The Devils Bowl Speedway was opened in 1949 in Dallas on John West Road near the back of Buckner Blvd drive-in theater. The Bowl moved to its current location in Mesquite in 1968, but in 1963, that racetrack was still at its original location. It featured stock car and other auto races, and was a popular venue for hot rod buffs.
On Friday evening, April 26, 1963, Roy Carter, who with his wife operated the facility, was changing a butane tank for a hamburger grill when it sprung a leak. Escaping gas was ignited by a water heater pilot light. The flames engulfed an office under the stands, blowing Carter out the door.
Carter’s 10 year old daughter Sandra was trapped in the burning office sure to burn to death when Dallas Police Sergeant Donald F. Flusche, Sr. broke through a ticket window, crawled inside and hurled Sandra out the window before escaping himself. Carter, Sandra, and Sgt. Flusche suffered painful burns, but all recovered. For his heroism, Sgt. Flusche received the Dallas Police Medal of Honor, the highest award given for exceptional bravery in the line of duty.
Only 26 officers have been awarded the Police Medal of Honor in the history of the Dallas Police Department. More than ten thousand have served, at least since badge numbers were first assigned. In 1963, three men were recipients: Sgt. Flusche, J. D. Tippit, who was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, and Nick McDonald, who would have been had not the web of his hand caught the hammer of Oswald’s pistol as the assassin was being subdued in the Texas Theater.
Don Flusche went on to serve more than 30 years with the DPD. I had the honor of meeting Don, Sr. my first day on the job as a police officer. His oldest son, Don, Jr. was one of my classmates in the 1972 Police Academy Class #123. One evening after class, Don, Jr. told me about his dad’s rescue of Sandra over a beer at Club Schmitz. He told me that Don, Sr. never mentioned it, except when asked, and then only to say it was "part of the job."
Sadly, Don, Jr. died of injuries he received in a car crash on Greenville Avenue in 1992 while responding to assist another officer. In 2004, Sgt. Mike Flusche, another son who followed in his father’s footsteps – almost literally – was awarded the DPD Medal of Honor, along with two of his fellow officers.
Donald F. Flusche, Sr. died in 2008 at the age of 80. Not the least of his claims to fame in this world was that he was a member of the first graduating class of Dallas' Jesuit High School in 1945. R.I.P.
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