At the beginning, in black and white, accompanied by the noise of radio frequency modulation, a car marked KTBC drove into the picture.
”This is Neal Spelce in Red Rover on the University of Texas campus.This is a warning to the citizens of Austin.Stay away from the University area.Stay away from the University area.There is a sniper on the University Tower firing at wili ."
Then, caught off guard, the gun shot, this was the first sound. For the next 80 minutes, such gunshots were like a timer, causing endless discomfort. Along with plumes of white smoke wafting from the tower, bullets condescendingly condemned the innocent people.
It was an extremely hot day, August 1, 1966. At about 12 noon, in Austin, Texas, the former member of the United States Marine Corps Charles Joseph Whitman climbed up a clock tower of the University of Texas and fired at pedestrians under the clock tower. At 13:20, he was shot dead by the Austin police. His attack resulted in 16 deaths and at least 30 injuries.
Through the splicing of cartoons and real scenes, and the interspersed interview fragments, the film restores the scene for us from several different perspectives.
Pregnant woman Claire and her boyfriend Tom were among the first to be attacked. After Claire was injured, Rita ventured to Claire's side to encourage her. After hesitating, John finally rescued Claire. Of course, more people just avoid, watch and sigh. From the beginning of the shooting, many people spontaneously used shotguns to fight back at long distances, but with little success. It was 4 people, 3 police officers and a store manager named Allen who actually entered the clock tower. In the meantime, the media was doing various first-line data collection and information release. In the end, police officers Ramiro and Houston shot and killed the gangster.
At this point, nearly 80 minutes have passed.
As one interviewee said, "That was the moment that separated the brave people from the scared people." I knew that there was no way that I was going to go out there and help him. I didn't wanna get shot. (I knew I had no way to help him, because I didn't want to risk being shot.) That was a defining moment because I realized I was a coward. (This is a decision Meaningful moment, because I realized I was a coward.)".
At the moment of resumption, people can always calm down and think more. The most ashamed is that they failed to deal with stress as a brave man.
The elderly Houston recalled his injured companion and talked about incoherent words that made his eyes blush with regret.
"But...but...but...didn't happen that way. Shoulda-coulda but I didn't ......so I don't know. If somebody were to ask how you feel, well, I'd say no words. "
Regarding the final shooting, he was always asked about his feelings. He said that I had nothing to say, like how to describe the colors of the rainbow to a born blind person.
"It's something …I've been asked that before. How… how did it make you feel? And then I kinda have to say ," Well…how would I describe the colors of a rainbow to a person born blind? You can' t, cause there ain't no words. Uh ,I don't know."
The store manager who rushed into the clock tower was not a superhero who was deified. He also worried about children and family. At first, he just wanted to make a call to tell his family that he was safe, but fate pushed him to a higher place. He said that he never said that he was brave, but that he just finished it with a respectable attitude after making the right choice in time. Moreover, he refused the monetary reward.
"I've never known braver men. Their decisions were correct timely done, and accomplished in an honorable manner. If I had to do this over again with these men, I certainly would. The Chief of Police offered me a check from the City of Austin for one day's deputized citizen's pay. I refused it, of course." (Allen Crum)
Finally, the thrilling afternoon of western cowboy films passed.
This kind of commentary was broadcast on the KTBC Television NEWS SPECIAL program later
KTBC Television News now presents a special program on today's mass murder in the capital city.Here is KTBC Television News Editor ,Neal Spelce. “Good evening. One of history's worst mass-murders occurred here in Austin today. By official count tonight,49 persons were hit by gunfire.There are 16 dead and 33 injured. It started last night, when a man reportedly killed his wife and his mother. That same man appatently rounded up an arsenal and supplies this morning and then went to the observation deck of the University of Texas Tower.It was then that rerror rained down from the Tower.Charles J. Whitman was shot down on the observation deck by two city policeman.The policeman were aided by an Austin man,Allen Crum. The story of how they ended the 90 minutes of terror was told this afternoon at a news conference held by Austin Police Chief Bob Miles.The horror of these, the sick among us, must be found in the horror of out hyper civilization. A strange pandering to violence, a disrespect for life fostered in part by governments, which in pursuit of the doctrine of self-defense, teach their youth to kill and to maim. A society in which the most popular newspaper cartoon strips television programs, and movies are those that can invent new means of perpetrating bodily harm. A people who somehow can remain silent while their own civilization seems to crumble under the force of the caveman's philosophy. That might makes right. It seems likely that Charles Joseph Whitman's crime was society's crime."which in pursuit of the doctrine of self-defense, teach their youth to kill and to maim. A society in which the most popular newspaper cartoon strips television programs, and movies are those that can invent new means of perpetrating bodily harm. A people who somehow can remain silent while their own civilization seems to crumble under the force of the caveman's philosophy. That might makes right. It seems likely that Charles Joseph Whitman's crime was society's crime."which in pursuit of the doctrine of self-defense, teach their youth to kill and to maim. A society in which the most popular newspaper cartoon strips television programs, and movies are those that can invent new means of perpetrating bodily harm. A people who somehow can remain silent while their own civilization seems to crumble under the force of the caveman's philosophy. That might makes right. It seems likely that Charles Joseph Whitman's crime was society's crime."It seems likely that Charles Joseph Whitman's crime was society's crime."It seems likely that Charles Joseph Whitman's crime was society's crime."
