Humanitarian· Civil Aid and Humanitarian Operations
Knickerbocker Theatre roof collapse rescue
A disaster-relief response to one of the worst structural failures in American history.
During a record snowstorm in Washington, the flat roof of the crowded Knickerbocker Theatre gave way under the accumulated snow during a film screening, collapsing onto the audience and killing nearly a hundred people while injuring many more. Marines from the Marine Barracks at Washington turned out at once and joined the rescue and recovery effort, working through the disaster alongside the city's police, firefighters, and other federal personnel to dig survivors and the dead out of the wreckage. No Marines were hurt in the work. The response was a clear example of the standing role of the Washington barracks as a ready body of disciplined men the capital could call on in any emergency, in this case not to keep order but to save lives and clear the rubble of a sudden catastrophe.
Record no. 558