I dont want it to be something that runs my life. AZ: Your father, who Ive been fortunate to spend some time with, talks about that period as just, Well, things changed in a moment, and I had to get it together and run a household.. Spencer details how he has come to think about trauma and, connected to that, the importance of empathy amidst adversity. SB:But also knowing that when I reached too far I had to pull back a little bit. I mean, my brother [Brandon] was still in the hospital, but the family was all together. 'I am so grateful for Siouxland and all of its citizens, Brownstein said. But it made for a good laugh anyway. SB: Totally. Spencer opens up about the massive void of growing up in an all-male household without a maternal figure, and how his family learned, in time, to cope with that. Whatd you imagine people were seeing when they looked at it? SB: I think aboutjust taking the picture of Lt. Col. Dennis Nielsen carrying me. But dozens survived. AZ: What did Brandon teach you about what happened that day? (Jesse Brothers/Sioux City Journal), Caleb McCullough, Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau. And then, Id be able to read, but I couldnt actually comprehend what I was reading. My mom was an artist and also designed some childrens clothes. WebOne of the 184 survivors from the United Airlines Flight 232 crash at Sioux Gateway Airport, she couldn't shake the memories of the 112 people who died. You grow up fast in a situation without a parent, maternal or paternal. It was the day that I brought them into the studio, and we took them out of the plastic bag, that I had the first visceral [reaction to them]. That is why the children of survivors are so tragic. Colonel Dennis Nielsen carrying the three-year-old survivor to safety. There were 285 passengers and 11 crewmembers onboard. A statue in part of Sioux City's riverfront development is based on the picture. At 2:09 p.m. on July 19, 1989, United Airlines Flight 232 took off from Denvers Stapleton International Airport, bound for OHare Airport, with continuing service to Philadelphia. So Ive heard stories from her. (His father, Brownell, and twin brother, Trent, were not on board.). All Rights Reserved. , in, I believe, 1980. Thirty years ago, on July 19, 1989, at 37,000 feet in the air, the titanium fan disk in the tail-mounted engine of United Airlines Flight 232a DC-10 carrying 296 people from Denver to Chicagoexploded above the cornfields of Iowa. Flight 232 took off from Denver bound for Chicago at 2:09 p.m., July 19, 1989. I felt especially bad for him. Which starts with an aluminum part that Alcoa made for a General Electric [CF6] engine. Its kind of how I feel comfortable talking about it right now. AZ: Did you hide it as a kid? We had collectively sort of convinced him of this. Maybe, he is struggling to understand the past. SB: I mean, its kind of this idea ofWhats the worst that could happen?And the worst that could happen, truly, is that Im in another plane crash. He also talks about dealing with a traumatic brain injury in his youth. They probably dont realize Im still alive. To think about the odds, and to think about what a small crack in a metal part could do as it expands and gets worse, to the point that it explodes in the air above Iowa and sends shards through. AZ: Yeah, and empathy really is the ability to stand in somebody elses shoes. It represents that event. Iowa Air National Guard soldiers search a field near wreckage from the crash landing at the airport in Sioux City, Iowa. Brownstein's relationship with his dad, whom he called charismatic but difficult, and his mom, whom he called a mama lion who would do anything for her cubs, suffered as he struggled with opioid and, then, methadone addiction. Pilot Al Haynes was in the cockpit with First Officer William Records. "Well, that's actually the cockpit of the plane. 4, 2023 12:22 pm1d ago, Guest Columnists Apr. He had had a phone call with my great uncle Don, who I believe was on a business trip in Austin, Texas, at the time; had seen the picture on the front page of the paper; and told him, I believe thats Spencer. Because [the paper] hadnt labeled methey didnt know who I was. Jerry Schemmel, 30, Denver; Alan Segal; William Sevy; Ron Sheldon, Granville, Ohio; Gittee Skaanes, 17, Trondheim, Norway; Robert Stoyr; Danny Sugrue, Chicago. AZ: From that story, Ms. Hartter finds you in the wreckage, pulls you out, and hands you off to Dennis Nielsen. to Transform Humanity, Teresita Fernndez on the Violent Nature of the American Landscape, Bjarke Ingels to Cities: Take a Longer View, Kate Young on Why Luxury Equals Quality and Slowness, Ghetto Gastros Jon Gray: From the Bronx to Paris Fashion Week to the Yellowstone Club, How Peter Sarsgaard Became a Long-Distance Runner and Learned to Play the Mandolin, Spencer Bailey and Andrew Zuckerman on Launching a Conscious Entertainment Media Company With This Podcast, Candid, revealing portraits of curious and courageous people who have a distinct perspective on time. Like everyone knew that you were the kid from the plane crash? You, of course, know this a little bit, because I