William B. Williams
from an email from his son, Terry A. Williams

The following is what my father, William B. Williams remembers about the New London school explosion.

I have forgotten the number of miles from Arp, Texas to New London. I was in study hall, the last class of the day. Suddenly the floor of our classroom vibrated. The teacher was passing my desk and I asked her what that vibration was. Her answer was that it probably came from one of the refineries, perhaps there was an explosion of some kind.

At the same time my father's relief was early to work, telling what he had heard on the radio.Dad was home a little early and asked me and my sister if we wanted to go with him to New London to see if we could help in some way. We were not prepared emotionally for what we encountered there.

It is a scene I've never forgotten. We went to the least crowded area, in fact no one was in that section at the time. Several people were concentrated in one area. Under the rubble we could see someone's arm up to the elbow. In futility, we tried to lift the concrete slab but it was too heavy. In a very short while someone with a crane and cable came over to assist. While the crane operator moved the slab we, as gently as possible, pulled the body of a young man my age from under the debris. By this time the area was pretty much filled with rescue workers. Pulling the body from under the slab and witnessing was devastating. An announcement was made that everyone not on a rescue team was to leave the immediate area so as not to hamper rescue efforts. I remember trying to help comfort some people, but it was overwhelming.

The last thing I remember on our way back home in silence was passing a 36 Chevy under a huge concrete slab.