PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

Do you remember where you were when Mt. St. Helens blew its top 40 years ago?

It’s a question like where you were when President John Kennedy was assassinated, when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, or when the Twin Towers went down to a terrorist attack in New York.

With St. Helens, I and two other members of my family – wife Nancy and son Eric – were witnesses to history.

We watched the eruption from our home in Salem, Oregon, though what was saw was the aftermath of the eruption, a cloud that we found out later went up about 14 miles, making it visible about 100 miles south where we lived.

It wasn’t long before ash began falling on our house, the deck, and our cars. Not smart to try to wash the ash off the cars because the substance would leave a trail of scars.

For us, another “eruption” occurred just a few days later.

Our daughter, Lissy, was born and my wife recalls that the labor she went through was quick, as was the birth, thus the word “eruption.”

So, in line with the Mt. St. Helens eruption memories, our daughter is celebrating her 40^th birthday.

The statistics about the St. Helens eruption are staggering.

• The cloud escalated 14 miles up.
• More than 540 million tons of ash were deposited by the eruption, which means that ash landed in 11 states. [To this day, witnesses retain jars of ash, as we do.]
• There was more than $1 billion worth of damage to the surrounding area, including blown up bridges, uprooted timber, and lost homes. The total would equate to almost $4 billion today.
• A total of 57 persons lost their lives in the blast, including a figure named Harry Truman – yes, Harry Truman — who ran a lodge near the mountain and refused to leave in advance of the eruptioin even after being ordered to do so.

I also remember that soon after the blast, one of the rescuers was my brother-in-law, Colonel Dave Wendt, who flew helicopters for the 304^th rescue squadron based in Portland.

As he and his colleagues flew into the damage zone, he took pictures, reporting to us that the ground looked a “moonscape.” Coincidentally, that was same term used by President Jimmy Carter as he toured the site by air a few days later.

Colonel Wendt and his colleagues, in the immediate aftermath of the eruption, were able to rescue several lucky folks who barely escaped death.

[By the way, the St. Helens rescue effort was not Colonel Wendt’s only scrape with tough situations. He flew planes in the Vietnam conflict to rescue downed pilots, was the first officer on a Pan Am jet hijacked to Cuba, and flew cover for the Lake Placid Olympics in New York.  A calling worthy of great respect for his service.]

Regarding President Carter, my business colleague, Gary Conkling, remembers that, at the time, the president was sequestered at the White House, preferring not to leave during the Iran hostage crisis.  For Congressman Les AuCoin, for whom both Gary and I worked, Gary wrote a memo recommending that Carter tour the eruption site from the air in what would be a “presidential act.”

He did and Congressman AuCoin accompanied Carter on Air Force One to view the damage in the West.

Overall, for me, the St. Helens eruption showed again that, however important and capable we think we are, we are not in charge of our own universe.