You left out one of the most intriguing and tragic aspects of the story. In his suicide notes, Whitman requested that an autopsy be performed on his body because he suspected something was a matter with his brain. And, of course, he was proven right.
@@shirleyaprile4838 '53-'85, but the earlier you were there, the less of concentrated levels were present. My dad got a settlement check in '17 for 10k tax free because there was really nothing wrong with him at his age. The peak levels were measured in the 'mid '70s and those people are getting the most as long as they have ill effects, 50-150k. The whistleblower and law firms are the ones making the real money. My dad said he drank more beer than water when he was there and usually showered off base at houses of ill repute, the chow hall wasn't a place he wanted to eat at either, lol.
Just adding to your story- The "other officer" that hid with Billy Speed behind the stone wall was my dad, Jerry Culp. He was Speed's partner. The bullet hole where Whitman shot at them is still in the wall, filled in but absolutely still there. My dad's Sam Browne was grazed that day, and his hat also had a hole in it. My parents met at the police station where my mom also worked. The story I was told was they met after this event when my dad stormed through the APD building after Speed died, kicking the door off the hinge. My mom was a secretary in the building. I was born in 1972, and still live in Austin. What a wonderful episode of this event. So glad I found it!!
No, he missed a few key details: 1. Charles Whitman left in his suicide note that he requested for his brain to be examined for irregularities. It indeed did. 2. There were many local citizens who showed up with their personal hunting rifles to assist police to shoot at Whitman.
What's not mentioned is a few good Samaritans with high powered deer rifles arrived on campus to help as police service revolvers couldn't reach that high. They shot at the Tower and distracted Whitman while the officers made their way to the top. According to Neal Spelce, the local reporter, most of the casualties took place early on. Once the citizens with deer rifles started shooting at Whitman, it distracted him and prevented more lives from being lost.
If Joe Biden has his way, civilians won't be able to help the next time this happens because they won't be able to own firearms, only the criminals will have guns under Democrat rule.
Well, that's as may be, jlh, but many of those rounds fired up to the tower only managed to tear through windows on the lower floors and may have hit any by-standers who may have been standing too close to those windows.
Just a few days before, I had turned 14 while visiting my grandmother in Dallas. Some friends across the street, who had heard news of the event on their radio, ran over to my grandmother's house to let us know what was happening. Their eighteen year old daughter, who was about to enter her first year at UT, was in Austin and they were understandably anxious as to her safety. She later called them to let them know she was fine and that she had been inside one of the stores on the drag, the University Co-Op, I think. All of us were relieved when she drove into the driveway early that evening. Thanks for posting the video. I learned much more about the people and events than I had known.
I was 9yrs old. Remember all the confusion in the news reporting. Public didn't seem to get many answers until a made for television movie. And we know how the movie industry tinkers with the truth!
I was in class at Garrison Hall directly below the UT Tower when Whitman started firing. It was a day I will never forget. This documentary is a very accurate description of what happened that day.
The worst part of this was that he knew something was wrong with him, he tried to get help and was refused multiple times. He asked that they do an autopsy and sure enough they found a mass in his brain.
Let's be honest in the 1960s they didn't know crap about things like this and we're still issuing Lobotomies till I think 69??..not defending the guy hell no what he did deserves prison if he didn't off himself but if he was held in the main psyche hospital and actually taken seriously he probably could have gotten what help albeit pretty archaic and still 19th century ish still but he'd have gotten some help but electric shock and a lobotomy and padded cell might've been all he got tbh but the irony is the electric shock might've helped the tumor especially a small pecan size one .as the video says..who knows but all it takes is a little malignancy or some brain disease or infected drinking water to really eff you up and he would have both maybe it's safe to say this guy was one of the first victims of camp Lejunes water idk I'm not military and my old man's ex army but I was raised to respect everyone and all branches of the military..but the alcoholic stuff and other crap he had going on in his skull wasn't helping him any..I kinda understand to a small certain degree it took many years to determine i was Autistic and not Narcissistic or a Psycho in the late 90s early 00s.. and even as late as 2003 I could've had a very good chance of being thrown away in the Denton State school for the retarded so yeah pretty nuts pardon the pun..and please excuse my lack of punctuation my eyesights isn't the best and take care and God bless and have a wonderful day..and please excuse my nerding out i love history even the sad effed up kind from my own backyard cause we can learn from it maybe how to properly medically help someone and also what not to do again Pretty nuts though how now people go yup the tumor effed that guy up or maybe the water gave it to him pretty wild..
