MTCARMEL 98

From the Desk of Rich Martin Fort Worth, TX 76121 RichSlick@aol.com
"As life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he be part of the action and passion of his times lest he be judged never to have lived." Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. __________________________________________________

It was in the upper 70's Saturday as I turned on to the interstate, resisting the temptation to go 200 miles north, to attend the services at the Murrah Bldg disaster, rather than the trip south to Waco, half that distance. It was a decision that I will not regret. I had taken the trek to Waco only once before, but lot seemed greener this year.

We got to Waco in the evening, and later that night, we discovered a place called Buzzard Billy's Armadillo Bar & Grillo. If you ever get to Waco... Sun we got up bright & early, had breakfast at Shoney's and went on to Mount Carmel. We had no idea what to expect. I warned Peggy, we might be in for a Koresh-type 12-hour-sermon. That failed to cheer her up. After a bad turn---or two---we found Mount Carmel. As we pulled into the parking lot we could see license plates from all over the country. There were a couple hundred cars, at least, but when we got to the seating area, there seemed to be fewer people than there were cars.

How can I describe it?I was preparing myslef for religeous zealots, or militia extremists, but what I experienced was more akin to going to a new church for the first time, where everybody knew everyone, but I didn't know anyone. They greeted each other with hugs and big smiles. Ever have that feeling? There were a couple hundred folding chairs facing a small bldg, I later found out this was their "museum". Sleeping willows are rare in Texas, but there was one there,altho it was the sickest sleeping willow I have ever seen.

After a half hour a man went to the mike. I recognized him as Clive Doyle from his tv interviews. He introduced RonEngeelman as the guest "introducer". That's when I first realized I wasn't going to have to sit thru a marathon Davidian sermon, and I thanked my God. Ron Engelman hosted a Dallas talk show that featured the siege from the beginning. I was glad to see him well, since he was forced to leave the radio sation, indeed the state, after the final "event".

From then on, it was awesome. A combination of speakers you couldn't believe. A survivor, the mother of a victim that didn't survive, the forelady of the jury that convicted them, and Ramsey Clark of the Jimmy Carter Adminstration, all gave a speeches. The provincial governor of the Republic of Texas & a leader of the 3rd Congressional Convention did likewise. A recently released prisoner. A member of the FBI negotiating team, who had the unenviable task of photographing the dead. The producer of the Rule of Engagement. (If you haven't got it, get it. It was nominated for an Academy Award.) The author of The Waco Whitewash donated 100 copies of his book to the Davidians for sale, one of which I brought home with me. The talk show host from Austin's KJFK-TV, The Real Spin, was the only firebrand, but carefully noted, like all the speakers that day, violence is not the answer.

The service was adjourneed after 2 hrs, but then reconvened at noon, to honor the dead. Ron would say the name of a victim, and the name of his country of origin, and a bell would toll. I didn't know till later, the woman ringing the bell was David Koresh's mother. (The bell was a facsimile of the Liberty Bell.) It was a good facsimile, and rang loudly. They gonged the bell after each of the Davidian's name was read. And then they did the same for the BATF officers that died in the raid's first day. There was more, much more.

We heard from the lawyers who are suing the feds $1.5 bil for their negligence. Several speaker's reminded us that the govt still held Davidian survivors such as Livingstone Fagan as prisoners on charges of conspiracy for a crime that they were all found not guilty of (murder). If this weren't America, they'd be known as political prisoners. The jury forelady apologized to the crowd for her role in the miscarriage. She was applauded respectfully, if not enthusiastically as most of the others. I'm telling you it was nothing short of awesome.

At the end of the services we decided against going up the road where the Davidians live. It was just too sad to walk past all those trees planted along the side of the road to commorate the victims. You couldn't help but to feel the presence of so many spirits. Haven't felt that feeling since the first time I visited my Dad's grave. And, I'm not ashamed to say, it brought tears to this grown man's eyes. When we got home we naturally turned on the news to watch the coverage. (There were at least 4 cameras at the scene.) And what did we see, a dyed-in-the-wool red neck, rambling on about whatever. No mention of the speakers, such as Ramsey Clark or the large turnout. No mention of a new movie, Mount Carmel, being produced by the same man who gave us Rules of Engagement or a video Bullets Over Waco due out next month. Just a red neck talking about David Koresh.

Well, next year we plan to go the other way, and pay our respects to the dead in OKC's Murrah's Fedl Bldg. The murders there were equally horriffic. The only thing you can say for them is: at least they weren't gassed ands tortured for 51 days.

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