Booneville National Guard Armory Explosion
Friday marks the 50-year anniversary

Fifty years ago tomorrow night an explosion occurred at the Booneville National Guard Armory which killed seven young Prentiss County men.

The December 22, 1950 explosion came to be called "Black Christmas.:

Those who died were William Howard Duncan, 31, Charles Owen Fugitt, 21, and Freddie Fulghum, 18, all of Booneville; Lawrence Sidney Burks, 30, Billy Wade Mooney, 18, and James Ray (Jimmy) Robinson, 19, all of Thrasher; and Hugh Thomas Weatherbee, 18, of Rienzi.

"The death toll from this stark tragedy is the worst in Prentiss County's history and brought sorrow to every home in the area," said a story in the December 28, 1950 edition of The Booneville Banner.

"In the business section, groups gathered on street corners to discuss the disaster which has rocked this little Northeast Mississippi city to its foundation," The Commercial Appeal reported.

The explosion of undetermined origin blasted the wash room of the Booneville Armory Friday evening around 8 o'clock, the Booneville newspaper said.

The Guardsmen were cleaning carbines when the explosion occurred.

Fugit and Duncan were killed instantly.  Weatherbee, Mooney, Burks and Robinson died Saturday morning and Fulghum died Saturday night.

Those injured were Harmon Barron, Hardy (Red) Prentiss, William R. Spencer and R. J. (Joy) Skelton.  Newspaper reports said they were not seriously injured and were treated for shock and minor burns.

Company B, 198th Tank Battalion was drilling that night in preparation for their departure for active duty in the Korean Conflict with the 31st Division on January 16, 1951.

"These men were on the detail list for cleaning guns, and they were doing this when, without warning, the whole room seemed to go up in flames," Captain Fred Houston said in an interview in the December 23,1950 edition of the Commercial Appeal.

The Memphis newspaper reported there were unconfirmed reports the men were cleaning rifles with high octane gasoline and that the can was knocked over accidentally.  The fumes spread to the heater causing the explosion.

"It's quite likely something that couldn't be helped (happened) and we may never know exactly what the cause was," one National Guard official was quoted as saying.

The tragedy is remembered vividly 50 years later by those who were there such as Booneville resident Dick Bullard, who was a Thrasher 11th grade student at the time.

Bullard, now 69, remembers how Sgt. Red Prentiss came down the line, picking those who were to go in that room to clean the weapons.

"He skipped over me," Bullard said, but tow of his best buddies whom he played ball with at Thrasher - Hugh Thomas Weatherbee and Billy Mooney - were picked for the detail.

"They both got picked to go in that room and both got killed," Bullard said.

Open buckets of gasoline were being used to clean the weapons, he said.  "It was an open blaze fire in there.  When the gas fumes to to that fire it went off like a bomb.  It was so  furious, this big metal door, which was about half open, just jammed shut.  We finally had to get a big timber  in there and force that door open."

When they finally broke in there to them, Bullard said he carried his buddies Weatherbee and Money to the hospital.  "They were walking but burned pretty bad.  Those boys talked to me all night long, asking if I thought they'd have to go on to the Army," he said.

But they died before daylight the next morning, Bullard said.

The two who survived the blast - Norman Ford and W. R. Spencer - survived because one got in the shower and the other stuck his head in the commode to keep the fire away from their faces, Bullard said.

"It was a black Christmas.  I think about it all the time.  Those two boys were good buddies.  I came close to being right in there myself."

Smith Goddard of Booneville was also among the men on duty that day.

"I had just come out of the building when I heard a big bang from inside.  Our lockers were back there and I thought somebody had hit the lockers with something as a prank.  Then one of the other guys came out and told us, "Those boys are burning up back there."

Goddard said he was in disbelief as he went to a window and could see the inferno inside but was helpless to rescue those who were on fire.

"I have never felt any worse in my life.  I was only four or five feet away but could not do anything to help them."

Suddenly one of the men found his way out of the fire and Goddard took him to the hospital.  "He walked to the car on his own but died at the hospital the next day."

Goddard was a pallbearer for two of them - Burks and Duncan.

"They were all fine boys.  I don't know why it always is, but it seems like the worst things happen to the best.  They were the cream of the crop."

Coach Bill Ward of Booneville was also at the National Guard Armory that day.

