Johnston County History: The War comes to Selma

By Benjamin Sanderford

The early hours of March 7, 1942 seemed normal to Officer Charlie Straughan, at least until he heard at 1:15 that a car had crashed into a truck at the intersection of U.S. 70 and U.S. 301.

Known as Catch-Me-Eye after the original name of its tavern, currently Gurkin’s Tavern, this staple of Selma nightlife also included a gas station and some cabins. The higher-class Hotel Talton stood on the other side of U.S. 301.

By the time Straughan arrived with the fire truck, the situation had become very serious. The car contained six people, a married couple, their two sons and two off-duty Marines who had hitched a ride with them.

The driver, Minnie Lewis, collided with the truck as she was making a turn. Both vehicles immediately caught fire. The family and Marines frantically tried to get out, but the doors were jammed. Eventually, Odie Lewis managed to kick the glass out of the front passenger window at the cost of breaking his ankle.

Bernard Rosenberg, one of the Marines, then sprang into action. After crawling through the broken window from the back seat, he opened the door and got the Lewis family and his fellow Marine, Jimmy Blackstrom, to safety. They did not know it yet, but the truck was carrying 40,000 pounds of “pistol bombs” to Fort Bragg.

Officer Straughan and Selma fire chief John Jeffreys did not know either, but they attempted to put out the flames at once. However, their supply of water and chemicals was insufficient.

At 2:47 a.m., the cargo in the munitions truck exploded, blasting a hole 30 by 40 feet deep, making a sound that could be heard in Rocky Mount, and creating a fireball that could be seen in Raleigh. The Catch-Me- Eye complex and neighboring businesses were damaged beyond repair. The Hotel Talton was completely leveled, only its chimney survived.

The explosion was so violent that many people thought they were under attack from Germany or Japan. Only three months before, on December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy,” in the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Japanese aircraft launched a devastating raid on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Four days later, Japan’s German allies, who had gained similar infamy due to their bombing campaign against Britain, officially declared war on the United States. It is not surprising, then, that the explosion near Selma prompted fears of German or Japanese air attack.

Of course, the blast was no such thing, but it was still a jarring reminder to Johnston County folk that they were part of a nation at war. If the Japanese Empire had not attacked Pearl Harbor, then no munitions truck would have been bound for Fort Bragg.

This was not the only impact of the war on the home front. Soldiers had already been stationed in the Selma area because of its strategic value on the route from Raleigh to the Atlantic, rationing would soon bring hardship, and many young men would be drafted to fight one or both of America’s archenemies.

Nevertheless, for sheer drama and tragedy, nothing could outdo the Catch-Me-Eye disaster.

Congress voted in 1959 to offer compensation to the victims. The money, however, could not restore the lives lost. The explosion killed seven people, including Minnie Lewis, who died of burn injuries. Officer Straughan and fire chief Jeffreys were among more than 60 injured after being thrown to the ground by the blast, suffering serious bruises and lacerations. Bernard Rosenberg was also injured, having been burned during his heroic rescue mission.

The American Legion chapter of Selma is currently campaigning for him to be posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

Benjamin Sanderford, a resident of Clayton, studied social science at UNC Greensboro. He can be reached at benwsanderford@gmail.com.