Roger D., Ander, Delma L., and William D. Hopkins saved an indeterminate number of persons from an impending explosion, Miami, Florida, February 12, 1964. At dusk the four brothers, all schoolboys, were walking along a railroad track where unknown persons had rigged 47 sticks of dynamite to explode with the passage of the next train. Ander’s foot accidentally uncovered a wire buried in the loose coral ballast, and in pulling on it he uncovered a dry cell battery. Roger, 18, jerked loose the two wires connected to the battery. Digging in the ballast between the ties where the first wire extended under the rail, Ander, 14, uncovered two dynamite sticks, which were clearly marked. Ander shouted that he had found dynamite and called for his brothers to help him in removing it before the arrival of a train which all knew was due in a few minutes. Uncovering the detonator, Roger removed the wires from its terminals. He and Ander removed a total of 43 whole dynamite sticks, each 18 inches long. Another stick, wedged under a tie, broke when Ander pulled on it. The digging was aided by Delma, 12, and William, 9, the former finding two more sticks of dynamite. Believing that they had removed all of the dynamite, except the broken stick that was tightly wedged, the boys began carrying it to 40 feet from the track, taking with them the battery and other items used in rigging the charge. By then darkness had fallen. As his brothers were carrying the last of the dynamite away and Roger was checking the track, a train approached at 60 m.p.h. Roger tried to flag the train, but it passed at undiminished speed. The boys told their father of the dynamite, and he notified authorities, who removed the broken stick of dynamite and found another whole stick still buried in the ballast.
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