10 years later, memories of Waco tragedy linger - fatal Branch Davidian standoff

Associated Press ^ | April 17, 2003 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

10 years later, memories of Waco tragedy linger

City hopes to put fatal Branch Davidian standoff behind it

04/17/2003

Associated Press

WACO, Texas – During business trips across the country, Mayor Linda Ethridge likes to talk about Waco's small-town comforts and big-city amenities, the new programs at Baylor University and the local plant that makes Snickers candy bars.

She can name famous native Wacoans – comedian Steve Martin, author Robert Fulghum and former Texas Gov. Ann Richards among them. Ethridge will talk about the Dr Pepper Museum, honoring the soft drink created here in 1885 and the expansion project at the award-winning zoo.

She and other city leaders don't mention the 1993 standoff at a religious sect's compound that burned to the ground and left nearly 80 people dead – unless someone asks about it.

And that happens sometimes, even now.

"For some people, that association is still there," Ethridge said. "You'll have random interchanges with people, but it's a little less often."

The Branch Davidian site was some 10 miles east of the city, down a two-lane winding road through farmland and then off a dusty road. The group had been there quietly for decades but had been growing since the mid-1980s arrival of leader David Koresh.

Few in Waco even paid attention to them until Feb. 28, 1993, when federal agents tried to arrest Koresh for stockpiling illegal weapons. Four lawmen and six sect members died in the shootout following the raid, which led to a 51-day standoff.

Day after day, for nearly two months, people across the world heard about a town called Waco and saw television images of the rudimentary compound buildings rising out of the wind-swept prairie.

They saw authorities clad in cowboy hats and boots, guns slung in hip holsters. They heard late-night television comedians call the town "Wacko."

Waco Attractions

The 10 most popular tourist attractions in Waco, based on number of visitors in 2002: 1. Cameron Park Zoo: Natural-habitat zoo on 52 acres with 700 animals and 245 species. 2. Art Center Waco: Hosts art exhibitions and classes and has sculpture garden on 2.5 acres of McLennan Community College. 3. Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum: Features Bonnie and Clyde's shotguns. 4. Dr Pepper Museum: Housed in the first bottling plant of the soft drink created in Waco in 1885. 5. Gov. Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village: Includes 20 carefully preserved wood-frame buildings providing snapshots of Texas life in the 1890s. 6. Armstrong Browning Library: The world's largest collection of memorabilia of English Victorian poets Robert Browning and his wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 7. Historic Waco Foundation: Four homes built in the mid-1800s and restored. 8. Texas Sports Hall of Fame: Pays tribute to some of Texas history's sports greats. 9. Earle-Harrison House: Greek Revival-style mansion is the only restored antebellum home open to the public in Waco. 10. Strecker Museum: Founded in 1856, the state's oldest continually operating museum. Source: Waco Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Then on April 19, 1993, viewers saw the inferno.

"People were watching the Branch Davidian events unfold, and it sort of engraved that association to Waco in the minds of many people," said Ethridge, who was elected to the City Council in 1993 and mayor in 2000. "And a lot of that played to existing stereotypes: It was Texas, there were guns and it involved religion."

Many of Waco's 113,000 residents say it's an unfair association because the incident was outside city limits and involved federal agencies.

"Do they associate airplane crashes with the city where it happened?" said Joe T. Hayward, 81, a retired professor. "What bothers me are people who don't look at the facts and associate anything they can with a tragedy."

Some locals have little sympathy for surviving Davidians who claim the blaze was started after military vehicles rammed the buildings and sprayed tear gas inside.

A 2000 report on the final government investigation said the Davidians started the fire and shot each other – even some of the two dozen youngsters – in a mass suicide, ending the standoff.

"It was a tragedy but a tragedy that didn't have to happen, and it could have happened anywhere," Hayward said.

In the months after the compound burned, city leaders didn't notice a drop in tourism. But folks stopping by the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce wanted to know all about the Branch Davidians and how to get to the site.

After lengthy discussions on how to handle the issue, officials decided to have maps printed.

"It's a historical event, and you can't deny it happened. If we did, we'd look like we were trying to hide something," said Jack Stewart, president and CEO of the chamber. "We really had nothing to do with it, other than geography."

As time has passed, the maps have run out, and fewer people inquire about the out-of-the-way site with no signs or markers.

Those living nearby say several hundred people stop each year at the site, which now has a one-room visitors center, some memorial plaques and a chapel built on the compound remnants. A grove of 82 trees was planted several years ago, one representing each victim, including some unborn children.

Meanwhile, city officials have been busy touting Waco as a neighbor to President Bush, who several times a year visits his 1,600-acre ranch about 20 miles away in Crawford.

Because Crawford has no motels and few restaurants, the media and those traveling with Bush must stay in Waco – where city officials have seized what they call a golden opportunity to showcase hometown hospitality.