brought them into the studio [in New York Citys Chelsea neighborhood, where. [3] Im curiousand Im sure its changed over time and has become formalized in different waysbut how did you guys, at first, as a family unit, keep the memory of your mother around in the house? has a story. Somewhere. I feel like I can now own the story in a way that ten years ago I couldnt, because ten years ago I was still the little boy in the photograph. His physical injuries were much worse than mine. SB:I think I realized that pretty quickly. I had such bad brain trauma, and my head was so swollen that my eyes were shut. He gave his personal account of the day's events in the song "A Day in '89 (You Never Know)". But the small semblance of what I can grasp comes through that picture. The main section of the fuselage slowed to a stop, upside-down, in a cornfield. And I think thats important. I was in a hospital bed for the first nine days after the crash, and only then was I able to kind of start moving around. The second I saw that picture, I thought of the one from Flight 232, because theyre totally different events, but the iconic nature of that image is what sticks in peoples minds. Spencer is the editor-in-chief of The Slowdown and host of the Time Sensitive podcast. It was a faulty metal part that ended up in this engine, which was placed in a, , later sold to United and in use from 1973 until the crash in 89. When my brother woke up on the runway, my mom was not in sight, I was not in sight. The young man [Jeff Bauman], who had lost his legs, being pushed in a wheelchair by a guy in a cowboy hat. In addition to listening here on our site, you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher, or via RSS, iHeartRadio,Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, andTuneIn. 'Even though the pilots and stewardesses were trying to calm our nerves, Brownstein said, 'we knew the plane had to land and it was going to be rough.. He became a Division I athlete. It was a weird thing to be labeled a survivor.I struggled with it. So there was art and creativity and invention and engineering in the family. Did you visit it? We sort of integrate them. I think it was a way to get out of the house. The reason I wanted to bring this up with you: Im wondering if the fact that this experience is with youits been with you for thirty years, but you dont remember it. What was that experience like? It was a bityoure going to do this, this, this, this. SB: I think he had a feeling in his gut that she had not. And this wasnt really a memorial to her, I guess. ; Doug Reynolds, Moorcroft, Wyo. AZ: Yeah. More than 100 people died, marking one of the deadliest aviation disasters in American history. Do you have memory from that day? SB:Yeah, there was a book that came out a few years ago by a journalist Laurence Gonzales. Haynes became a public speaker soon after the accident, giving speeches about what happened aboard flight 232. Its interesting how you say you dont recognize yourself in that, and in essence thats the purpose of good art. Of the 296 people on the flight, 110 passengers and 1 flight attendant perished, most because of injuries from the crash, though some succumbed to smoke inhalation. Its everything Ive read or that people have told me. WebFind Survivor Of United Airlines Flight stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. So that whole experience for him is a whole different kind of trauma than what Ive gone through. It was the first time that it felt really real for me. And I think when people realize thatthat your situation isnt that unique, that everybody deals with itit opens up this thing inside of you, empathy, and allows you to think about trauma as something that everybody experiences, and that they all have their own versions of that story. But I think having that mindset, and also sort of just wanting to take as much as you can of what youre givenyou know, the opportunity of life, the opportunity of waking up in the morning and breathing, and being able to realize I can get on a flight and experience this culture or this place, or help grow my business this way, or go meet this person Ive always wanted to meet. To feel afraid to do thatIm really glad that I dont. Journalism requires deep empathy, if youre good at it. The one that is the most meaningful to me and, I think, my entire family is this cabin thats part of a hut system, called Summit Huts, in Colorado. And, of course, Ive read about it. And Ive never heard the story of how Lt. Col. Dennis Nielsen ended up being the person carrying mebasically, the story behind that photograph. The fact that people survived even more so. Of the 296 people on board the ill-fated Flight 232 when it crashed 31 years ago this month, 112 passengers died and 184 survived. The Schaumburg man was among the 184 survivors of United Airlines Flight 232, which crashed in Sioux City, Iowa, on July 19, 1989, while traveling from Denver to Chicago. They sat in the 33rd row. SB: Its interesting you mention the shoes because, actually, the only thingthe only objectI still have from that day is the pair of shoes that I was wearing. This hut [Francies Cabin] has had tens of thousands of visitors and has allowed so many people to enjoy this incredible part of the West. Al Haynes was also a miracle-maker, back in 1989. Andreana Badis, Marian, good; Ellen Badis; Eric Badis; Erin Badis; Brandon Bailey, St. Luke`s; Randy Bailey; Spenser Bailey, St. Luke`s; Martha Bartz; Kathy Batson, St. Luke`s; Brad Bayless, Denver; Sharon Bayless, Denver; Brent Bealer, St. Luke`s; Ellie Beck, St. Luke`s; Debi Belliveau, 40, Michigan City, Ind. AZ: But it had to be something. 