Jack Battuello Memoir #1 - University of Illinois Springfield

Jack Battuello 4 8
Q, Now, what time was the ambush itsclf? About what time of day was
it when they fired on you?
A. \hat have you got in rherc?
Q, Well, you know just . . .
A, Well., I would say that it was sometime around noon, a little after
noon, Mid-day I'd say.
Q, So then what: time did you . . .
A. Maybe a little later.
Q. Was it when you got back?
A. Bur by the time I made my way into DuQuoin--that's on foot though,
of course--that was night. It was dark. It was eight or oh, nine
o'clock, I guess. But a11 of this was on foot. We all walked in
there and there was another mess there. Here was all these people,
no cars, no transportation, no place to sleep--just on the ground.
All strewn all over town and police, everybody, you know the police
had everybody corralled pretry much didn't let you go anyplace. They
herded you l ike cattle.
Q. Any offers of help?
A. Not as far as I know. Not as far as I know. At least I didn't
hear any.
Q. Were they just firing on the first part of the caravan?
A. No, as far as they could reach with the rtflss.
Q. Well, you said the caravan was about forty miles long. So what
happened to the back of the caravan?
A. After that, then they came out of rhe woods after they got us
a11 out of the cars running then they just demolished as many cars,
oh God, hundreds of them. Then just sent down. the line with ball
bats, pushing cars over, turning them over.
(2. They went the whole thirty miles? As far as you know?
A. No, I don't think they went the whole line, no. They went about
ha.lf-way T guess. About half-way out, I suppose, But that was a
mess. 1 don't think they got that thing cleaned up for a week.
Q. Was here more than one ambush?
A. No. That's it, Tha.t's the. only one, That was enough. That was
enough.
Jack Battuello Memoir -- Archives, University of Illinois at Springfield