"I was outside washing tanks in December if you can believe that."

Ward described the tragedy as "Chaos".

"There was a ball game going on at Booneville High School and the town was full of traffic.  Of course, at that time we didn't know what had happened or what had caused the explosion."

Ward said he still thinks about it a lot, especially when he sees family members of those who died.

"It was some ordeal they went through."  Ward remembered.  "One of the boys planned his funeral while he was in the hospital and even named the songs he wanted sung."

Zandria Huddleston of Booneville was only six years old when her 18-year-old brother, Hugh Thomas Weatherbee, was killed in the explosion.

She remembers that day so well.

"I had gotten out of school at Thrasher.  My teacher, Miss Pearl Walden, had given me a coloring book and colors for Christmas.

"Tom wanted to color in the coloring book and colored two pictures for me.  He signed them and dated them.

The date was the day of the explosion.

Jettie Nunley framed the pictures from the coloring book for her.  Zandria keeps the pictures out year round but at Christmastime they are put around the Christmas tree in memory of her brother.

"Every Christmas our thoughts turn back to that sad Christmas and to the memory of those seven young men," she said.

The names of those who died are inscribed on the war memorial on the courthouse square at the Prentiss County Courthouse so they will always be remembered.

Remembering 'Black Christmas'


Photo courtesy Zandria Weatherbee Huddleston
(click on image to enlarge)

Before Disaster Struck

Members of Booneville's Company B, 198th Heavy Tank Battalion are pictured in July 1950, five months before an explosion occurred at the Booneville Armory, which killed seven and injured several others.

Shown are (front row, seated, l-r) Billy Cook, B. B. Hill, R. McMillan, Britt Barron, Harmon Barron (injured), W. A. (Arthur) Stennett, Lt. Willis, Capt. Fred Houston, commanding officer, M. G. (Guy) Coley, R. N. (Ronald) Fraser, M/Sgt. Clay Hart, Charles Owen Fugitt (killed), Hardy (Red) Prentiss (injured), Harmon Caver

(second row, l-r) P. Dobbins, Winfred Dawson, P. W Gann, C. (Jack) Scott, Cpl. Palmer, W. L. Brown, Jerry Owens, D. Hill, H. E. Nichols, C. C. Ashcraft, William R. Spencer (injured), J. W. (Jimmy) Deaton

(third row, l-r) R. J. Jones, L. W. Robinson, B. J. Davis, Billy W. Mooney (killed), Joe Barron, Hugh Thomas Weatherbee (killed) Charles Lovell, Jack Arnold, Richard Arnold, M. White, L. F. Taylor, Billy Maddox, Bobby Maddox, Billy Wales

(fourth row, l-r Jimmy Arnold, E. Hester, H. Miller, M. Buchanan, W. L. Hamilton, W. P. Owens, Billy Gray, J. F. Spencer, Smith Goddard, T. J. Jones, Billy Frank Deaton, Lawrence S. Burks (killed), H. M. Holley, H. Holder, Liesel Burks

(fifth row, l-r) J. Miller, W. Burress, J.B. Henson, Jimmy Manley, L. Q. Mathis, C.G. (Glen) Bolton, Freddie E. Fulghum (killed), Howard Long, Kenneth Jones, Jimmie R. Robinson (killed), E Dubois, William H. Duncan (killed), J. R. Lambert, W. McKay, Theo Shouse, R. J. (Joy) Skelton (injured). Lt. George W. Rutherford Jr. was not present when the photo was taken.

On December 22, 1950, seven members of the Booneville National Guard were killed in an explosion at the Armory, then located on Third Street.

The guardsmen who were killed were cleaning carbines in the wash room of the Armory.

The cause of the conflagration has never been officially determined though it is believed gasoline was being used to clean weapons and the fumes reached an open-flamed heater and ignited.

What was apparent though is the tragedy, which became known as Black Christmas, took more lives than any other accident or natural disaster in Booneville's recorded history.

Company B, 198th Tank Battalion had been drilling that night in preparation for their departure for active duty in the Korean Conflict and would be part of the 31st Division after January 16, 1951.

Those who died were William Howard Duncan, 31, Charles Owen Fugitt, 21, and Freddie Fulghum, 18, all of Booneville; Lawrence Sidney Burks, 30, Billy Wade Mooney, 18, and James Ray (Jimmy) Robinson, 19, all of Thrasher; and Hugh Thomas Weatherbee, 18, of Rienzi.