5, 2023 5:38 pm9h ago, Nicholas Johnson Guest Columnists Apr. This weekend, survivors will gather for 25th anniversary memorial events related to United Flight 232's crash at the Mid America Museum of Aviation and Transportation in Sioux City. He experienced physical hardships that, for the most part, have healed. Then a fourth grader living in Chicago, Brownstein was traveling alone on Flight 232. Like, I feel like I just got punched in my gut trying to even find an answer to that, because the voidthe weight of that voidis so big that probably even in thirty years from now Ill still be wondering what its like to have that. AZ: Did Brandon know that he had lost his mother at the moment that he had woken up? It was the day that I brought them into the studio, and we took them out of the plastic bag, that I had the first visceral [reaction to them]. I had a beautiful healthy family, loving wife, great future. The son of an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a 'hippie mom, he was heading back home after visiting a friend in Denver when the DC-10 crashed in a farm field, a few miles south of Sioux City. I know that my mom really tried to instill this creativity in us, because theres photographic evidence of us painting and drawing and doing creative things from when she was still with us. ] There is some levity in the darkness. 112 [a] (111 initially) Injuries. It felt so freeing, he says. Spencer discusses how, after eighth grade, he left his childhood home in Colorado to attend a boarding school in Connecticut. This is survivor Rod Vetter's story. So they must have come with me after the hospital to. AZ: This was the first time the family was all together after the crash. I dont need to talk about politics, but thats trauma. I was in row 33, so we were in the back section of the plane, and we were flung forward. 'Rabbi has seen me in good times and bad times, Brownstein said. Illustrator: Diego Mallo He matched the description of Brandon. Almost like an angel or something. Spencer Bailey (the co-host of this podcast) was on that plane with his 36-year-old mom, Francie, and 6-year-old brother Brandon. I still have from that day is the pair of shoes that I was wearing. "Varying their thrust gave the pilots some crude control over the aircraft's elevation," reporter Bill Zahren wrote in the Sioux City Journal three days later. She was forced by regulation to ask parents with "lap children" aboard flight 232 to place their children on the cabin floor during the flight's final moments before impact. I continue to enjoy travel for that very reason: It makes me feel alive. AZ: I find it interesting that, now in your life, you travel a huge amount. So that whole experience for him is a whole different kind of trauma than what Ive gone through. David Landsberger, 40, Caldwell, N.J.; Shirley Lapalme, St. Luke`s; Donna Lewis, Marian, fair. Growing up, I had a really hard time reading. SB: [Long pause] Im still coping with that question. No one knew that story? AZ: Tell me about your motherwhat you know about her, who she was. Sorry, Jon. He is also editor-at-large of the book publisher Phaidon and a contributing editor at Town & Country. Ive flown with you several times. Read more about this topic: United Airlines Flight 232, In one notable instance, where the United States Army and a hundred years of persuasion failed, a highway has succeeded. Host. I mean, I had my head trauma injuries to deal with, let alone trying to comprehend what death was. SB: No. We mentioned for a moment this famous image became. But he remembers a lot of what happened. Her Story. Spencer, thank you for sharing your story with us. , thats still there. I continue to enjoy travel for that very reason: It makes me feel alive. Ed Porter/AP SB: He was getting on the first flight he could to Des Moines, and then renting a car and driving to Sioux City. My mom loved the outdoors, loved hiking. The last time I went back was with my dad, in 2009. . And so, not only am I grateful to the rescue crew and pilots and the captain, but also this woman, who, without her, I dont know how soon they would have found my body. And she got up to the stage and put her gold medal in the air and her head down and started crying, and Im like, Really?! And I think when people realize thatthat your situation isnt that unique, that everybody deals with itit opens up this thing inside of you, empathy, and allows you to think about trauma as something that everybody experiences, and that they all have their own versions of that story. The year before, theSioux City Journal had done a story on the anniversary