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A firefighter returns.
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As photographers, we don't get many letters from the
readers. Occasionally I get a note from a person I've photographed,
especially if I have found the subject on my own, but most of the
time we get very little feedback. So I was surprised about two weeks
ago when I received a card from Paula Waters of Orlando. In it,
she wrote;
"Your photograph that appeared on the front page of
the firefighter Dallas Turner was a wonderful picture. I am sure
it is a thrill to have your picture printed in color on the front
page. I wanted to tell you how this picture has changed this man's
life."
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Firefighter
Dallas Turner of Clayton, Oklahoma rests during a lunchbreak in
Mims, Florida. click here
to read the original journal
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"I was one of many people from Orlando that sent your picture
to the city hall in Clayton, Ok. In the past several weeks I have kept
in touch with Betty Blackburn at City Hall. I had her inform the Turner
family if they were able to return to Fla., they would be able to visit
the theme parks for free. Through Betty, I have found out that someone
in their small town is lending them a car to make the drive here. They
have 3 children, ages 6,5, and 3. I have sent them information about all
the parks and Disney tee shirts to make it seem real for these kids. I
am sure this will be the first time these kids will have been out of Oklahoma."
I called Betty Blackburn at the Clayton City Hall and found
out that in their small town, good jobs are scarce. There is no industry.
Clayton is not near a larger city and most of the jobs are temporary.
Dallas Turner is like many other men in the town, going from job to job,
barely making ends meet. His truck is 16-years old and would never make
it to Florida. Even if they could find a good car to borrow, the family
probably didn't have enough spare cash to cover meals and lodging. The
money he had made fighting fires in Florida as a volunteer firefighter
was in savings as a cushion against tough times. His job on road construction
was about to end. "We live from week to week," Turner would later say.
Hearing this story, I collected some phone numbers from
Betty and went to the editors. Laurin Sellers, a reporter for the Sentinel,
wrote a story that appeared on Monday, August 17. Laurin told about the
Turner's tough financial situation and how, after the Clayton Times had
run my photo that had been distributed by the Associated Press, that Dallas
had become a "little hometown hero,"
Tom McComb, an executive for Mears Transportation, told
me later that he heard about the Turners when the local radio stations
began talking about our story. Despite the fact that most chat that morning
was about President Clinton's confession speech the night before, there
was plenty of talk about the firefighter in Oklahoma. McComb specializes
in organizing corporate conferences and he volunteered to coordinate an
effort to bring the Turners to Florida. The response was so great that
by early afternoon that same day, everything from airfare to hotels to
meals to transportation to spending money and, of course, admission to
all the theme parks was set.
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In our followup story on Tuesday, McComb was quoted, "The more
I heard about this family, the more I realized there was no way
in their lifetime they could come here on their own. We just felt
this was the right thing to do."
This Monday, Dallas and his wife arrived at Orlando International
Airport with their three children. The kids marveled at the fountains
in the airport's hotel lobby and his oldest son, Jared, asked Dallas
if an elevator ride was going to be scary.
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Dallas
Turner is interviewed by local television at the Orlando International
Airport. He is holding Dallas, Jr., 3, with his daughter Onallie,
6 at his side. He wife Glenda and his son Jared look on. photo
by Tom Burton/The Orlando Sentinel
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In
the back of a stretch limo, the Turner family is ready to begin
their dream vacation. photo by Tom Burton/The Orlando Sentinel
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They piled into the back of the longest limo Mears Transportation
had and left to stay at a hotel that's large enough to house the entire
population of Clayton, Oklahoma. They will be here through Sunday
and I'm happy for them. Sure, there were hundreds of other firefighters
who came to Florida and many of them won't be able to come back to
visit the theme parks. But Dallas Turner just happened to be in a
particular place when I was there so the photo could be made. I remember
that, at the time, Dallas asked me if I thought the photo would be
in the paper. I gave him one of my standard responses - he had a better
chance than he did 10 minutes earlier, before I made the picture.
The photo ran and Dallas won the lottery. |
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The
Turner kids get their first thrill ride on the luggage cart at the
airport. photo by Tom Burton/The Orlando
Tom Burton
August 28, 1998
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As for me, I got to see Dallas again and his kids were wide eyed
and maybe a bit overwhelmed by the excitement of the trip. I can
remember taking my three kids to Disney World at the same ages and
I know they'll have a great time and a heck of a story to tell their
classmates back in school. And Dallas, who is sort of quiet and
not much with words, did make a point to shake my hand and simply
say "thank you." Now I have a great story I can tell to my friends.
Dallas
Turner and his oldest son Jared ride the monorail from the airside
gates to the main terminal at Orlando International Airport. photo
by Tom Burton/The Orlando Sentinel
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