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SANDRA: I could hear the street noises, but I could not see from my room....went to the front of the house and there were the flames. People were running up and down the street. REPORTER: A tactical mistake....possibly the first, came Saturday night when the mayor clamped a curfew on his town. The students were to remain on campus....eight o'clock is an early time when the juices of spring are rising, when the night is clear. Contained was the word. The students were contained by blue uniforms. One ran up to the old frame ROTC structure and tossed a match on a curtain. Another threw in a railroad fuse. One of them was more workmanlike in his efforts. He uncapped the gas tank of a motorcycle and doused a rag....1it the match, and put it to the curtain....the fire climbed the wall and brought in the fire department under a rain of rocks and curses. A campus riot squad arrived, but were dispersed by one firecracker tossed in their ranks. The students were in command....the ROTC building was rubble....a colonel later set the loss at $50,OOO....ah, you in the fifth row there....make notes. Fifty thousand dollars. You'll hear more evidence in this testimony about the loss of buildings and property. SANDRA: I was on the front porch when the National Guard arrived. They were in trucks and Jeeps....some even walked up the street like they were going to McDonald's. They had on helmets and carried guns. Even while some of them were walking along our Page 7 |