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Subject: [PAWESTMO-L] West Newton Auxiliary Police disband after almost 60 years
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2000 09:54:26 EST

Westmoreland Sunday - News - Sunday, October 29, 2000

End of an Era
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West Newton Auxiliary Police disband after almost 60 years
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By Maryann G. Eidemiller
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW

John Moran remembers when the runaway truck crashed into the train in West
Newton and killed five people. He was there when recovery teams searched the
Youghiogheny River for the bodies of three sisters. And when there were
floods, storms and accidents, the trained auxiliary police officer was on
call for anything.

All of that is now in a distant past.

Moran, 81, is one of the last remaining members of the West Newton Auxiliary
Police, which was founded in the 1940s and incorporated in 1957. There were
49 men when he joined 45 years ago. Now there are only six, and it's been at
least a decade since they served.

"We have outlived our usefulness and we are in the process of disbanding," he
said.

Funds left in the group's bank account are being disbursed to community
projects. The members are looking for the right place to install a memorial
plaque in West Newton to honor those who volunteered their time as "a fully
trained marching uniformed unit."

The organization supported the West Newton police, assisted in public safety
and aided in emergencies.

"We were very well trained in first aid from the Red Cross, in firearms from
the NRA and in bomb disposal from the military," Moran said.

Members also belonged to the original Civil Defense of Greensburg under the
first director, Maxwell Laffey, and then Richard Hunger. They were also
affiliated with the Radio Amateur Communications Emergency Services.

"We worked with the state police and with the Greensburg police," Moran said.
"We were there whenever the people needed us."

The biggest disaster he ever worked happened in the 1950s when a truck from
Georgia lost control descending the hill into West Newton.

"He was heading for the West Elizabeth Lumber Co. and when he came around the
bend he saw a road grader and stepped on the gas to try to get around it,"
Moran said. "But the truck gained so much speed that he couldn't shift down
and the brakes got so hot that he couldn't stop."





The driver was on the runaway truck's running board by the time it got to the
bottom of the hill. Traffic was stopped for a train on the B&O Railroad
tracks. When the truck hit, cars went flying and the force of the impact
jack-knifed and derailed the train, killing the driver and four others.

"There were millions of dollars in damage, too," Moran said.

The auxiliary police secured the scene against vandalism and called out its
bomb disposal unit because one of the rail cars was loaded with munitions.

Moran remembers another tragedy with multiple fatalities.

"There were three (adult) sisters in town who asked to borrow someone's boat
during a high rise in the river," he said. "They weren't permitted to do it,
but they took it anyway."

The women drowned and their bodies disappeared in the murky, fast running
water.

"When the river went down we made a chain of humans going around the river to
see if we could stir up the bodies," Moran said. "That went on for about a
week, and then we gave up the recovery. But the bodies were eventually
found."

The auxiliary police served the community for decades until advanced age and
the cost of additional training prohibited members from keeping up with newly
mandated qualifications.

The roster eventually dwindled down to Moran and his son, Jerome, Floyd
Macheska, Dr. Howard Marks Sr., John Kachursky and Hayward Wilson.

"We did what we could," Moran said. "We were there to serve, not to be
served. That's what we were there for."
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Members of the West Newton Auxiliary Police are seen in this 1950s photo. The
picture was taken at West Newton High School gymnasium. (S.C.
Spangler/Tribune-Review)
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John Moran, 81, is one of the last remaining members of the West Newton
Auxiliary Police. The force, which started in the 1940s with 49 men, has
dwindled to six. (S.C. Spangler/Tribune-Review)
=====================================================
You can download the pics from <A
HREF="http://triblive.com/frames/whfram.html">;
http://triblive.com/frames/whfram.html</A>; ..if you are having trouble, I
will attach and send them to you in private email

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