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

[Buckeroo]

"I hold McNutty partially responsible for misleading Tim McVeigh by wanton disregard for facts and the 'reckless charges' he cast about as confetti." -- _Jim

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I hold you responsible for the wanton destruction of America.

[_Jim]

I hold you responsible for the wanton destruction of America.

And so MANKIND takes a GIANT step backwards - choosing instead to 'swallow whole' and take as the truth the slanderous, ignorant of the truth work of one McNutty ...

God save the Republic.

[Buckeroo]

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"God save the Republic." -- _Jim

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That's about all we have left, isn't _Jim? The idea that there is hope about the republic ... and maybe God might intervene upon those that steal our individual rights, liberties and rights under the guise that BIG_GOVERNMENT is good for people; that government can mow down anyone they want. So I agree with you in a large way ..... believing in government is a worthless cause.

[Tymesup]

11th anniversary bump