of the crash, and I was asked about how I felt about seeing myself in statue. AZ: We dont get over things. That she wasnt coming back. Spencer describes how he has no memory from the crash-landing on July 19, 1989, or any time before it; recalls some of what his brother Brandon told him about that day; and shares how he came to learn who his mom was. San Francisco Chronicle As hundreds of rescue workers waited on the ground, United Airlines Flight 232 wallowed drunkenly over the bluffs northwest of Sioux City. Denny Fitch, seen in 2008, helped save the lives of 184 people in the crash landing of United Flight 232 on July 19, 1989. One hundred twelve people, including Francie, died. Course, Ive read about it soon after the hospital, but thats.. N.J. ; Shirley Lapalme, St. Luke ` s ; Donna Lewis, Marian, fair artist and also some... Did you hide it as a kid do this, this, this this. Took off from Denver bound for Chicago at 2:09 p.m., July 19 1989..., my mom was not in sight, I had to pull back a little bit Electric... 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That is why the children of survivors are so tragic. Colonel Dennis Nielsen carrying the three-year-old survivor to safety. There were 285 passengers and 11 crewmembers onboard. A statue in part of Sioux City's riverfront development is based on the picture. At 2:09 p.m. on July 19, 1989, United Airlines Flight 232 took off from Denvers Stapleton International Airport, bound for OHare Airport, with continuing service to Philadelphia. So Ive heard stories from her. (His father, Brownell, and twin brother, Trent, were not on board.). All Rights Reserved. , in, I believe, 1980. Thirty years ago, on July 19, 1989, at 37,000 feet in the air, the titanium fan disk in the tail-mounted engine of United Airlines Flight 232a DC-10 carrying 296 people from Denver to Chicagoexploded above the cornfields of Iowa. Flight 232 took off from Denver bound for Chicago at 2:09 p.m., July 19, 1989. 
I felt especially bad for him. Which starts with an aluminum part that Alcoa made for a General Electric [CF6] engine. Its kind of how I feel comfortable talking about it right now. AZ: Did you hide it as a kid? We had collectively sort of convinced him of this. Maybe, he is struggling to understand the past. SB: I mean, its kind of this idea ofWhats the worst that could happen?And the worst that could happen, truly, is that Im in another plane crash. He also talks about dealing with a traumatic brain injury in his youth. They probably dont realize Im still alive. To think about the odds, and to think about what a small crack in a metal part could do as it expands and gets worse, to the point that it explodes in the air above Iowa and sends shards through. AZ: Yeah, and empathy really is the ability to stand in somebody elses shoes. It represents that event. Iowa Air National Guard soldiers search a field near wreckage from the crash landing at the airport in Sioux City, Iowa. Brownstein's relationship with his dad, whom he called charismatic but difficult, and his mom, whom he called a mama lion who would do anything for her cubs, suffered as he struggled with opioid and, then, methadone addiction. Pilot Al Haynes was in the cockpit with First Officer William Records. "Well, that's actually the cockpit of the plane. 4, 2023 12:22 pm1d ago, Guest Columnists Apr. He had had a phone call with my great uncle Don, who I believe was on a business trip in Austin, Texas, at the time; had seen the picture on the front page of the paper; and told him, I believe thats Spencer. Because [the paper] hadnt labeled methey didnt know who I was. Jerry Schemmel, 30, Denver; Alan Segal; William Sevy; Ron Sheldon, Granville, Ohio; Gittee Skaanes, 17, Trondheim, Norway; Robert Stoyr; Danny Sugrue, Chicago. AZ: From that story, Ms. Hartter finds you in the wreckage, pulls you out, and hands you off to Dennis Nielsen. to Transform Humanity, Teresita Fernndez on the Violent Nature of the American Landscape, Bjarke Ingels to Cities: Take a Longer View, Kate Young on Why Luxury Equals Quality and Slowness, Ghetto Gastros Jon Gray: From the Bronx to Paris Fashion Week to the Yellowstone Club, How Peter Sarsgaard Became a Long-Distance Runner and Learned to Play the Mandolin, Spencer Bailey and Andrew Zuckerman on Launching a Conscious Entertainment Media Company With This Podcast, Candid, revealing portraits of curious and courageous people who have a distinct perspective on time. Like everyone knew that you were the kid from the plane crash? You, of course, know this a little bit, because I brought them into the studio [in New York Citys Chelsea neighborhood, where. [3] Im curiousand Im sure its changed over time and has become formalized in different waysbut how did you guys, at first, as a family unit, keep the memory of your mother around in the house? has a story. Somewhere. I feel like I can now own the story in a way that ten years ago I couldnt, because ten years ago I was still the little boy in the photograph. His physical injuries were much worse than mine. SB:I think I realized that pretty quickly. I had such bad brain trauma, and my head was so swollen that my eyes were shut. He gave his personal account of the day's events in the song "A Day in '89 (You Never Know)". But the small semblance of what I can grasp comes through that picture. The main section of the fuselage slowed to a stop, upside-down, in a cornfield. 
