y and Brucker 95). In addition, it took Woodson and the two Kratches all day Monday and part of Tuesday to find the person in charge (Johnnie Gerald) with whom they could discuss their ideas (Murray and Brucker 93). After Gerald left later Tuesday morning, "the rescue work at Sand Cave virtually halted" and "no one was paying the least bit of attention tomaintaining contact with Floyd and getting warm food and hot drink to him" (Murray and Brucker 94). This state of affairs continued through Wednesday. Murray and Brucker tell us Homer entered Sand Cave "angered and frustrated by the confusion and inaction on the surface" (Murray and Brucker 119). This state of disorganization lasted until Thursday, when the state took over, and seriously hampered any real progress in rescuing Floyd. The locals' attempts were not only unsystematic and disordered, but also completely ignorant. A major contributing factor to Floyd's tragic death was starvation (Murray and Brucker 213). This could have been avoided if only the locals had thought to run a feeding tube down the passageway and put it close to Floyd's mouth before the second cave-in, ensuring that he would continue to be fed (Murray and Brucker 120). The locals also failed to put a portable phone near Collins (Murray and Brucker 120). As Murray and Brucker say, "With light, heat, communication, and food, Floyd's chance for survival and ultimate rescue would have remained good" (120).The natives also showed their ignorance by continually entering Sand Cave, often with no clear purpose, until General Denhardt forbade unauthorized entry on Thursday (Murray and Brucker 132). Murray and Brucker report that as early as Tuesday morning Gerald "was more convinced than ever that final success depended on keeping excess traffic out of the cave. Nobody must be permitted to enter" (92). This clearly shows that the multitude of people entering Sand Cave was a problem right from the beginning. L...
