Thanks for posting a noble piece of writing. The story of Munich, and Jonas' observations on it, were so gripping, that I didn't even notice the writing. It was the journalistic equivalent of watching Gene Hackman at work.
The History Channel had a very good special called "Revenge" about the pursuit and subsequent assasinations of "all" involved in the Munich massacre. There were several cases closed in war-hot Beirut and Lebenon, in general. I believe the process took about a decade.
One point of interest(disgust) the HC covered in this special and to the absolute shock of the Israelis was that Arafat was actually asked to speak before a UN Gen Assembly a mere two years after the '72 terror attack, footage showing excited applause from UN delegates. Israel was noticeably absent.
I wish this country would come to the light of stark reality as well in terms of the US' relationship with the UN. Our sovereignty can never be represented by any outside power better than we can ourselves. Self-determination.
UN out of the US; US out of the UN.
A front row seat for Munich's terrorism
Patrick Reusse
Star Tribune
Published Sep 5, 2002
Dr. Harvey O'Phelan joined the civilized world in watching in horror as the World Trade Center towers became infernos and collapsed last Sept. 11. He watched this sub-human act and could not avoid the thought he had been an eyewitness three decades earlier when America was introduced to terrorism.
O'Phelan was working in a clinic for United States athletes inside the Olympic Village at the 1972 Munich Games. The clinic was located near the balconies and stairwells on which Palestinian terrorists appeared after seizing 11 members of Israel's Olympic delegation.
"We were within 70 yards of the compound of apartments where the Israelis were staying," O'Phelan said. "It's indelible in my mind -- the vision of the Palestinians lurking around, with their faces covered and carrying the machine guns. The impression on my mind is so strong that I can see those bastards as if it was yesterday."
The yesterday in this case was Sept. 5, 1972.
There had been violence associated with the anti-Vietnam War protests. We had heard of the bombs planted by the IRA and the Basque Separatists. The Black September thugs of Palestine had been involved in several attacks in Europe.
The way we saw it here was when the bad guys and the goofballs attacked, they were after symbols -- buildings or political figures -- and not civilians.
That changed when the Israeli civilians were seized at the Munich Games by eight Black September terrorists. They shot two Israelis to death at the compound, then made sure the nine remaining hostages (including American David Berger) died on the airport tarmac when it became clear they would not be allowed to escape to Cairo on a jet.
There were no limits now. Terrorism was in our faces, live on ABC from Munich, with Jim McKay.
These Olympics had been intended to show Germany's new non-militaristic ways. The security guards at the athletes village and elsewhere were wearing blue leisure suits and were unarmed.
"The fence around the village was V-shaped," O'Phelan said. "You were supposed to come in one end of the V or the other and show an ID to security. Athletes coming back from competition, or coming back from town, did not want to make the long walk to a security entrance.
"So, they started throwing their equipment bags over the fence and climbing over. When you saw someone in an athlete's warmup uniform coming over the fence, you didn't think anything of it. That's how the terrorists wound up getting into the village . . . going over the fence in warmup uniforms."
O'Phelan, a prominent orthopedic surgeon in the Twin Cities, was one of four doctors brought to Munich by the United States Olympic Committee. They manned the clinic around the clock.
O'Phelan had spent the night of Sept. 4 in town, staying with his family. The terrorists came in at 4 a.m. When he arrived on the morning of the 5th, there were armed soldiers at the security gate.
"For the first time all week, I had to show three pieces of ID to get inside," O'Phelan said. "There were athletes walking around, even sunbathing, within view of the terrorists. We didn't have any idea how serious it was at the time. We didn't know they had shot two of the Israelis already."
If O'Phelan was confused being 70 yards away, you can imagine how Bill Allen was feeling 500 miles away in Kiel, West Germany. He was a member of what became a gold-medal winning U.S. Soling sailing team, along with Buddy Melges and Bill Benson.
"The Olympic sailing competition was so far from Munich that we had to fly in for the Opening Ceremonies," Allen said. "I was a 24-year-old kid from Minnesota, and life couldn't be any better. It was a party every night and a great time on the water every day.
"We came in from a race one afternoon and the flags were at half-staff. And, all those security guards in light-blue leisure suits had been replaced by soldiers with guns.
"We all said, 'What the heck is going on?' "
Thirty years later, Allen still doesn't have an answer.
"A dozen years ago, I had a nephew killed in a boating accident," Allen said. "He was born on the same date as my daughter. And, it's the same date as the bombing in Oklahoma City.
"So now I remember my daughter's birthday, and I think of my nephew, and I think of all those people dying in Oklahoma City . . .
"It makes my skin crawl. It makes me cry."
The civilized world has been dealing with those reactions to terrorism since Sept. 5, 1972.
-- Patrick Reusse is at
preusse@startribune.com.
