14. Driving Accident Stories

14. Driving Accident Stories

Royal G. Jackson: What do you remember about Vern McDaniel?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Oh, he's an old grouch. [Laughter] Yes, I turned the ambulance over coming down the hill one day.

Royal G. Jackson: You turned it over?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Yes.

Royal G. Jackson: How did you do that?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Well, I guess I was going too fast and lost control. I skidded about 150 feet or something like that.

Royal G. Jackson: Did you completely roll over?

Edward Sekermestrovich: No, just on the side. I don't remember going over and over but . . .

Royal G. Jackson: Didn't get hurt?

Edward Sekermestrovich: No, didn't get hurt.

Royal G. Jackson: What did Vern think about that?

Edward Sekermestrovich: He squealed on me. [Laughter] It wasn't nothing to get it back up on its legs -- we had a lot of help, fellows came to help me -- but he squealed on me. They found out.

Royal G. Jackson: Who'd he tell?

Edward Sekermestrovich: The captain, Woody.

Royal G. Jackson: What did the captain do?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Nothing. Give me the devil. "Well, what we going to do about it," and I said, "I don't know what you're going to do about it." See, I always had to go to Vancouver Barracks to get my truck fixed if I had something bad, and if I couldn't get there, I could get it fixed any place, send them a bill. But anyway, I could take it up there. We had inspection every month, or every two months, or every three months. Whenever they decided they'd send you a letter, and then you'd go up there and have it fixed. And what they would do is tune the whole thing and they'd look, kick the tires around, and if it needed new ones on, they'd put new ones on. Then they give you a kit -- it had two headlight bulbs in it, it had an extra spark plug, and it had fuses, stuff like that; they'd keep that kit full, too; that's to get you home. But we never had any trouble that way. I never had any big breakdowns until I hit the bridge at Yaquina one night.

Royal G. Jackson: You hit the bridge?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Yes, about 2:00 in the morning.

Royal G. Jackson: What were you doing out at 2:00 in the morning?

Edward Sekermestrovich: I was taking a guy to the Vancouver Barracks. He got hit with a bale of hay, believe it or not. Fell out of an airplane -- I mean, they threw it out of the airplane, so he could sleep.

Royal G. Jackson: Wait a minute. Tell me this story.

Edward Sekermestrovich: We were at Smith River fire and they throw eggs by the cratefull, stuff like that, see.

Royal G. Jackson: They throw eggs out to the people down below to eat?

Edward Sekermestrovich: To eat, yes.

Royal G. Jackson: So they cushioned them so they wouldn't break?

Edward Sekermestrovich: They tried to. All right, now this was an old cabin or some darn thing up in the hills, and this guy threw a bale of hay so this guy could sleep up there. There were a bunch of them to sleep up there, because they couldn't come down that hill or that mountainside.

Royal G. Jackson: Because they were fighting fires?

Edward Sekermestrovich: That's right, they were fighting fires. So he throws out a bale of hay to them -- maybe threw out dozens to them I don't know that. All I know is a bale of hay came down on this building and the guy thought it was going to come through the damn building, so he runs outside there. Just as he runs outside, it hit him on the back. [Laughter] Man, he wasn't laughing when I took him all the way up there; I tell you he was screaming. I thought in Waldport I'd have to do something there, take him to some hospital closer. We strapped him down and we finally got him up there.

Royal G. Jackson: Was his back broken?

Edward Sekermestrovich: No, it was never broke. But pretty badly wrenched.

Royal G. Jackson: And so you hit the bridge, ah?

Edward Sekermestrovich: I fell asleep.

Royal G. Jackson: Fell asleep and hit the bridge.

Edward Sekermestrovich: That woke me up. [Laughter]

Royal G. Jackson: That fellow that was back there with the hurt back, did that disturb him at all?

Edward Sekermestrovich: Well, he screamed.