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Vernon Augustine Thompson Belt 2 - 2 A

Thompson: arm came off, he passed out

Ryan: It was the fellow that was trying to pull him out
You know I never heard that line - it’ll be wonderful

Thompson: I don’t remember who that was or - the other only real incident I remember
is simply one boy who pulled up that all of his all - his lower intestines were
blown off and he was in awful bad shape and
screaming but we couldn’t understand a thing he was saying - sounded like Oh my

Ryan: Do you remember any conversations at all that you pulled out that day

Thompson: We didn’t have any conversations with anybody except I had one with one boy
I brought back that was from a town I was originally from and I couldn’t make heads
or tails out of his except for the fact that he seen my mother and so I’m all right -
and...

Ryan: What would first have given him a cigarette - try to give him something to eat or
coffee or what what

Thompson: Well we had and they did give him cigarettes and give him coffee
and give him anything else but that wasn’t my job - my job was actually to start
all the way back and start making coffee
They had him laid out on the deck - when I first one we brought back I guess we
brought back about 40 and they all laid out on the deck

Ryan: All that day you were going back and forth

Thompson: That’s right

Ryan: How many do you think you’d have brought back - how many trips back and forth

Thompson: Three trips

Ryan: Three trips - [crossed out] about 35 people [end crossed out]

Thompson: Three trips - about 35 people

Ryan: How many would you say you brought back