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ETV Presents “Incident at Mars Bluff”
“Carolina Stories” Program Reveals Story of the Nuclear Bomb Dropped on SC
Premieres Thursday, Nov. 19 at 9 p.m.
For Immediate Release
November 6, 2009
Columbia, SC... For the Gregg Family, the afternoon of March 11, 1958 was really no different than most. Mrs. Gregg sat sewing in the front parlor, while her husband and their son tended to one of the many chores on their farm in the tiny town of Mars Bluff, SC. Six-year-old Helen Gregg, her sister, nine-year-old Frances, and their cousin, nine-year-old Ella Davies were busy in their tiny playhouse. But at about 4:00 p.m. their simple decision to find another place to play, proved to be a fateful one.
Nineteen minutes later, a U.S. Air Force plane bomber accidentally released its deadly payload, a three-ton nuclear bomb, over the Gregg farm. Within seconds, the bomb hit the ground and detonated, tearing a large crater in the ground that measured 50 feet across and 35 feet deep. All that remained of the playhouse were mangled shards of the tin roof. Cousin Ella Davies sustained the worst injuries from the explosion, requiring 33 stitches and an overnight stay in the hospital. Amazingly, no one was killed.
At the moment of impact, history was made. The Gregg family had survived the first nuclear blunder of its kind, and for a few short days Mars Bluff became the epicenter of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union.
Although the excitement about the near-catastrophe died out almost as quickly as it began, the flames will be rekindled on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 9 p.m., when ETV-HD premieres “Incident at Mars Bluff.” The 30-minute Carolina Stories documentary captures the details of this event in more depth, and includes interviews with the surviving members of the Gregg family who reveal how the incident affected them then and now. Additional questions will be answered by surviving crewmembers, Air Force personnel, Mars Bluff residents and Cold War historians as they shed light on the incident and provide local, national and international perspectives on the world’s first nuclear accident.
Encore broadcasts can be seen on ETV-HD on Sunday, November 22 at 4 p.m. Additionally, it can be seen on Monday, Nov. 23 at 9 p.m. on the South Carolina Channel.
South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.
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For more information, contact Rob Schaller at (803) 737-6556 or rschaller@scetv.org.
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