A story of bravery during the 1947 Disaster

In light of all the Texas City stories The Daily News recently has run and the city’s 100th birthday celebration: My story is one that I have shared only with family, until now. This is the story of Raul Luna and his bravery during the 1947 Disaster.

His parents, Delfina and Lucio Luna, moved to Texas City in 1943 to work and build their new house. They lived on First Avenue South (now Martin Luther King), across the street from Monsanto and Our Lady of the Snow Catholic Church. They had 12 children, six sons and six daughters.

The area surrounding Monsanto refinery was known as the “barrio,” where most of the residents were Mexicans. The original families living in the barrio had such names as Salazar, Davila, Garcia, Yanez, Reyes, Valdez, Morales, Ponce, Beltran, Elizondo, Peralez, Fernandez, Hernandez, Ayala, Lapp and Lara.

Like traditional Mexican Catholics, much of their time was spent at Our Lady of the Snow. Not only did they attend Mass and recite the holy rosary, most of the young boys served as altar boys there.

They participated in fundraising events, such as church bazaars and all types of festivities at the church and local community center, El Salon, down the street.

Often, Delfina and her daughters gathered in the evening on the front porch and sang Mexican corridos (ballads). Life was very simple and uneventful.

Meanwhile, Lucio, his brother Frutoso and his sons, Raul and Lalo (also known as Coach Eddie) went to work as longshoremen at the Monsanto docks. On April 16, 1947, when the fire began, Raul, his friend Antonio Salazar and the eldest Lara brother volunteered to fight it. Raul was last seen holding the water hose minutes before the explosion. His remains never were found; he was only 16.

Since they were not official members of the volunteer firefighter’s crew, their names do not appear on the plaque at Memorial Park. And that is why I am telling this story — to give some recognition to these brave young Mexican boys who lost their lives to protect their community.

All of the families in the barrio had family members injured, dead or missing that day and all sustained damage to their homes. Most of them remained and rebuilt. But, since then, some have educated their children, prospered and moved on to other communities. However, this shared, tragic experience did create a bond among the barrio families that still exist today.

The Texas City Museum bears a large photograph of the men who fought the fire that day, and Raul is shown holding the water hose. Memories of this event were told to me by Delfina’s youngest son, Juan, my husband.

Mary Luna lives in Texas City.