The Hero of Mississippi Burning

1964 was the height of the Civil Rights and Wrongs Movement, and America was in turmoil. I was eight years old and visiting the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi for a family reunion. This story is about something I have remembered from that time, when I met two men on a creek bank in Neshoba County, Mississippi on August 6, 1964. I have always remembered what they said out loud in front of me. The one with the hat said, "Judge, go up there and find out who's muddying up the water," and the tall slender man said, "You're the Lawman-you go up there and find out who’s muddying up the water." I’ve always wondered why I met two men that were a judge and a lawman.

Meanwhile, 50 years later while doing research on the Internet, I discovered information pertaining to the identity of the middle man between the FBI and the person who helped solve the mystery of the whereabouts of the three civil rights workers that went missing on June 21, 1964. He was Commander of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol in Meridian, Mississippi. But the identity of the local Neshoba County Citizen that helped the FBI is still unknown.

I know who is America’s unsung hero!