Remembering Woodbine

Nancy Guan, Savannah Morning News
·4 min read

Oak Grove Cemetery, St Marys, Georgia, Present Day.

This page is a digital companion to the Tripwire podcast, episode 7. The goal is to allow listeners to take in the audio story while viewing images, videos and maps of the places, people and situations being described in the piece. Each audio track included is part of the podcast and is broken up into sections to create a natural stopping and starting point for the viewer. Please enjoy.

Listen to all the Tripwire episodes: Podcast investigates the 1971 Thiokol plant explosion in Georgia and what happened after

A hand written headstone marks a grave in the Oak Grove Cemetery in St. Mary's, Georgia.
A hand written headstone marks a grave in the Oak Grove Cemetery in St. Mary's, Georgia.

Laid out in 1788, Oak Grove Cemetery, which rests near the water in St. Marys, Georgia, is the final resting place for approximately 29 American Revolution soldiers, making it possibly the largest grave site for American Revolution soldiers in the state of Georgia. It also is the final resting place for soldiers from every major war that the U.S. participated in.

Many of the ill-fated Acadians who left Santo Domingo after the Haitian uprising were also laid to rest in Oak Grove and the cemetery houses graves as far back as 1801.

Today, it also features some of the "Patriots of Thiokol." Last year, the Thiokol Memorial Project helped raise money for a grave stone for Mae Hazel Davis. For more than 50 years, the grave was in the cemetery but without a headstone.

A new headstone marks the grave of Mae Hazel Davis at the Oak Grove Cemetery in St. Mary's Georgia. Davis's family was unable to afford a grave marker after she died in the 1971 explosion at Thiokol, so in December of 2022 the Thiokol Memorial Project helped to purchase a headstone.
A new headstone marks the grave of Mae Hazel Davis at the Oak Grove Cemetery in St. Mary's Georgia. Davis's family was unable to afford a grave marker after she died in the 1971 explosion at Thiokol, so in December of 2022 the Thiokol Memorial Project helped to purchase a headstone.

"Mae Hazel Davis, 32, was a native of Fernandina Beach, Fla., that had made St. Marys, Ga., her home. She was the mother of four children with three sons surviving at the time of her death. She was a First African Baptist Church of St. Marys member. Ms. Davis dreamed of buying a home for herself and her sons and had saved enough money to make the down payment on her dream home.

Mae Hazel Davis
Mae Hazel Davis

"The Morning of the explosion, she carried the down payment money to work with her. Mae Hazel asked a coworker for a ride to the home builder's office after work to finalize the paperwork and make the payment. Sadly, she died that Wednesday, and with it, her dream."

— Courtesy of the Thiokol Memorial Project, as part of their headstone dedication handbook

Leaving Woodbine

Jannie left Woodbine a year after the explosion happened. She graduated high school and joined the U.S. Army. Then continued her work with the federal government working for the Department of Energy and Homeland Security in Washington, D.C.

On Sept. 11, 2001, when the entire world watched the twin towers of the World Trade Center crumble, Jannie was at the nation’s capital working the aftermath of the attack.

In 2011, Jannie retired and went back home to Woodbine, Georgia. In all those years, she never forgot about Woodbine.

Jannie Everette, CEO/President of the Thiokol Memorial Project, stands inside the Thiokol Memorial Museum in Kingsland, Georgia.
Jannie Everette, CEO/President of the Thiokol Memorial Project, stands inside the Thiokol Memorial Museum in Kingsland, Georgia.

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'Nobody cares... nobody cares'

Even over 50 years after the explosion, the effects still linger with the survivors and their families.

Lucille Washington Everette speaking in the 'Remembering Woodbine' documentary.
Lucille Washington Everette speaking in the 'Remembering Woodbine' documentary.
Members of Theresa Lang Brown's family surround her at her Effingham County home. Brown was among the survivors of the Feb. 3, 1971, explosion at Thiokol that killed 29 people.
Members of Theresa Lang Brown's family surround her at her Effingham County home. Brown was among the survivors of the Feb. 3, 1971, explosion at Thiokol that killed 29 people.

In the history book for Camden County, the Thiokol plant tragedy on Feb. 3, 1971, is given two sentences in the section on Thiokol coming to Woodbine. It reads:

The only line in the Camden County, Georgia, history book that references the tragedy on Feb. 3, 1971, at Thiokol.
The only line in the Camden County, Georgia, history book that references the tragedy on Feb. 3, 1971, at Thiokol.

