Reflections of a Life Well Lived, Part 1

"Reaching Into The Past"

I was talking with my buddies on Skype last evening when the Columbine shooting came up in the conversation. This started a little history conversation as I was a witness to one of the earliest school shootings in US history. Apparently there was a shooting in 1902 where two people were killed, but other than that one , the shooting that happened at my school, Trimble Tech, in 1966 was the first one I ever heard of before there was any such things as school shootings. It was written up as a gang related shooting as a member of the North Side gang shot a member of the South Side gang over a girl (of course?). I was coming out of the cafeteria into the first floor corridor around the corner from my home room when shots rang out and a Hispanic youth dropped in front of me while his attacker ran out of the building over towards Harris Hospital, where he was soon captured by the Ft Worth Police. Luckily the young man who lay bleeding in front of me did not die of his wounds, but for a few inches either way, he could have. The modern shootings are more about the alienation of our young people who feel desperate to escape said alienation by trying to make history of some sort. This led to the discussion of various other events to which I played witness. I still remember exactly where I was the day Kennedy was shot down in Dallas along with the then Governor of Texas, John Connolly, passing the torch of the Presidency to Lyndon Johnson on Air Force One. I was sitting in my 7th grade English class when the announcement was made by Mr Mandeville, the Principle at Forest Oak Junior High. It seemed the world had burst into tears. My band teacher during last period was so distraught she could do nothing but sit at her desk crying inconsolably while we students listen to the broad cast news of the events in Big D. The next five days , my Mother had the TV tuned to the news feeds of all the happenings including the capture of Lee Harvey Oswald, and his subsequent assassination by local bar owner, Jack Ruby. The next year LBJ was elected in a landslide over Republican Barry Goldwater and the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts were passed giving technical equality to those of African American heritage, along with the escalation of the Viet Nam "conflict"into a full blown war which was later to play a part in my life, yet I digress somewhat. The shooting occurred in my sophomore year, in the summer following I was elected Assistant Drum Major and I was riding a wave of popularity on the surface while being terribly confused inside on why I had crushes on the good looking guys instead of the girls like everyone else. I was still attending Wichita Street Baptist Church where I was president of my Sunday School class and remained so until I joined the Navy in 1971. My feelings inside where in direct opposition to my upbringing causing a tremendous mind fuck that lasted for years into the future.

This did not seem to affect my popularity as in the summer between my junior and senior years I was unanimously elected Head Drum Major. I was also active on the Senior Activity committee and the Student Council. I double dated with my best friend (with a girl!) to the Prom and graduated in May right around my 18th birthday in 1969. Of course the summer of 1969 was historically significant in many ways, I watched with fascination the live coverage of the Neil Armstrong's "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" as euphoria swept the country because we had beaten the Russians to the moon and won the "space race". It was also the summer of love highlighted by the now infamous Woodstock Music Festival in August which was the mother of all outdoor rock fests and totally unduplicated, even now. That fall I started college which was a whole other adventure in itself, maybe I should tell you about that one tomorrow , before receiving my draft notice on Christmas eve 1970 whereupon I joined the Navy to avoid slogging through the rice paddies of South Viet Nam, entering the service in January of 1971.

well I have rambled on enough for today, must put this post to bed for now. I do have some great photo's from the archives today in a little collection all About Face. Thanks for stopping by to say hello. Do come again and often. Until next time as always, Enjoy!