Seventy-five years ago today, the massive German
airship Hindenburg burst into flames while landing at Lakehurst Naval
Air Station in Lakehurst, N.J.
The spectacular disaster, one of the most famous in American history,
claimed the lives of 13 passengers, 22 crewmen and one ground crewman.
Ever since, the legend of the Hindenburg airship and
the disaster that destroyed it has grown. The place where it happened
is still there. The actual site of the Hindenburg crash at the
Lakehurst Naval Air Station is marked with a chain-outlined pad and a
bronze plaque. This memorial was dedicated on May 6, 1987, the 50th
anniversary of the disaster. Not far away, Hangar No. 1 still stands.
That is the massive hangar that would have housed the 804-foot-long
Hindenburg airship, if it had not burned.
Many of the people who work at the Lakehurst station
believe that the people who were killed on that tragic day still roam
the place. Even the television show “Ghost Hunters” conducted an
investigation at the site. And it should surprise no one that this
place could be haunted. For those who survived, the tragic events of
May 6, 1937 would never be forgotten.
On that afternoon, a spring cold front was blowing into Lakehurst off the Atlantic Coast.
Lt. Cmdr. C.E. Rosendahl was the commanding officer at Lakehurst. He
and his crew were awaiting the arrival of the huge airship, the largest
flying object ever built. Capt. Max Pruss commanded the Hindenburg.
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| Hindenburg Memorial |
As the airship attempted to land, it suddenly exploded
into flames. The rear half of the Hindenburg was totally enveloped in a
bright orange fireball. An eyewitness standing a half-mile away on the
ground said a blast of intense heat blew over. Then, a blow torch-like
flame shot out of the airship’s nose. The great airship, the pride of
German might, crashed to the ground and burned.
Ground crew and rescue workers desperately tried to
find survivors in the inferno. Burned and injured people were taken by
ambulance to local hospitals. One of the hangars was quickly turned
into a temporary morgue. One of the ground crew, 51-year-old Allen
Hagaman, died from burns he suffered when the hull of the ship fell on
him, according to a Web site.
The morning after, the burned metal frame of the
Hindenburg was still smoldering. Eyewitnesses could detect the horrible
smell of burning flesh in the air. Some people were still unaccounted
for. A group of men and women silently filed past the charred bodies of
some of the victims in an attempt to identify them.
Today, the Lakehurst station still operates. The old
hospital is now a clinic and some of the people who work there have
seen and heard things that no one can explain. They talk about hearing
strange footsteps, doors rattling and loud unexplained crashes. They
have also seen lights flashing on and off for no reason.
One staff member was working alone in the building when
he heard a loud crash in the clinic area. When he went to check it out,
he saw where a large pamphlet rack had fallen and pamphlets were
scattered all over the floor. The staff member said out loud to no one
in particular, “I didn’t make this mess. I’m not cleaning it up. You
are.” The man then went home.
The next morning, the rack and its pamphlets were back
in their proper place. No one knew how they got back that way,
according to a Web site.
Other people talk about seeing a mysterious naval
officer who walks around Hangar No. 1. Some people say they have seen
an airman wearing vintage gear from the 1930s walking around there, too.
And if you listen closely, you might hear the voices of
men frantically shouting, “Away the lines, away the lines!” and “She’s
afire!” coming from the area near the hangar. That is the place where
the Hindenburg crashed.
Today, you can also tour the site and I hope to get
that opportunity someday. Perhaps, the ghosts of the Hindenburg are
there to remind us about the fragility of life and that we are all
mortal.
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