And I think thats important. I was in a hospital bed for the first nine days after the crash, and only then was I able to kind of start moving around. The second I saw that picture, I thought of the one from Flight 232, because theyre totally different events, but the iconic nature of that image is what sticks in peoples minds. Spencer is the editor-in-chief of The Slowdown and host of the Time Sensitive podcast. It was a faulty metal part that ended up in this engine, which was placed in a, , later sold to United and in use from 1973 until the crash in 89. When my brother woke up on the runway, my mom was not in sight, I was not in sight. 
The young man [Jeff Bauman], who had lost his legs, being pushed in a wheelchair by a guy in a cowboy hat. In addition to listening here on our site, you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher, or via RSS, iHeartRadio,Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, andTuneIn. 'Even though the pilots and stewardesses were trying to calm our nerves, Brownstein said, 'we knew the plane had to land and it was going to be rough.. He became a Division I athlete. It was a weird thing to be labeled a survivor.I struggled with it. So there was art and creativity and invention and engineering in the family. Did you visit it? We sort of integrate them. I think it was a way to get out of the house. The reason I wanted to bring this up with you: Im wondering if the fact that this experience is with youits been with you for thirty years, but you dont remember it. What was that experience like? It was a bityoure going to do this, this, this, this. SB: I think he had a feeling in his gut that she had not. And this wasnt really a memorial to her, I guess. ; Doug Reynolds, Moorcroft, Wyo. AZ: Yeah. More than 100 people died, marking one of the deadliest aviation disasters in American history. Do you have memory from that day? SB:Yeah, there was a book that came out a few years ago by a journalist Laurence Gonzales. Haynes became a public speaker soon after the accident, giving speeches about what happened aboard flight 232. Its interesting how you say you dont recognize yourself in that, and in essence thats the purpose of good art. Of the 296 people on the flight, 110 passengers and 1 flight attendant perished, most because of injuries from the crash, though some succumbed to smoke inhalation. Its everything Ive read or that people have told me. WebFind Survivor Of United Airlines Flight stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. So that whole experience for him is a whole different kind of trauma than what Ive gone through. It was the first time that it felt really real for me. And I think when people realize thatthat your situation isnt that unique, that everybody deals with itit opens up this thing inside of you, empathy, and allows you to think about trauma as something that everybody experiences, and that they all have their own versions of that story. But I think having that mindset, and also sort of just wanting to take as much as you can of what youre givenyou know, the opportunity of life, the opportunity of waking up in the morning and breathing, and being able to realize I can get on a flight and experience this culture or this place, or help grow my business this way, or go meet this person Ive always wanted to meet. To feel afraid to do thatIm really glad that I dont. Journalism requires deep empathy, if youre good at it. The one that is the most meaningful to me and, I think, my entire family is this cabin thats part of a hut system, called Summit Huts, in Colorado. And, of course, Ive read about it. And Ive never heard the story of how Lt. Col. Dennis Nielsen ended up being the person carrying mebasically, the story behind that photograph. The fact that people survived even more so. Of the 296 people on board the ill-fated Flight 232 when it crashed 31 years ago this month, 112 passengers died and 184 survived. The Schaumburg man was among the 184 survivors of United Airlines Flight 232, which crashed in Sioux City, Iowa, on July 19, 1989, while traveling from Denver to Chicago. They sat in the 33rd row. SB: Its interesting you mention the shoes because, actually, the only thingthe only objectI still have from that day is the pair of shoes that I was wearing. This hut [Francies Cabin] has had tens of thousands of visitors and has allowed so many people to enjoy this incredible part of the West. Al Haynes was also a miracle-maker, back in 1989. Andreana Badis, Marian, good; Ellen Badis; Eric Badis; Erin Badis; Brandon Bailey, St. Luke`s; Randy Bailey; Spenser Bailey, St. Luke`s; Martha Bartz; Kathy Batson, St. Luke`s; Brad Bayless, Denver; Sharon Bayless, Denver; Brent Bealer, St. Luke`s; Ellie Beck, St. Luke`s; Debi Belliveau, 40, Michigan City, Ind. AZ: But it had to be something. 