August 1, 1966

[DalTxHornFan 3119]

I think that this was the first time I remember seeing a national news story about Austin as a kid.

 

Edited August 1, 2022 by DalTxHornFan

[Kennythetiger 9483]

Do any of you people know who Charles Whitman was?….None of you dumbasses know. 

[NeverMarryAStripper 21968]

 

[BigDHornfan 6553]

1 hour ago, Kennythetiger said:

Do any of you people know who Charles Whitman was?….None of you dumbasses know. 

Sir, he was that guy who shot all those people from that tower in Austin, Texas, sir!

[MAUFRAIS 6642]

This town has always had its share of crazies.

I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

[Your Mom 4855]

Those individuals showed what one motivated Marine and his rifle can do!

[Texas Jeff 1946]

Has UT done anything to recognize Martinez, Crum and McCoy?

Martinez's story is pretty amazing.  I always thought he was responding to the scene with the intent of confronting the shooter.  But in reality he called in to see if he could help and they sent him to campus to work traffic.  Here's an excerpt from https://towerhistory.org/profiles/ray-martinez/

Quote

Ramiro “Ray” Martinez started with the Austin Police Department in 1960. He was watching the noon news when he found out about the UT tower shooting. He called the police station to find out if he could help and his lieutenant ordered him to keep traffic from going into the university.

When Martinez arrived on campus he found traffic was already being diverted, so he ended up working his way toward the South Mall and approached the Jefferson Davis statue where he saw several victims.

Martinez decided to go to the Tower to try to “neutralize” Whitman; he said he would likely have been killed if he had stayed on the Mall to tend to victims. He prayed as he took the elevator up to the 26th floor of the Tower.

 

[PTINS 3486]

The most tragic of days in our long, proud history. A stain on the Tower that never goes away.

I was 9, playing w/ friends outside, like any other day.  Probably still talking about the Batman World Premier at the Paramount 2 days earlier. We went inside for a drink and snack and saw what was on the TV.  Ran outside to see if we could see anything, but no, we were 7 miles away.

Tried to talk my friends mom to take us downtown so we could see.  We were young, and innocent. 

I was a freshman in '74. The daily trek from Jester to RLM, from Taylor Hall to the Drag, always with a casual eye on the tower. The observation deck  was closed in '75 following a series other tragedies and the sad days that followed.

And the happier days. Lit up in orange for Earl's Heisman, securing the Guttenberg Bible, the 4 millionith Library book, ...

"Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”

 

[Armybrat 40934]

I was eating a #5 Flameburger at the Holiday House with my roomie when it all started, then wound up crouching behind a car in the lot at 21st & Whitis (just west of Littlefield Fountain) to watch the last hour play out. 
Still get chills remembering stepping over pools of blood on the South Mall and the Drag afterwards. Found out later some of that blood belonged to a family friend who was wounded, but her two companions died.

[Not that Bob 739]

RIP Paul Sonntag

RIP Claudia Rutt

[Guest]

[Armybrat 40934]

2 hours ago, Not that Bob said:

RIP Paul Sonntag

RIP Claudia Rutt

 Carla “Muff” Wheeler was walking on the Drag with them.

[Armybrat 40934]

2 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Roy Schmidt was killed on 21st between Whitis & University Avenue closer to the Littlefield Fountain from our vantage point.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Armybrat

[Guest]

So I've always been interested in the history of this shooting.

A few years ago I bought a CD from a guy on eBay that helped one of the officers receive benefits for their role in bringing down Whitman. The guy did a ton of research into the story from Whitman's background to the victims. The CD included tons of documents and photos that I had never seen before despite reading books and Internet research on the topic. 

Honestly, it changed my outlook on it all. Since it happened before I was born, it's always been an interesting piece of history -- the way you might be interested in WWII or the Civil War. Seeing the carnage made me look at stuff like Kinky's song in a much different light. Don't like it at all.

[DalTxHornFan 3119]

OK, I'll admit that I'm a bit obsessive about this subject. 

I was six years old, we listened to the KTBC radio reporting, and we could see the Tower when we stood in the middle of our street in the south Allendale/Rosedale area.  My Mom kept shooing us back inside to keep us out of danger!

Clif Drummond was a great family friend of ours and was the UT student body president on that date.  He told amazing stories about that day (kind of like ArmyBrat!), and is cited in the link below.

Here is a link to more resources about that day:  https://projects.statesman.com/news/ut-tower-shooting-50th-anniversary/

[JesusSweatDuck 17814]

Didn't it turn out that Whitman had a brain tumor or is that just made up?

[BabaYaga 15331]

Pop's was studying in the law library as a young kid straight out of W.Texas and his graduating class of 11.  He was either a freshman or sophomore.  

[Armybrat 40934]

3 hours ago, JesusSweatDuck said:

Didn't it turn out that Whitman had a brain tumor or is that just made up?

The autopsy revealed a good-sized tumor, but it was said to be benign and supposedly didn’t affect his behavior. Of course that was based on mid-1960s medical opinion.

[Wally Pryor 5263]

17 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Where on campus is that located?

[DalTxHornFan 3119]

32 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

Where on campus is that located?

Turtle Pond, just north of the Tower.  

https://thedailytexan.com/2016/07/31/new-memorial-honors-victims-of-ut-tower-shooting/

[HouTex 1894]

39 minutes ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Turtle Pond, just north of the Tower.  

https://thedailytexan.com/2016/07/31/new-memorial-honors-victims-of-ut-tower-shooting/

Whitman's wife was from Ft. Bend County-my home county.  In the 60’s it was still very rural with a relatively small population.  My parents knew the wife’s family and met Whitman at a party.  My father said he seemed like a normal young man.