Where were you on August 9, 1974?
Wally Hellums of Red Bay was in Washington, D.C., witnessing history.
“Recently I went with my daughter, Catherine, to the orthodontist and while I was in the waiting room I opened up the May 2 edition of Time magazine,” Hellums said. “I was shocked to see a picture of Nixon leaving the White House by helicopter the day he resigned, and I was a speck in the background. I didn’t know the picture existed.
“Seeing the picture on my birthday made it even more special,” Hellums said.
The recent coverage of the 20th anniversary of the resignation of Nixon has brought back many memories for Hellums.
“My aunt, Willard McKinney, and I decided to go on a vacation to New York and Washington, D.C. in August of 1974,” he said. “Her husband (Johnny McKinney) and my mother (Catherine Hellums) had both recently passed away.”
While in New York they visited the World Trade Center. Their tour guide told Hellums some interesting information.
“The tour guide laughingly mentioned all the windows to clean at the World Trade Center,” he said. “She told me later that Nixon owned the patent to the window cleaning device that is used to clean the windows at the Trade Center.”
After visiting in New York, Hellums and McKinney traveled to Washington, D.C. They toured the White House on the morning of August 8 and Nixon issued his resignation that night, which was effective at noon on August 9.
“I would not go back to the White House,” Hellums said. “The security was tight and I felt very uncomfortable. It was like 1,000 eyes were watching us.
While touring the Smithsonian Institute on August 9, Hellums decided to return to the White House.
“I had a gut feeling that I should go back to the White House,” he said. “It would be the last time Nixon would be President.”
Hellums estimated 30 people were there when the Nixons boarded the helicopter for California.
“The mood was sad,” he said. “I didn’t realize I had just seen history in the making.”
Hellums voted for Nixon in 1972. This was his first time to vote.
“I voted for Nixon, and I would vote for him again,” he said. “I felt very comfortable with Nixon and I felt very uncomfortable with McGovern.
“Watergate and now Whitewater is just a lot of politics. Other presidents have done things as bad or worse.”
Hellums voiced respect for Nixon.
“He was instrumental in ending the Cold War and the Vietnam War,” he said. “He was an overcomer.”
Hellums remembers the vacation of 1974 as one of the best.
“Aunt Willard and I just needed to get away,” he said.
McKinney passed away in February of this year and Nixon died a month later.
Hellums has donated a copy of Nixon’s last book, “Peace Beyond,” to the Weatherford Library in memory of McKinney.
Hellums has enjoyed sharing his memories of that eventful vacation of 1974 with his wife, Charlotte, and children, Beth, Mac, Samantha, Catherine, and Patrick.
Hellums is a registered pharmacist at Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence. He also is a relief pharmacist.
Hellums offers the following advice.
“I learned with Nixon that people can overcome anything,” he said. “Don’t let life get you down.”