I was thinking, killing Charles Joseph Whitman may not be the best choice, of course, killing Charles Joseph Whitman can only be an inevitable choice in desperation. Only if time goes back to that moment. If Charles Joseph Whitman had a chance to leave a confession, what would he say? What on earth is bothering him. What was he thinking during the entire violent incident of killing his family and attacking the people? These are the eternal gaps left by the incident and cannot be filled. But we can think of it: war caused trauma, self-enclosed, emotional swelling...
As John mentioned in the interview, it may be just a moment of emotional out-of-control, doing ridiculous things, and evil is among us.
"I remember looking at the Tower, of course, a lot. And from the Main Mall, you can see there's a biblical line from the Bible. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. I've thought about it .One of the truths I learned is that there are monsters that walk among us.There are people out here that think unthinkable thoughts and then do unthinkable things."
Yes, Charles Joseph Whitman's behavior is absurd, but we must be more than anger.
Towards the end, it was great to see Claire say the word forgive. Although she lost her child's lover in the incident, she said that she couldn't bear to blame when she saw a picture of such a small boy holding two spears in the magazine.
"Thtough the years ,he remained largely kind of wooden in my mind. But the longer I've lived and the more I've seen, these precious little children who grow up and do sometimes horrible things, the more I have come to think of him as a very confused,very damaged young man.He died at about 25.There's a picture of him standing at three years old holding a rifle on either side on the beach.I just think of him when he was that three-year -old who would have been sitting in my lap,you know.I'm a teacher ,and I love that age.So much promise and so much hope.How can I hate somebody like that?I can't hate him, in spite of the incredible damage that he's done.I can't hate him.I just can't do that. I forgive him yes.How can I not forgive? I've been forgiven so much.” (Claire)
Yes, he is just a child. I want to know, in the years when Charles Joseph Whitman and himself tortured each other, has there been a person who can open his heart to him? Perhaps at a certain moment, he also thought about expressing his weakness to the surroundings? It may have touched the dull and numb surroundings, so he could only fall into deeper and deeper darkness. So, we, ignoring negative emotions, taking strongness as a panacea for granted, and even stingy with us who embraced us, are we just criminal stimulators?
At this point, I suddenly think of the Tokyo subway sarin gas incident and Haruki Murakami's "Underground".
It was March 20, 1995. In the morning, there was a terrorist attack on the Battalion Subway (now Tokyo Subway) in Tokyo, Japan: Aum Shinrikyo cult group distributed sarin gas on a total of five trains on the third line of the Tokyo Subway, killing at least 13 people and 5,510 More than people were injured.
Aum Shinrikyo appeared in 1984. At first, it had only 3 members, renting an apartment in Shibuya, and began its activities as the "Aum Shinrikyo". The proposed concept is to create a so-called happy life based on the truth, establish education, medical and employment institutions, and then "reincarnate" into the high-level world. Over the past 11 years, their power has continued to expand, and the terrorist incident in 1995 shocked the whole of Japan.
"Underground" is similar to this movie. Murakami interviewed the narratives of 62 witnesses during the preparations for more than a year, sorted them out in text, and worked to restore the poisonous gas incident itself. Regarding the motivation of this book, Murakami said in the preface.
Similarly, the interviewees in the film also mentioned similar views.
"Well ,to say it hasn't affected me in my life,it would't be a truthful statement,But I have ,um...tried. I have tried to just forget it.I hate to see people get hurt.But, you know you have to be realistic and know that these things are gonna happen. And so you have to have the way how to cope with it, how to take care of the problems."
Indeed, as time passes, whether it is gunpowder or poisonous gas, it will dissipate and order will be restored. However, all of this has not really passed, nor should it pass like this. Of course, the process of restoring the incident is painful. It is bound to dig out some of the scars in people's hearts, and it also makes the peaceful world fall back into the abyss of fear and reflection. However, it is still very necessary. It is like a surgical operation. It cuts open the covered epidermis, searches for the root cause, and finally exposes the bloody tumor, removes the lesion, and controls the condition.
Therefore, we can say that only after this time, the closure of all wounds will be truly healed.
In any case, we hope that every beautiful morning we have can bring a heart-warming day. We hope that the Waterloo broadcast on the radio station will no longer be interrupted by gunshots and warnings.
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