Jack Battuello Memoir #1 - University of Illinois Springfield

Jack Battucllo 5 6
wi.th two thousand, three .thousand membcrs? This is not only asininity,
it is insane. Well, they didn't understand that, che offricers,
Communist, see. Always making trouble, Communist.
But that's the story of my life. What rhe hell are you going to do.
That's the story of my life to tell you about this Goddamn government
of ours, our social system, our wealth. Things I think are insane,
people take for granted, thhk that's just common place. What's going
on in this place? And it's going to be that way, I suppose, until
the end,
Q. Did you see anyone injured in town during the ambush?
A. Lester Brady .
Q. Where was he? Where were you in relacion to him?
A. He was ahead of me.
Q. In the truck?
A. No, he was ahead of me. Two cars ahead. First or second car.
Be was in the first, leading.
Q. Did you see him get hit?
A. I didn't see him get hit. I know he was hit.
Q. Did you see anyone else get hit?
A. No. No, ma'am. After that or a fcw minutes after that I was on
my ponies running like hell.
Q. How many were injured? Have you any idea?
A. No, f don't. No, T never did tabulate that and never did figure
it out. There's quite a few that stayed down there for a week, Got
in there and they got hemmed in by the county authorities. They were
heaten up pretty goad.
Q. Where?
A. After the march.
Q. In DuQuain, you mean?
A, Yes. They scattered around little villages, you know, and they
were hunted down. They were hun'ted down. Oh, yes. They hunted us
like prey. I was hemmed in at Frank Loetta three weeks and couldn't
get in and couldn't get out. Got in a.nd couldn't get out, Slept in
cemeteries. Cemeteries at night.
Jack Battuello Memoir -- Archives, University of Illinois at Springfield