Each time Bush goes to his "Western White House" or appears in Waco, the Chamber of Commerce distributes media kits containing a calendar of events, list of restaurants and information on laundry and other services. The chamber even sets up a hot line for the visiting media to call with questions day or night.

Now, reporters seem interested in finding out about Waco's history and attractions, and they rarely bring up the Branch Davidian standoff, Stewart said.

"We've been fortunate," he said. "We felt strongly that the president's residence would have a positive impact on Waco's image, and that's happened." –––

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/041703dntexwaco.10ec0.html

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I hate them for causing me to find comfort in that video clip where they're carrying the dead BATFag, with what's left of his head flapping around like a sack of s***.

A dead bully with a gun is a beautiful thing.

Words can't describe how I feel about this post. You wonder why the politicians of both major parties, the media and the general public despise self described hard right conservatives? Its idiots like you, making sick and twisted comments like this.

This was so over the top that I was tempted to flag a mod in order to see your sorry soul banned, but instead, I think I'll leave it up for all posterity, so all who look can see what people like you are about.

Seek mental help, please.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

To clarify because the HTML wasn't holding up, the "dead bully" comment directly beneath AAAbest's italicized quote was his as well, and I found that equally reprehensible.

[tomkat]

May they burn in HELL!!!

will settle for that, but would like to see something tangible in this corporeal sphere first ...

[AAABEST]

Ooooh, did I touch I nerve?! You're sounding like you may have to change your panties after that one. BTW, my soul is in great shape, oh newbie sower of much discord.

Let's agree to disagree. You like your bullies with guns alive, I like mine dead. History teaches us that the world is a much better place without them.

[wimpycat]

Hey, it's not as if anything this retard is important enough for his opinions to actually matter. Fringe freak is as fringe freak does.

[AAABEST]

BTW, why are you a poop-bah always tag team pinging each other. You two give the impression you that you met through a personal ad in the Village Voice.

[AAABEST]

No, a "fringe freak" is someone like yourself and your Star Wars buddy who is pro-Reno and Pro-Klintoon on Waco.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

The big question in my mind is how much you plan to do to deal with those LEOs you see as "bullies".

Your statements are pregnant with threat.

[tomkat]

this one might get funner as the day gets longer ...

[AAABEST]

No ingrate. I don't ever threaten anyone with weapons, ever. Although I have a lousy temper, I've never EVER picked up a gun in anger, or even thought about doing so.

Unlike these vile pigs that attacked Americans for having the very weapons that they used during their psuedo military raid, my guns are strictly for recreation and defending myself and those I love against the abberant amongst us.

[B Knotts]

10 years, and still no accountability.

The people who did this will face punishment, eventually, if not in their lifetimes, then afterwards. They just can't escape it.

[SSN558]

"A dead bully with a gun is a beautiful thing."

Repeat for posterity, it is a beautiful thing. The federal agents that got killed at Waco brought it on themselves and had it comming. The real tradegy is that the ones who survived are not all rotting in prison.

It is puzzling to me how someone who professes to believe in the rule of law or God could not believe otherwise.

[wimpycat]

Didn't you and Poohbah meet at GooseStepping class?

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Heheh - I was a sharp young Senator from Naboo back then.....

[B Knotts]

FYI 10 year PING

[The Lake City Gar]

I hate them for causing me to find comfort in that video clip where they're carrying the dead BATFag, with what's left of his head flapping around like a sack of s***.

A dead bully with a gun is a beautiful thing.

You're a disgusting government hating conspiracy freak. You're as bad as Palestinians who dance in the streets after Israelis have been blown to bits.

May whatever you find "comfort" in happen to you or someone you love. Maybe then you'll learn.

[The Lake City Gar]

Repeat for posterity, it is a beautiful thing. The federal agents that got killed at Waco brought it on themselves and had it comming. The real tradegy is that the ones who survived are not all rotting in prison.

You and all the Montana Militia Men like you sound EXACTLY like the FREAKS on DUhhh who run around calling President Bush "Hitler" and our Troops "Baby Killing Storm Troopers".

All of you are fringe freaks and nothing more.

[MeekOneGOP]

AMEN ! bttt . . .

[DrewsDad]

The more I think about this, the more I am ashamed that Texans were not out protesting at that time against government intrusion into religious community.

[AAABEST]

You're a disgusting government hating conspiracy freak. You're as bad as Palestinians who dance in the streets after Israelis have been blown to bits. May whatever you find "comfort" in happen to you or someone you love. Maybe then you'll learn

Ah! Someone with a lecture on humanity who wishes other's family members dead. Pretty rich. If you want me harmed you should try to do it yourself sometime.

I never thought it was a conspiracy, as most conspiracies are secret. The BATFags (simpleton morons that they are) brought the press along so that their evil and banality could be fully documented. The only "conspiracy freaks" are the minority who are pro-Reno and pro-Klintoon on Waco.

Here's just one example of your hero's handiwork:

As I said, the only good thug with a gun is a dead thug with a gun.