Gene Tipps was 20 years old... about to graduate from junior college...when he wrecked his car and almost killed himself. The year was 1967 and the accident caused Tipps' mind to go blank for 8 years.

His sudden recovery amazes doctors at the local hospital and his mother, who was first at his bedside.

He says his home town of Seynour, Texas feels the same to his...but the world outside is dramatically different.

At the time of his accident, Lyndon Johnson was President, there was a war in Vietnam and Gene Tipps was facing the draft. When he came to it was all history. He thinks he has vague recollections of men walking on the moon..and sometime called watergate...but he isn't sure.

But the biggest surprise for gene Tipps is the of the people he knew before.

He still has difficulty speaking... something his doctors think will correct itself, given time. But he's perfectly willing so talk about what's happened to him.

Gene Tipps may have to have surgery to make his eyes focus property. Because of his blurry vision, he can't read .. so he trip to catch up on things by watching TV newscasts. As soon as he's able...he wants to finish college. And in the meantime...he's going to try to figure out whether the world he is better or worse than the one he left behind. George Lewis . NBC News, Seymour, Texas.