5, 2023 5:38 pm9h ago, Nicholas Johnson Guest Columnists Apr. This weekend, survivors will gather for 25th anniversary memorial events related to United Flight 232's crash at the Mid America Museum of Aviation and Transportation in Sioux City. He experienced physical hardships that, for the most part, have healed. Then a fourth grader living in Chicago, Brownstein was traveling alone on Flight 232. Like, I feel like I just got punched in my gut trying to even find an answer to that, because the voidthe weight of that voidis so big that probably even in thirty years from now Ill still be wondering what its like to have that. AZ: Did Brandon know that he had lost his mother at the moment that he had woken up? It was the day that I brought them into the studio, and we took them out of the plastic bag, that I had the first visceral [reaction to them]. I had a beautiful healthy family, loving wife, great future. The son of an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a 'hippie mom, he was heading back home after visiting a friend in Denver when the DC-10 crashed in a farm field, a few miles south of Sioux City. I know that my mom really tried to instill this creativity in us, because theres photographic evidence of us painting and drawing and doing creative things from when she was still with us. ] There is some levity in the darkness. 112 [a] (111 initially) Injuries. It felt so freeing, he says. Spencer discusses how, after eighth grade, he left his childhood home in Colorado to attend a boarding school in Connecticut. This is survivor Rod Vetter's story. So they must have come with me after the hospital to. AZ: This was the first time the family was all together after the crash. I dont need to talk about politics, but thats trauma. I was in row 33, so we were in the back section of the plane, and we were flung forward. 'Rabbi has seen me in good times and bad times, Brownstein said. Illustrator: Diego Mallo He matched the description of Brandon. Almost like an angel or something. Spencer Bailey (the co-host of this podcast) was on that plane with his 36-year-old mom, Francie, and 6-year-old brother Brandon. I still have from that day is the pair of shoes that I was wearing. "Varying their thrust gave the pilots some crude control over the aircraft's elevation," reporter Bill Zahren wrote in the Sioux City Journal three days later. She was forced by regulation to ask parents with "lap children" aboard flight 232 to place their children on the cabin floor during the flight's final moments before impact. I continue to enjoy travel for that very reason: It makes me feel alive. AZ: I find it interesting that, now in your life, you travel a huge amount. So that whole experience for him is a whole different kind of trauma than what Ive gone through. David Landsberger, 40, Caldwell, N.J.; Shirley Lapalme, St. Luke`s; Donna Lewis, Marian, fair. Growing up, I had a really hard time reading. SB: [Long pause] Im still coping with that question. No one knew that story? AZ: Tell me about your motherwhat you know about her, who she was. Sorry, Jon. He is also editor-at-large of the book publisher Phaidon and a contributing editor at Town & Country. Ive flown with you several times. Read more about this topic: United Airlines Flight 232, In one notable instance, where the United States Army and a hundred years of persuasion failed, a highway has succeeded. Host. I mean, I had my head trauma injuries to deal with, let alone trying to comprehend what death was. SB: No. We mentioned for a moment this famous image became. But he remembers a lot of what happened. Her Story. Spencer, thank you for sharing your story with us. , thats still there. I continue to enjoy travel for that very reason: It makes me feel alive. Ed Porter/AP SB: He was getting on the first flight he could to Des Moines, and then renting a car and driving to Sioux City. My mom loved the outdoors, loved hiking. The last time I went back was with my dad, in 2009. . And so, not only am I grateful to the rescue crew and pilots and the captain, but also this woman, who, without her, I dont know how soon they would have found my body. And she got up to the stage and put her gold medal in the air and her head down and started crying, and Im like, Really?! And I think when people realize thatthat your situation isnt that unique, that everybody deals with itit opens up this thing inside of you, empathy, and allows you to think about trauma as something that everybody experiences, and that they all have their own versions of that story. The year before, theSioux City Journal had done a story on the anniversary of the crash, and I was asked about how I felt about seeing myself in statue. AZ: We dont get over things. That she wasnt coming back. Spencer describes how he has no memory from the crash-landing on July 19, 1989, or any time before it; recalls some of what his brother Brandon told him about that day; and shares how he came to learn who his mom was. San Francisco Chronicle As hundreds of rescue workers waited on the ground, United Airlines Flight 232 wallowed drunkenly over the bluffs northwest of Sioux City. 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