PLAINS TWP. — James Olson rolled up the sleeve of his sweatshirt to reveal his tattoo — “Sole Survivor ’82.”
The tattoo is a stark reminder of a tragic day not just in Olson’s life, but for Luzerne County.
On Sept. 25, 1982, mass murderer George Banks shot and killed 13 people, including five of his own children.
He also shot another person who survived — James Olson.
Olson, now 62, lives in Plains Township. He’s retired and lives with his mother and he enjoys his backyard garden and his new big screen TV.
But the memory of the early morning of Sept. 25, 1982, will never go away.
Olson and his girlfriend at the time were at a party at home on Schoolhouse Lane, across the street from where Banks killed eight people. At about 2:30 a.m., they left the party and were standing in the street with two other friends when they heard what they thought were firecrackers coming from the house.
As the two couples stood there, a man in a camouflage outfit exited 28 Schoolhouse Lane, and headed right toward them.
“He walked out of the house and he had the gun at his side,” Olson said. “My buddy, Ray, said ‘Hey, don’t I know you?’ Then the man slid the gun up to his side and shot Ray.”
Ray Hall, 24, fell to the ground, his body flailing wildly on the sidewalk. He would later die.
Banks turned toward the others in the group, including Olson.
“He looked at me and he said, ‘You aren’t going to live long enough to tell anyone about this,’” Olson recalled. “He put the gun to my chest and he pulled the trigger and he shot me at point blank range.”
Olson said the shot from the AR-15 assault rifle pierced through the center of Jim’s chest, nicking his heart sac, and exited through the left side of his torso.
“I remember laying on the road — I was in shock,” Olson said. “I was in the hospital for a good month. I felt fortunate to be alive.”
Olson had been working at Frye Boot Co. on the Sans Souci Parkway in Hanover Township. After recovering, he would return to his job. Through the years, Olson said he had a few different jobs before retiring on disability.
Olson married the girl he was with that night, but they later divorced. He had two daughters — one is deceased — and four grandchildren.
“They are my life,” he said of his kids and grandchildren. “I think about that night all the time. I think about how lucky I was to survive and I think about my family. I’ve moved on, definitely.”
And, Olson said, he thinks how George Banks nearly took all that away.
Olson said that bullet from Banks’ AR-15 tore through his left lung and struck several other organs. He said he lost a lot of blood and about three-quarters of his lung, as well as his spleen. He said he was in the hospital’s intensive care unit for several days.
When he awoke, Olson said he knew he and Ray had been shot. But no one had told him Ray died, or about the dozen other victims. He found out what happened that night while watching a TV newscast that showed Ray Hall’s funeral.
Olson said he’s comfortable these days. He cherishes the time with his daughter and granddaughter and his mom. He enjoys working in his yard and he stays busy, keeping his mind off of what happened 40 years ago.
“It’s difficult some times,” he said. “It was more difficult years ago. But I’ve worked through it.”