May 20th – Podcast
Historic heartbreak and awe-inspiring heroism. May 20th, 2013, Moore, Oklahoma. Learn why the slogan “Moore Strong” was born that day.
Join John and KTOK/iHeartRadio star Gwin Faulconer-Lippert for the unforgettable day of May 20th, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma. Learn why the slogan “Moore Strong” was born that day. It’s the 57th episode of our original OKLAHOMA GOLD! radio program and podcast. Go HERE to listen to them all! Future episodes explore more great heroes, events, and movements of Oklahoma History.
“A teacher covered me” was one of the most famous utterances to come out of May 20th, 2013. Though many students across the Moore School District were delivered from harm’s way on May 20th by parents who picked them up before the tornado hit, every teacher who reported for duty that day remained at their post. That included Plaza Towers. There, many of them shielded their students with their own battered bodies.
Plaza Towers third grade teacher Jennifer Doan was pregnant with her own baby when an F-5 monster tore into her school, but she pulled her eight students and one from another class into a huddle with her on the floor, enfolding them with her arms. She held them tight even as the tornado blew down the school and buried her and them under it. She continued to hold onto them in the suffocating darkness, her spine and sternum both broken.
Gritty Oklahomans raise the state flag on the only thing that remained (partially) standing above ground anywhere near the Plaza Towers Elementary School, even as another damaging tornado approached from the western horizon.
Many thanks to Atwoods Ranch and Home, a farm and ranch supply company based in Enid, Oklahoma, for their support of the Red River Institute of History and OKLAHOMA GOLD! Please support them as you are able! Wherever you are, you can order online from thousands of quality products on their terrific website HERE. Atwoods also has 66 stores in 5 states: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. In addition to farm and ranch supplies, Atwoods stores sell clothing, lawn and garden items, tools, hardware, automotive supplies, sporting goods, pet supplies, firearms, and seasonal items.
Comentários