Patrolman remembers bombing
Letter to the editor

I enjoyed Warner Montgomery's article on the atomic bomb dropped on Florence in last week's paper. (I always enjoy Bob Ford's articles, too). Thought it might be of interest to know that somewhere there is a news film made of the area not long after the bomb was dropped. I don't remember the date but it was probably on the 40th anniversary in 1998 that I saw myself on the evening news (maybe WISTV10) directing traffic on US Highway 301 at intersection of Mars and Bluff road on March 11, 1958.

As a highway patrolman, I was stationed in Florence at the time. A fellow patrolman and I were in the Florence Court House when we heard the explosion which rattled the windows. We proceeded to the area immediately, finding traffic backed up on US 301, which was the main North-South route at that time (I- 95 had not been built).

My fellow officer proceeded to the crater while I directed traffic. I later learned he had entered a ways into the crater to learn more about what had happened.

Later in the day, federal authorities arrived. My fellow officer proved to have been exposed to some radiation. His instructions were to turn over his outer uniform to the authorities and to stay home and take a shower every hour for the next 24 hours.

My friend and fellow officer is now deceased, but the radiation had nothing to do with his passing as he lived many healthy years after the 1958 incident.

This news film is probably in storage some place and those that have possession of it may not know of it's value to the history of the Mars Bluff community.

C.C. McDonald SC Highway Patrol (Ret.)