing in the ditch filled with knee deep water, the bus tipped on its side and the front wheel assembly a short distance away. Force had thrown the bus passengers, including Anderson, from one side to the other.
The bus hit a power pole, snapping it off. The impact caused power lines to come into contact with overhead telephone lines, knocking out phone service in the surrounding area. A farmer who lived nearby called in the accident. He was milking in the barn when his lights suddenly went out and upon investigation he discovered the accident. His phone was dead, so he drove two miles and called from there.
Meanwhile a slightly injured Anderson went to work.
"I think I was knocked out for a little while. The next thing I know I heard the girls screaming," said Anderson recalling that day. "I didn't have time to think. I just opened the back door."
That wasn't an easy task with the bus on its side and the wind trying to blow the heavy emergency door shut, but he was able to hold it open and help the dozen or so students off the bus. Noticing leaking gas had started the bus on fire, Anderson went back to the front of the bus and helped dazed and blood-covered bus driver V.K. Baldwin get out. He was a bus driver Anderson knew well.
"I was afraid the bus was going to blow up at any minute. I knew either two of us or neither of us would escape alive," said Anderson, quoted in the March 4, 1958, Montevideo News, a now-yellowed paper he has kept all these years.
Realizing Baldwin weighed at least 200 pounds, Anderson knew he wouldn't be able to carry him to safety.
"I grabbed his arm and dragged him to the rear door. He stepped out into knee-deep water. It was cold. We had to hurry because the whole front end was in flames," the article read.
By this time Montevideo firemen, three ambulances and a civil defense rescue squad responded.
Anderson went to check on the driver of the 1958 Pontiac, 38-year old Carl Hagemeyer, who he also knew.
"He had just dropped his wife off at the country school where she taught and was heading home," said Anderson.
The sight of Hagemeyer sitting in his car with his eyes closed -he was unconscious -is still fresh in his mind, even after 50 years.
"There he was, sitting right in the middle of the bench seat," said Anderson. A few days later Hagemeyer died.
Students in the bus had concussions and minor injuries. The bus driver remained in the hospital for several days.
Anderson was checked over at the hospital, and the superintendent drove him home to the farm where his parents were waiting for him. Not wanting to miss school because the teacher was explaining The Tale of Two Cities, he drove back to school in his dad's car in time for fourth hour and to the amazement of other students.
"They had heard I was burned to a crisp," said Anderson.
A hero
Anderson was heralded as a hero. He and his parents were treated to a meal from the Montevideo and Watson Lions Clubs.
"They even gave Mom a corsage," said Anderson.
He received a plaque from each club.
Minnesota governor Orville Freeman sent him a letter of appreciation. His story was in Stars and Stripes, a serviceman's magazine, and was also reported nationwide by the Associated Press.
He received thank you letters from people involved in the accident, and even from some who weren't.
"A little girl who rode the bus (but wasn't on it that day) came running to the back of the bus and gave me a note," said Anderson, opening her homemade four-page thank you note he saved.
He admits to being humbled by all the attention back then. After all, he was a high school senior doing what he thought he needed to do.
This mild-mannered man was also humbled by this year's party. Jeanette, although she wasn't able to track down a toy bus, had a cake made that painted a picture of the accident 50 years ago. And their granddaughter Maria even tipped over the so-called bus.
No doubt, it's a celebration Anderson will remember for years to come, much like he will that bus accident 50 years ago.
Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, March 15, 2008
Article comment by:
Fred Koopman
It is good to see the media cover such a worthy (good news) event as the bus accident featuring Mark Anderson. Thanks for sharing that story.
