Jay and Debra Johnson were the last couple to leave Taylor Camp. The baby had arrived, and the little family didn’t have anywhere else to go. They were evicted the day that the state burned down the camp. Jay was a Vietnam Viet.
“I was there when we burned down Taylor Camp. We were tasked with something that was not a pleasant thing to do. However, you get caught with situations in your work life that are not to your liking, but you proceed based on what you are ordered to do. I do not believe there was any questions on the legality of what the state did—otherwise they would have been litigation and we would have certainly been stopped from doing what we did. Personally, it was not a happy experience and I did not enjoy doing what we had to do, but I was resigned to making it as painless as possible for everyone involved. I am sure people who were removed probably have another version of things.”