Bob Barney ~ It was May of 1980…an unforgettable month as it was during one of the hardest times in my life. I was alone in Florida, things were going badly for me and although I was also then a believer in God after being an atheist, things were just not going right. It was also a month that many "biblical" type tragedies were occurring.
May 17th: This day brought the major race riot in Miami, Florida where 16 were killed, and 300 were injured. I found myself in Miami at the time just blocks away from all of the violence, this was when a shop I was calling on told me I needed to get the hell out of the area fast. As I was leaving, I had passed what seemed to be a hundred state trooper cars passing me the other way going into Miami.
May 18th: Mount St Helens erupted, an event that has special meaning to me. 57 people died.
May 20th: 710 families in the Love Canal area of Niagara Falls, New York were evacuated due to lingering effects from prior use as a toxic chemical waste disposal site.
May 29th: My 25th birthday – The first one to ever be alone with no family.
May 9th: My eyes were glued to the TV when 35 motorists died when a roadway collapsed after the Liberian freighter 'Summit Venture' rammed into the Sunshine Skyway Bridge during a squall. This was in Tampa Bay, Florida…
You can see how I could never forget the month of May in 1980.
Here is the video: