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the temperature of the water - hypothermia - took the men down. They basically got too
cold, they went to sleep, and they drowned, and the currents just come around Alcatraz
and took their bodies out past the Golden Gate. But we're going to talk about these
breakouts for the next forty-five minutes or so, uh, and this is a walking tour, we'll
make a few stops as we go up the road, and I hope you guys got questions. What I want
you to keep in mind, as we walk and talk about these breakouts: the true punishment? It's
not what you see in the movies. You've all seen those Hollywood movies about Alcatraz,
am I right? You know, they always depict this place as a cruel, terrible place to do time,
sadistic guards... Quite the contrary. I've met some of these officers who worked out
here over the years. They were professionals. The convicts have told me, "The best food
in the system," uh, they were treated fairly out here... But the real punishment of Alcatraz
was psychological. Place the convict out in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, and allow
them to see what they were missing. Right across the water they could see San Francisco
- the cable cars going up, Hyde Street, they could smell the chocolate coming across the
Bay from Ghirardelli Square... And that isolation of the prisoners is what pushed the men to
the water, to escape. And escapes is what we are here to talk about today. Are you ready?
Are you ready?! Let's go!