Standing on Sacred Ground
A visit to Greenville, South Carolina
November 2, 1979: There was light rain falling that Friday morning when a commuter flight took off from the Greenville, South Carolina airport. Fred Grunke, 58, an experienced Air Force WWII veteran and chief pilot of the commuter company, was at the helm of the twin-engine commuter plane on its way to Columbia. It crashed shortly after take-off, killing five of seven people on board.
June 28, 2023: We had made it. The Pods had been picked up, along with our trucks, and everything, including us, were on our way to South Carolina with our an old lady cat and a rambunctious kitten, lots of emotions, and too much caffeine.
The trip through the TSA was eventful as we had to take these our two frightened cats out of their closed top carriers. Then the friendly TSA officers stopped to pet them… which, although nice, it didn’t temper my vision of them escaping and running through the airport.
After consoling them back in their carriers, we were finally at the gate, sitting silently as everyone no doubt contemplated the uncertainty of what we were about to do. But when I looked out the window onto the tarmac, I sensed that something wasn’t right.
Where there should have been a plane, there was nothing and I don’t know, it made me nervous.
It’s one of those moments, right? You know, the one where your brain is almost not able to comprehend what is happening. I tried to keep it together though, because I knew, as I silently prayed, that God was in control, so it was all going to work out just differently that I had imagined.
A few minutes later, they announced that our plane had been cancelled.
I’m definitely no fan of change, especially where kids and cats are concerned.
Then came the fun part. For the next two hours, Kevin and I took turns standing in line to try to get a flight out of Newark. Every once in a while, I would check back in with the kids, who spent their time taking care of cats and texting their friends about all the excitement.
Finally, we got to talk to someone - and that someone was named Ted. So, having smiled my best smile, I asked Ted to get us anywhere past the Mason-Dixon line, please.
“I have four seats open on a flight to Greenville.”
My heart perked up. “We’ll take them,” my husband and I said together.
On recollection, I wasn’t even sure where that was. (Ask any of my 7th grade friends. I drew landscapes all through my Geography class with Mrs. Goodley. Surprised? I didn’t think so).
Ted looked serious. “But you’ll have to run. It’s leaving in a few minutes.”
“We can run,” I assured Ted and thanked him over and over. Then Kevin and I bolted back to the kids, picked up the cats, and started our run over to the next terminal to catch our plane. You see, at that point I had no house, no car, no nothing, so… I wasn’t staying in New Jersey.
As we were ducking through the crowd, I looked over and saw that the old lady cat literally had her face smashed against the netting of the side of her carrier. Then I saw an older lady human look and point at the cat like she was totally incensed. I looked back at the cat… she was fine, but it was still a little disconcerting. I don’t need anyone pointing the finger at me to say I’m abusing my cat.
With only a few breaths left, we made it to the gate. And in New Jersey fashion, the attendant yelled at us to sit down, then proceeded to ignore us. Finally, after getting everyone else on the plane except for us and an older woman sitting with what looked like a grandson, the attendant glared at the four of us and proclaimed, “I don’t know how you got seats on this plane. It’s always full.”
Not to interrupt the story… BUT… I knew how. 😇 Just sayin. Anyway, back to it…
Apparently, the older woman with her grandson needed help because she was ill and her family couldn’t get on the plane with her. (When I write ill, I mean I think she had some dementia or something like that. It wasn’t anything contagious.) So my husband helped her get on the plane, and the attendant sat them next to each other. I sat in the back and our two kids sat together with the cats behind my husband.
It all worked out… whoa! That’s easy for me to write now. As we drove the four hours to Hilton Head, I was on the phone to India for two hours trying to get my luggage re-routed… that was challenging. And we didn’t exactly get the rental car we wanted.
Kevin mentioned that the interesting thing here was not that we got a plane out of Newark on the day that the traveling nightmare began for thousands of folks.
It was that we got to Greenville.
I told him I didn’t understand.
Remember, your great-uncle died here?
Yes.
Well, I think he just helped us out. It just seems very coincidental.
November 3, 1979: The phone in my parent’s kitchen in Allenhurst, NJ was ringing while I laid on the couch home from school and sick. I heard my mother answer the phone, and then I remember that her voice was filled with sadness as she said goodbye and hung up. I rolled off the couch and joined her in the kitchen.
“Uncle Freddie died.” Then she sat down at the table, stared out the window, and was silent.
Right after takeoff that November morning, the radio tower alerted Fred that smoke was billowing from the left engine. Fred radioed to assure them that he would circle back to land, but he never made it.
Fred tried to make the circle, but lost power, cut some telephone lines and crashed into a parking lot in front of a Steak and Ale restaurant at the intersection of Pleasantburg Road and Villa Drive just north of the airport.
Two people were able to escape the fire, but five others were killed, including the pilot. The FAA determined that the crash was engine failure and not pilot error.
May 28, 2024: I had just spent the weekend with my youngest child, hanging out in the city of Greenville, S.C. for the first time. It is a great small city with friendly people, good food, and lots to do. My husband reminded me to see if I could locate the plane crash site and after finding it, I happened to visit on a morning that surprisingly had similar weather of the day of the crash.
The following black and white pictures are from Greenville Online. The color pictures are from the day that we visited.
I said a prayer that morning to God about the great-uncle I hardly knew but had heard so much about. It was such a weird feeling to go somewhere you’ve never been, but yet thanks to so much research, you feel you’ve been there before. But I think my sadness came not from the crash, or my uncle, or anything else that I was seeing. (Although I do believe there should be a plaque at this location. People died there). But I think it was the sound of my mother’s voice that day after she answered the phone. And even though my heart didn’t break for her during the moment after the call, as I was only eleven, it broke that day in May thirty-five years later. I stood in the rain, and heard my mother’s quiet voice say “Good Bye” and felt the sadness of her thoughts of the loss of that happy guy she always raved about, her hero, my great-uncle Fred.
I might send a note to the city of Greenville about that plaque.
I have to say, if you have never been to Greenville, it’s totally worth a visit. Such a beautiful town with great walkability and even a decent sized zoo. Lots of wonderful shopping from thrift to luxury, you’ll find it all in Greenville.
August 19, 2024: I wanted to podcast this article but found that I couldn’t. Every time I got to the part about my heart breaking over my mother’s sorrow, my voice would crack. So I’ll be back next time with the podcast. :)
As always, thank you for reading!
This is so great!!! Love the pictures. I’ll stay at the lodge with you!