An infielder that played for the New York Giants from 1947-1951 and the Philadelphia Phillies from 1952-1953 may have felt he was lucky to have 7 years of service time in the major leagues. For Jack Lohrke, he was happy just to be alive. Getting 2 at bats in the 1951 World Series against the New York Yankees was great. The Giants regular 3B for the 1947 season had one of the luckiest reasons to be alive. He was on a bus with other members of the Spokane Indians where the bus was headed to Bremerton, WA. At a food stop, he was notified that he had been promoted to San Diego of the Pacific Coast League. He left the team to hitch hike back to SD. Unfortunately, the driver of the bus tried to avoid an oncoming truck after the bus took off, resulting in a terrible accident where the bus fell about 350 feet off a hill. The bus would catch fire, killing 8 ballplayers instantly with another dying a couple days later. This happened on June 24, 1946- 68 years ago today.
About two and a half years ago, there was a terrible plane accident involving a KHL hockey team in Russia. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl was on board a plane when it lost control and crashed near the runways. 43 of the 45 passengers were killed instantly and another died a couple days later. On board, only one man survived this terrible accident. Similar to the man that survived the Russian Hockey team accident, Lohrke had to live his life with a good amount of guilt. Understandably, it probably became a burden on him to continuously be asked about the sad events of that day, something he had no control over.
Jack clearly had no role into what happened to that bus. He was not on the bus because he was told to go to San Diego, which he obliged. Lucky? Yes. But he certainly should not have been treated negatively because of what happened. He would be on his way to San Diego, ironically, with two of the widows of teammates of the Spokane Indians- accompanying them to their homes. This had to be hard enough.
What few mention in regards to Jack Lohrke is the fact that he also survived the Battle of the Bulge- the worst battle in US history, in 1944-1945. He clearly saw comrades and friends killed right in front of him, something he had to deal with. He survived separate battles where fellow soldiers on either side of him were killed. To make matters worse, he was about to leave New Jersey on a plane to California when a colonel bumped him from the flight. The plane crashed killing all on board. He took the next flight to Kansas City.
As amazing as it was to see a man survive what Jack Lohrke did was probably as difficult as could be to live through. In addition to the guilt of what had transpired, he would seldom make it very far without a member of the media wanting to ask him to rehash the incidents again. Imagine in today's overzeolous media and its attention? Jack lived to age 85 before passing away on 4/29/2009 in San Jose, CA. Sure he was lucky, but no one should be so pestured over something that was completely out of their control.
About two and a half years ago, there was a terrible plane accident involving a KHL hockey team in Russia. Lokomotiv Yaroslavl was on board a plane when it lost control and crashed near the runways. 43 of the 45 passengers were killed instantly and another died a couple days later. On board, only one man survived this terrible accident. Similar to the man that survived the Russian Hockey team accident, Lohrke had to live his life with a good amount of guilt. Understandably, it probably became a burden on him to continuously be asked about the sad events of that day, something he had no control over.
Jack clearly had no role into what happened to that bus. He was not on the bus because he was told to go to San Diego, which he obliged. Lucky? Yes. But he certainly should not have been treated negatively because of what happened. He would be on his way to San Diego, ironically, with two of the widows of teammates of the Spokane Indians- accompanying them to their homes. This had to be hard enough.
What few mention in regards to Jack Lohrke is the fact that he also survived the Battle of the Bulge- the worst battle in US history, in 1944-1945. He clearly saw comrades and friends killed right in front of him, something he had to deal with. He survived separate battles where fellow soldiers on either side of him were killed. To make matters worse, he was about to leave New Jersey on a plane to California when a colonel bumped him from the flight. The plane crashed killing all on board. He took the next flight to Kansas City.
As amazing as it was to see a man survive what Jack Lohrke did was probably as difficult as could be to live through. In addition to the guilt of what had transpired, he would seldom make it very far without a member of the media wanting to ask him to rehash the incidents again. Imagine in today's overzeolous media and its attention? Jack lived to age 85 before passing away on 4/29/2009 in San Jose, CA. Sure he was lucky, but no one should be so pestured over something that was completely out of their control.
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