In early October of 1931 Hoyt D Decker of 505 Willow St had his second life changing experience. His first was being the first U.S. soldier that was captured by the Germans in WW1. That happened on November 3rd,1917 near the Village of Bathlemont in France as he was part of the First Division Company F 16th Infantry that fell under the direct command of the famous General John J Blackjack Pershing. Hoyt would later say, I ate the same food and drank the same bad water as General Pershing. He also served with and was friends with the first U.S. WW1 casualty James Gresham from Evansville IN. His Second life changing experience happened while working for the E.R. Mills Construction Company. The company was building a new bridge near Burnside Kentucky over the Cumberland River. While working on the bridge Hoyt was leaning over directing a coworker below when a heavy pile of timbers from above toppled over. A warning was shouted but it came too late. As soon as Hoyt realized what was happening he grabbed on to the steel frame of the bridge but the impact of the timbers was too great and it knocked him off. As he fell from the bridge Hoyt looked down to the jagged rocks 150 below to see where his body would land. Then as if by some miracle he stopped falling. His left hand had became wedged between some timbers that had somehow got entangled in the framework of the bridge. He was dangling by one arm from 20 feet below the bridge, but he was alive. He was quickly rescued by his fellow coworkers. He suffered a broken thumb and some torn muscles and ligaments in his left arm. Soon after the harrowing bridge accident he decided to change professions to something safer, the Blackford Window Glass Company. Hoyt also dabbled in local politics on the Republican side. Mr. Decker passed away on December 20th 1983 and he is buried with his wife Alice (Bouillet) Decker in Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 16:21:34 +0000
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