Radio operator’s chilling last words caught on tape before volcano ‘more powerful than a nuclear bomb’ buries him alive

When tragedy strikes, we can’t help but think about what must have been going through the victim’s mind at that moment.

For the most part, all we can do is assume – but sometimes their last words and thoughts are immortalized by recordings that capture their last moments in this world.

By providing both closure and context, these audio files can help people piece together exactly what went wrong.

We heard the chilling last words of the pilots of Air France Flight 447 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the poignant last sentences that documentarian and animal lover “Grizzly Man” managed to utter.

These extracts emerged amid investigations into both tragedies, but in Gerry Martin’s case, listeners heard in real time what was happening in his final moments.

The volunteer radio operator met a tragic end while on a shift for the Civilian Amateur Radio Emergency Service when Mount St Helens in Skamania County, Washington, erupted on 18 May 1980.

He was a Navy veteran who had trained as a shortwave radio operator. So it made sense for him to offer his services to the team.

Gerry had driven his campervan up to a ridge near the volcano the day before the disaster to monitor the mountain – and, unknowingly, placed himself at the forefront of an eruption that was described as being “more powerful than ‘a nuclear bomb’.

The 64-year-old may have realized he could be in danger after noticing the volcano boiling on Mount St Helens, nicknamed “mountain of fire” by locals.

A small earthquake that had occurred a few weeks earlier, in March 1980, seemed to trigger the volcano, as steam was rising from it just a week later, while the ground also appeared to be stirring on the north face of the volcano. mountain.

Brave volunteers like Gerry and volcanologist David A. Johnston monitored the site, but none of them had any idea of ​​the death and destruction it was about to cause.

A colossal debris avalanche was triggered by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake, which in turn caused a lateral eruption that lowered the mountain’s summit elevation by more than 1,000 feet and left a horseshoe-shaped crater one kilometer wide.

Lava poured down the volcano’s flanks, at speeds that dwarfed those of landslides, while also pumping hot gases at more than 300 mph.

Everything in its path — including 57 people, 200 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railroad tracks and 185 miles of highways — was wiped out, with the volcano’s explosion estimated to be 500 times stronger than that of the atomic bomb which destroyed Hiroshima. according to Ranker.

Gerry realized what was about to unfold with only seconds to spare – and he used those final moments to warn his fellow radio operators of what was to come.

In his latest broadcast, the volunteer said: “Gentlemen, the motorhome and car south of my house are covered.

“It’s going to hit me too. We can’t get out of here.”

Unfortunately, no trace of Gerry or his camper van was ever found, but it is believed that he was essentially “buried alive” by the hot ash and lava spouting from the volcano.

The 57 victims of the Mount St Helens eruption suffered the same fate and are believed to have died of asphyxiation after being trapped under the burning debris.

The volcano, which is still the most active in the Cascade Range, continues to show signs of life all these years.

The 1980 disaster remains the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in United States history.