Jack H. Schick

Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (Rudy Got Blown Up)


Posted: Saturday, January 16, 2010

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Rudy was transferred to the Casper Refinery from a chemical plant in Pennsylvania that was destroyed by an explosion. Seventeen people were killed and many others injured. Amoco found jobs with the company for all the survivors. Rudy was the only one who came to work with us. I'd never experienced it or witnessed it; but, I was a little skeptical about 'shell shock', 'battle fatigue', or 'post-traumatic stress' as they call it. Rudy convinced me that it is a very real and debilitating condition.

Rudy was much older than most of us. Many of the guys thought Rudy was a 'strange old bird'. He was solitary, quiet-spoken and wouldn't talk much. I figured being around much younger people and in a strange new environment had something to do with it. He was frequently playfully mocked and ridiculed. Since both of us were originally from PA, we had things to talk about. We became fishing buddies.

Rudy worked as my Tank Car Loader. He filled railroad cars with diesel fuel and unloaded butane trucks and rail cars. His work station was a small 'dog house' near the butane spheres and propane tanks. I didn't realize until later just how nervous he was about working in that potentially dangerous area.

I'd stop by a couple of times a shift to see how he was doing. We'd talk. I naturally asked him about his experience. Several times he told me the same story about a good friend of his, Mark, who was walking across an open area not far from 'ground zero' of the blast. He'd been torn up by shrapnel and roasted to a crisp. Only once would Rudy tell me his own story.

As Rudy described it, men were working on a leak at a large pressurized tank. Nobody knows exactly what happened. There was not enough left at the site of the blast to reconstruct events. Rudy was in a second floor control room about 150 yards away. He was lifted up and thrown, head first, into a large, chicken wire reinforced window then dropped ten feet down into a stairwell. When he 'came to' there was fire and dust swirlling around him. A 200 pound slab of the concrete ceiling was pinning his legs. He flipped it off with one arm and ran. He remembered the heat and flames. He remembered another guy sprinting along beside him, but he didn't remember much else until he was getting into the ambulance much later.

Sonic booms were not unusual in Wyoming. There are airbases and, with only half a million people in a state over twice the size of Pennsylvania, they don't worry much about rattling windows and spooking folks. When ever there was a sonic boom, I knew I'd soon be getting a call from Rudy. I'd be sure to be near my phone.

"Uuh..this is Rudy." he'd stammer. "I need a smoke break. Can you come down and relieve me?"

"Sure. I'll be right there." I could envision him, jumping like I did at the sonic boom, then sitting there by himself in the little shed surrounded by tens of thousands of gallons of propane and butane. The stress built up and, without fail, within ten minutes he couldn't take it anymore and called me.

Once I got a call when there had not been a sonic boom. He seemed very agitated, talked in an unusually loud voice. I rushed down to the loading rack. Rudy was out in the middle of the driveway pacing rapidly back and forth. He was smoking a cigarette, taking quick shallow puffs.

"Rudy! Put out the cigarette!" I shouted as I hopped out of the truck.

He looked down at it as if he didn't even know he'd lit it. He had a wild look in his eyes. He quickly threw it down and stomped on it.

"What's the matter?" I put my hand on his shoulder. He flinched.

"You hear that steam leak over at the Vapor Recovery Unit?" He stared that direction and pointed. "It sounds just like before the explosion. The exact same sound."

I sent Rudy to break. I shut off the pump and secured the off loading station. I grabbed the guy off the diesel rack and had him unload butane the rest of the day. I talked to Rudy after he'd finised loading the deisel cars. He seemed fine. We never mentioned the incident again.

There is no question in my mind that the condition is real. I have nothing but sympathy for those who suffer from it. Anyone who tells me it's faked can expect a heated discussion.

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Ruth
from PA 2 years 18 days ago.
Wow, poor Rudy. It sounds like he could have taken a disability pension.
» left by Jack H. Schick 2 years 18 days ago.
89 fans.
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