Four other guardsmen were injured.  They were Harmon Barron, Hardy (Red) Prentiss, William R. Spencer and R. J. Skelton.

Two who survived the blast did so because one got in the shower and the other stuck his head in the commode to keep the fire away from his face.

Coach Bill ward of Booneville was also on duty at the National Guard that day.  He said he was outside washing tanks around 8 p.m. when he heard a muffled bang and had no idea the tragedy that had befallen his unit.

"It could have been any of us in there but some were lucky, I guess."

He said the guardsmen had been working two weeks in getting prepared to serve in the Korean Conflict with boxes of weapons coming in.  He also said boxcars were at the depot waiting to be loaded with vehicles.

"The building was not destroyed but it was raised up a little bit.  The washroom was in the northwest corner and today, there is still a  crack in the wall you can see," Ward noted.

Ward said the washroom was immediately filled with fire and thick, black smoke from about two feet above the floor.  "You could hear them back there, screaming, and then they began to crawl out, under the blanket of smoke."

But the damage had already been done.

"Some of them were wearing fatigue jackets which were on fire and their hair was singed.  All of them were burned and filled with smoke.  As they crawled out, we grabbed them and carried them to the hospital."

The town was in a state of shock and chaos over the tragedy.  A basketball game had been going on in the nearby gymnasium at the same time as the blast and the town was full of traffic.

Ward side two died almost instantly but the others languished before four more passed away the next morning with the final survivor passing away the next night.  One had used what time he had left to plan his funeral before he too succumbed.

ward said the names of those who died are inscribed on the war memorial on the courthouse square but he would like to see them honored further.

He and others are planning an exhibit at the newly completed Rails and Trails Museum about "Black Christmas" and would also like to see a historical marker placed at the old armory, which is now a part of the Northeast campus, located on the extreme southwest side.  It is currenlty used as a baseball field house.

Ward noted many people pass by the location every day but are likely oblivious as to what took place there on a cool December night in 1950.

"We ought to remember these guys that were in the armory when it exploded.  They ought to be honored," Ward noted.

He also stated the National Guard never had a chance to properly mourn or honor their losses on that December in 1950 because they all left a couple of weeks later and were gone on to military duty for two years.

Mayor Roger Smith said he is also interested in getting a marker placed near the location and that one of the guardsmen who perished was his scout leader.

In memory of William Howard Duncan, 31, Charles Owen Fugitt, 21, and Freddie Fulghum, 18, all of Booneville; Lawrence Sidney Burks, 30, Billy Wade Mooney, 18, and James Ray (Jimmy) Robinson, 19, all of Thrasher; and Hugh Thomas Weatherbee, 18, of Rienzi.

As some of you know, I have been in touch with Coach William (Bill) Ward of Booneville, MS for some time, keeping us up to date on the Black Christmas Memorial to be held in Booneville on Friday, December 22, 2006 at 2:00 p.m.

On Friday, December 22, 1950 seven members of Company B, 198th Tank Battalion of the 31st Infantry (Dixie) Division were killed in an explosion at the Booneville Armory while cleaning their weapons preparing for the January 16, 1951 call to active duty for the raging Korean Was.  Coach Ward was a member of this unit and was outside the armory washing a tank when he heard and felt the explosion.

A granite monument, same size and appearance of the existing Dixie Division Monument has been completed and scheduled o be delivered this week.  The DD and 31st Infantry Division are engraved on the monument along with Company B, 198th Tank Battalion and the seal fo the Mississippi National Guard.

A large concrete slab on a small hill or grade has been prepared to receive the monument which will also have benches for handicapped and others.  A wheelchair ramp with handrails has also been installed.  A flag pole and flag has been donated and a spot light will be focused on the flag, twenty-four hours each day.  A local nursery company has agreed to landscape the area around the memorial.

The Mississippi State Archives has constructed a roadside marker which reveals the story of the seven Dixie Division soldiers who lost thair lives that dreadful day.

All members and former members of the Division are invited to attend the ceremonies beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, December 22, 2006, exactly fifty-six years after the tragedy.  Please wear some type of Dixie Division identification.

Sincerely,

(S) Gene Bagwell