Walter Cronkite went on to cover wars and other major events. He become the nation's leading nightly news anchorman. But he would later write that nothing could have prepared him for what he witnessed that day in New London, and no other story ever equaled it.
Several lawsuits were brought after the explosion. However, no one was found legally responsible for the accident.
But one of the most important results of the disaster was the passage of a new state law in Texas. It required gas suppliers to add an odor to natural gas so people would know if there was a leak. That requirement was quickly adopted throughout the country and around the world.
Today millions of people recognize the danger of a gas leak when they smell an odor like rotten eggs.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Miles Toler at the museum in New London says classes restarted within two to three weeks of the explosion.
MILES TOLER: "I don't know how you walk past it where everybody was killed in the explosion, but you do and you go to the gym and other buildings on the campus and you finish the school year out."
Mr. Toler was born two years after the explosion. He says the community had an extremely difficult time dealing with the tragedy. He says no one ever discussed it while he was growing up and attending the very same school.
Local citizens rebuilt the school over the next two years, replacing the natural gas with steam heat. And in nineteen thirty-nine a large stone memorial was placed nearby. But Mr. Toler says the first memorial gathering was not held until nineteen seventy-seven.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25