“Ladle crane operators were known for their courage during what was innocently called a ‘runner’. When a ladle of molten steel was positioned over the cast iron molds, a steel pourer on a dangerous platform pushed down on a long lever to open a stream of molten steel into a mold. On rail tracks about 15 molds were lined up to complete the pour. A runner occurred once every three months of so when the steel pourer’s lever would malfunction causing the stream not to stop between molds. The ladle crane operator was on his own at that point. All workers in the area would scream “RUNNER!” and flee the platform. Imagine molten steel at 2,900 degrees flying everywhere as the operator moved the steady pouring ladle from mold to mold until the ladle was empty.”
Category: Excerpts/Step Away from the War
Blog was set up to include excerpts from my 2017 memoir, “Step Away from the War”.
Chapter 11
“When I arrived at Wyandotte Hospital, the site of my deceased father planted itself in my memory. His breathless mouth was wide opened in a similar way of the dead that I had often encountered in South Vietnam.
Chapter 1
“The turning point in my life was when I turned 20 years old. Up until that time, I was drifting along, care-free and irresponsible, doing things my way and fucking up, frequently.”
from Chapter 6
“There’s a scent and a special kind of air in the old Tiger Stadium, sitting with my dad watching in awe as Kaline throws a tightrope strike from the warning path to home plate.”