From what I've been told the people that hit the boat the boy was in were heading at them and waved in the direction they were going and the only thing I can figure is the driver of the boat with the boy in it must have thought they meant for him to go that way and that's when they both went the same way and hit but I'm just guessing so please don't quote me.

I was in one half dozen recoveries over the years. One at Lake Payne where a black teen swam after an errant beach ball, well he swam like a brick and drowned in seven foot of water. Lord at the wailing when he came out of the water. Lesson learned....

At Lock Eight a bunch of local blacks overturned a jonboat and one went down in the slough directly in front of the boat ramp, maybe 40 yards out. Rescue squads looked all day for him, some as far as 1/2 MILE from where he sank. Late that afternoon my partner got his boat and I got one of the survivors to throw a rock to where they turned over. It took me maybe ten minutes to snag his pants leg with my hook. He was EXACTLY where he went down. I pulled him ALMOST to the surface and quietly called the High Sheriff over and gave him the line. I told him to wait till he got loaded and headed out to announce he had found him....because there were 300 local blacks lining the bank and I knew what was going to happen.

My dog Taz tracked and alerted on the river bank where a teenager had gone in, divers brought him up right under where Taz had alerted and I told the Sheriff where he was.

I did CPR on a drowning victim from below Lock Seven dam. Prolly for 15 minutes before ambulance from Eutaw got there. Damn near killed me. The victim didn't make it due to severe head trauma from hitting the rocks in the overflow boil. Worst thing I ever did was take my boat to the sandbar across from Jennings Ferry to find his wife and take her to the small Eutaw hospital. Remember it like it was yesterday.

so , yes, I have been on a few. Not a good thing at all.

the more I think about that boy not wearing a lifejacket, the madder it makes me. My grandson is eleven and I cannot comprehend the amount of stupidity involved in some grownup not making sure he had one on and on properly. It would of taken all of ten seconds to keep that boy alive. Damnitt.

I had to verify an object in the Hooch was a body it Fort Benning. It was a little black boy that had drown. He had been in the water a long time. Kids always tore me up.

this for sure. I won't crank the big motor until the kids are strapped up.

x2 !!!!