Edmund Bringer Memoir - Brookens Library

Ectrm_md A. Bringer 43
here cme a guy running down to us and he says, '?ley, get out of herel
This is restricted territory nm. &'re under martial law around here.
You get out of here, they'll shoot you if you don't." I said, '%Jell how
the dickens can I get out of here? I 've been trying to find my way out."
He says, 'That's not my problem. You get out of here the best m y you
can." So t+e finally got away frm there. And the amsement park ms all
tom to pieces and the wves on the lake e re still real big because it's
an aw£ul shallow lake, it's not a deep lake, Lake Portchartrain isn't.
And so ME finally-we vent back to the mtel and stayed there and the
next day it as just a beautiful day so =--about in the aftemoonm
started to take another drive and E drove out: along this same road
again, around the drive around the lake and all the palm trees =re
standing back up again, they 'd put them up during the night and all--up
in the mming and everything and all the rocks and everything =re back
in the lake and everything. 'Ihe only thing ms that there ms still
debris laying around the park and everything kt they really take care of
hurricanes down there dm they get one. (laughs) But that's the first
tine w ever--well we've been in the tail end of a couple of them.
Q: Do r-br &en--around what year that was that you wre dawn there?
A: No I don't. It ms while you father ms in the service but I don't
remember a t
year that ms. But I dm't r&r htkr he was . . .
Q: Fifties, ws it in the fifties?
A: k11 1-1 don't rmber. I don't--see I 'm not goad on dates. But I
don't how whether it was when he ms at Fort Leonard Wd or whether it
wits &en he was down at the other camp dm there. It was one of t?x
tm .
Q: You ere saying you'd been in the tail end of a couple of hurricanes.
A: Yes. =re--tm of them! Up in New York. bk were in one coming
d m frm New Hmpshire and Venmnt one time. k got down to the--well
it started to sprinkling when v i ~ left the--where e ere staying up there
in knnont. It started to rain on us and they told us that there ms
going to be plenty of rain, that the hurricane had almst gotten up there
and it was going out to sea. So VE started for New Yo& and it rained on
us all day and boy we got to New Yo& and it ws just pouring and you
couldn't hardly see to drive and w got on that George ~shington Bridge
finally and oh the wind ms just blowing and you couldn't hardly see
&ere you w s going and it'd darn near blow us off the bridge and w
finally got over into New Jersey and stopped. I& =re going to eat lunch
and when w got out of the car, your granbther and I made the mistake
of opening the car on her side of the car d the car door on my side of
the car door at the same time. And it w s just raining and that rain
just blew right through the front of the car. Just soaked the inside of
the car. So PE wnt in to eat and the gal said--where UP at there--&
says, "kt are you doing out in this?" "k11," vie said, "we 're going
down to Milliamsburg and . . ." She says, ''You're just luck because they
just opened up the New Jersey Turnpike. Wy said they wldn't let
anybody on it up till now. And they mn't let any trucks on it yet, just
Edmund Bringer Memoir - Archives/Special Collections - Norris L Brookens Library - University of Illinois at Springfield - UIS