South Dakota Remembers 1998 Spencer Tornado

by Duke Doering

     On June 3, 1998, several South Dakota National Guard members were on the ground at the small town of Spencer, South Dakota. They were working through the devastation of a tornado that struck after dark on May 30th.  With little warning the tornado wiped out the town, killing six people and injuring another 150.  Survivors were taken to a National Guard armory at the nearby town of Salem where cots and privacy tents were set up.

     Battery B, 147th Field Artillery, which was on annual training at the time, was the first unit called to support the civilian authorities.  They arrived early in the morning of May 31.  They were relieved by Company A, 147th Field Artillery later in the day.  The unit commander of Battery A was Capt. Marshall Michels, who stated their first duty was to account for people and search through the rubble for survivors and bodies.  When all the people were accounted for, the guard members took on the duty of crowd control.  Battery A members assisted in the crowd control on the Volunteer Day, where interested people came in to help the residents with gathering and cleaning of their possessions.

       Maj. Ted Johnson, Military Support to Civil Authorities Officer, requested National Guard issue light sets be brought to Spencer. Maj. Anthony Deiss stated, “I helped deliver those light sets, I was a Spec. in the 1742nd Transportation Company at the time,  it was a crazy scene. I’ll never forget digging through the rubble looking for survivors.” Capt. Jim Peterson was the National Guard liaison with the State, County and local officials.

     Battery A remained on duty in Spencer for approximately two weeks.  The South Dakota Air Guard members arrived to provide medical support. The 153rd Engineer Battalion bought in heavy equipment to support the clean up.  Chaplain Sandy Aakre of the 153rd conducted a church service for the members of the community.