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Dr. Leander K. Powers BS ‘35, is a member of UGA’s Greatest Generation and one of our most unusual alums. At 93, he still has his general practice in Savannah that he started in 1945.
Dr. Powers received his M.D. from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta in 1940. His late wife, the former Pauline Cargill, and their five children all went to UGA. One of his daughters, Polly Powers Stramm ‘77, ABJ of Savannah, shared the following information with us.
“My father served in southern Italy during World War II and kept a detailed wartime diary. What follows is an excerpt about Mount Vesuvius erupting. Daddy also was mentioned by name in the book ‘Brave Men,’ by war correspondent Ernie Pyle.”
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In his journal, Dr. Powers wrote: “On Saturday, March 17, 1944, while we were just finishing supper, someone called to say there were huge red streams of lava flowing down the sides of Mount Vesuvius. It was a sight to behold. Never had we seen such at night — usually a faint red glow at the most. As we watched the streams, like giant fingers flowing down the sides, we could see a glow in the sky.
“All during the night and Sunday there were quakes of the earth with tremendous roars – similar to thunder – from Vesuvius. The windows rattled, and the entire building vibrated. On Sunday night, the roars became more frequent and grumbled like a lion’s roar. Streams of fire were shooting thousands of feet into the air, and the countryside was lit up for miles around. Oft times the entire top of the mountain looked as if it were a blazing inferno. It’s really uncanny, yet amazing to look at this phenomenon. The vibrations of the building were truly uncomfortable.
“Monday, March 19, I learned that a stream of lava was following down the side toward Naples , so we rode over to see it. It was the most phenomenal thing I have ever witnessed a huge mass of fiery coals some 20 feet high and 200 yards wide destroying everything in its path. There were many people evacuating their homes, which we saw destroyed as the lava pressed on. At night, the sky and countryside was bright for miles around. Flames were shooting in the sky for thousands of feet,
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“Tuesday night, the entire town vibrated, and there was a roar almost unexplainable. Lava rocks could be seen all over the mountainside.
“Wednesday morning, we could see smoke boiling from the crater for miles into the sky. This continued all the afternoon. We heard that the road to Salerno was covered with cinders and traffic was greatly impeded.
“Thursday morning, we rode down beyond Pompeii. The cinders were so deep that traffic was stopped. Along about noon, the wind changed and the cinders began falling on Torre Annunziato. Everything had a coat of black, just like light snow. We rode up toward the Naples side on the Autostrade, and, as the wind was blowing toward town, I got a wonderful view of the boiling inferno.
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“Yesterday, I rode into the town that was destroyed by the flowing lava and apparently the flow was coming to a stop, but the devastation was terrific. Tonight there is a lot of lightning coming from the crater and infrequent blasts. I learned from an Allied Military Government officer that 78 planes (B-25) were destroyed on the Pompeii airfield during the past few days by the lava and cinders.
“March 30. The eruption seems to have abated very slowly during the past few days. Cinders and ashes have been raining down over all the villages in this section, but seem to be slowing up. The smoke from the crater is apparently changing from the intense black to white again. Yesterday, I looked at the Autostrade through my glasses, and it is apparently covered with cinders as is the entire mountainside.
“Only two weeks ago, I rode up the Autostrade and then walked several hundred yards up toward the crater. Yesterday afternoon, we rode in the ambulance, and, on the way back, we took a shortcut via Pompeii. Bulldozers were plowing the cinders to the side of the road in huge banks. Practically all the gardens and vineyards are covered to a tremendous depth in the area all the way from Vesuvius to Salerno. Many people are homeless and without food, but they seem to take it in stride, just as the Northerners take the snow in winter. After this eruption it’s easy to visualize the destruction of Pompeii – a most amazing and uncanny phenomenon.
“From my quarters I can still see what appears to be small areas with smoking lava, but the smoke from the crater has abated. Today, the wind is blowing inland, and it appears that cone is much lower than before. Vesuvius is definitely not dead after all these years of inactivity.”