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Thiokol Memorial Project

"The mission of the Thiokol Memorial Project, Inc. is to remember and honor the Thiokol Workers and all those involved in the rescue effort. Towards that end, we shall raise funds to manage the planning, construction and endowment of a memorial, education center and museum to honor the workers and all those that risked their lives to save others."

The Thiokol Memorial Museum was established in 2017 "to preserve the history of the 600 Woodbine Thiokol Chemical Plant workers that contributed to two national causes — the United States Space Program and the Vietnam War." It is located in Kingsland, which is around 15-20 south of downtown Woodbine.

To sign their petition for the Congressional Gold Medal, visit change.org/p/buddy-carter-award-the-congressional-gold-medal-to-the-30-fallen-patriots-of-thiokol.

The Thiokol Memorial Museum in Kingsland, Georgia.
The Thiokol Memorial Museum in Kingsland, Georgia.

The museum is dedicated to three pillars: Remembering, Honoring and Educating. It is separated into six different sections:

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Feb. 3 commemoration in Woodbine

Every year, the Thiokol Memorial Project has hosted a commemoration ceremony to honor the victims and their families as well as the survivors. Community members, local officials, state representatives and students filed into a gymnasium this year to hear speakers and pay respects to the victims of the Thiokol explosion.

A U.S.A. banner sits alongside candles pictures of the victims of the Feb. 3 tragedy at the Thiokol plant in Woodbine.
A U.S.A. banner sits alongside candles pictures of the victims of the Feb. 3 tragedy at the Thiokol plant in Woodbine.
Survivors of the Feb. 3, 1971, explosion at the Thiokol plant in Woodbine, Georgia, stand behind the pictures of the victims of the tragedy at the 52nd commemoration ceremony for the Thiokol plant explosion in Woodbine on Feb. 3, 2023.
Survivors of the Feb. 3, 1971, explosion at the Thiokol plant in Woodbine, Georgia, stand behind the pictures of the victims of the tragedy at the 52nd commemoration ceremony for the Thiokol plant explosion in Woodbine on Feb. 3, 2023.
Children from Woodbine Elementary School perform at the 52nd commemoration ceremony for the Thiokol plant explosion in Woodbine on Feb. 3, 2023.
Children from Woodbine Elementary School perform at the 52nd commemoration ceremony for the Thiokol plant explosion in Woodbine on Feb. 3, 2023.

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Patriots of Thiokol

Annie Booth

Annie L. Williams

Annie Mae Hutchinson James

Bertha Brunswick

Bertha Hill

Bettie Burch

Betty J. Roberts

Celia Alberta

Charles Burch

Charles Monak

Cheryl Sullivan

Cyrus D. Roberson

Essie D. King

Ethel Banks

Gloria W. Booth

Gracie M. Life

Howard Ellis Sr.

Jack Cox

James L. Chapman

James Parland

Joseph Wainright

Lillie B. Spells

Mack Kennedy

Mae A. Taylor

Mae Hazel Davis

Mildred Davis

Pearlie Hutchinson

Willie M. Fuller

Yvonne Connelly

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Tripwire, Episode 1: We Sang While We Worked

Tripwire, Episode 2: Woodbine, We Have a Problem

Tripwire, Episode 3: The Fire Had A Voice

Tripwire, Episode 4: The Whole World Changed For Me

Tripwire, Episode 5: The Normalization of Deviance

Tripwire, Episode 6: The Price of a Life

Tripwire Podcast

Executive Producers: Anne and Pat Longstreth, Nancy Guan and Zach Dennis

Music by Andrew Sovine, andrewsovine.com

Special thanks to Jannie Everette with the Thiokol Memorial Project for her assistance in making Tripwire.

Coming March 29

Join the Savannah Morning News and Savannah State University on Wednesday, March 29, at 6 p.m. for an event detailing the Tripwire podcast and its investigation into the 1971 Thiokol plant explosion that killed 29 people in Woodbine, Georgia.

The Tripwire team, Nancy Guan and Zach Dennis, along with Savannah documentarians Anne and Patrick Longstreth, and Thiokol Memorial Project executive director Jannie Everette will participate in a panel discussion about the making of the podcast and documentary, the story of Thiokol and Woodbine, and what the Thiokol Memorial Project is doing today to commemorate the sacrifice made by these men and women.

The panel will be held at the Asa H. Gordon Library on the Savannah State campus at 6 p.m. It is free and open to the public. If you plan to attend, RSVP at the Eventbrite page.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Tripwire Podcast, Episode 7: Remembering Woodbine