@@carolholt3313 That’s what the doctors said after his rampage , I wonder why.. they didn’t want to be held accountable for ignoring him asking for help multiple times. Are you familiar with Johnny Lewis? Never was violent in his life. He had a motorcycle accident. His behavior completely changed. His parents took him to a specialist. His brain scan showed a mass in his brain. They said “It wasn’t significant enough to change his behavior”. Not long after he mutilated his neighbors cat, killed the neighbor and jumped headfirst off the two story roof. He had no drugs or alcohol in his system or history of abuse. Point being doctors know almost nothing about the human brain. We know more about the universe that we do the human brain.
Living in Austin, I have heard many versions of the massacre. My ex-gf's dad was on campus that day and described it as well as a 19 y/o kid would have seen it. Unfortunately, many of those that were there are dying off and there is a 'myth' forming over the story, thanks for setting it straight.
In any incident people have different points of view. How the mind works, we fill in the blanks of what we saw and didn't see, and form some sort of recall of events. So often in incidents (crime, accidents, etc.) witnesses say different things to a greater or lessor degree. Of course assuming people are not lying to cover things up or just embellishing a story for impact. Not an expert, just my understanding from critical thinking study..
I was on campus that day. I am 77 years old now but I can remember it vividly. In those days before 911, funeral homes had ambulances. Several of the funeral homes sent both ambulances and hearses to take people to Breckenridge Hospital. One was a funeral director from Hyltin-Manor was Morris Hohlman (sp?). He was shot but continue to evacuate students and take them to the hospital. He later took some of the victims to the medical examiners office.
I used to know a woman who was a secretary on campus at day. I haven't seen her in about forty years now so my recollections are far from perfect. I think that she was just leaving for lunch when she found out about the shooting and had to take cover.
Great video, Colin! Back in 1975, they had made a made for TV movie called "The Deadly Tower", with Kurt Russell playing Charles Whitman. Just something to watch, if people get the chance. Again, great video, Colin! Thank you!
I vividly remember seeing this movie back in 75 as a 12 year old. I was 3 hours from home at my neighbor and best friends camp in Northern NY, up on the eastern edge of Lake Ontario near Canada. We had our own .22's and 4 bricks of ammo(2000 rounds) for the weekend, along of course with paper targets and Zebco 303's and worms. TV reception of 3 channels with rabbit ears needed to tune it was bad to non-existent at times. But on that weekend at night a Canadian station was coming in clear and this movie came on. We were transfixed as we couldn't believe that such a thing was true and what we were seeing as it jolted us. We knew Kurt Russell from his Disney movies and seeing him as Whitman shooting up people was shocking. My friends mother, a school principal told us it was real and she remembered it happening as if it were yesterday. Made me think that as both 12 year old's we were able to take the 15 foot row boat with a 5 HP Evinrude motor, our poles, rifles and radio and lunch bucket and go out in the water and be gone from morning until getting dark with no adults worrying. We shoot at tree's and rocks on shore, catch fish, listen to baseball and have a blast all the while not thinking about the freedom we were enjoying. Would the average parent today let a couple of 12 year old's out all day with guns and a boat ? I guess we learned how to do things and not get scared or dead back in those days.
The movie was filmed at the Louisiana Capital Building ( which is similar in appearance) because the University of Texas expressly forbade the producers from filming there.
I had the pleasure of meeting Alan Crum in Vegas in the seventies. We worked together at the MGM Grand. He was soft-spoken very down to earth guy. He told me some of what happened that day, but downplayed his part in stopping Whitman.
As with all your other content, this venture into a horrific moment of true crime is outstanding. Concise and to the point, your documentary manages to inform and educate others regarding Charles Whitman and his crimes that other 1 or 2 hour documentaries are unable to do. Perhaps one day you can consider examining the Clutter Family tragedy, which was my first venture into true crime many decades ago. My only regret in watching your videos is that I did not have you as an instructor in high school or college. I only hope that the younger generation are aware of your work so that they can be enlightened by the information and history that you present.
I knew after they mentioned his name I knew exactly what both of them had in common the USMC,my friends sitting n cy to me in the movie theater never knew who Charles Whitman was,I told them the story later in about him and what happened in Austin Texas …..
@@KittredgeRitterhe didn’t inspire the movie, he was cited by the sergeant as an example of a great marine sharpshooter, along with Oswald (JFK’s assassin who was also a former Marine sharpshooter)
Far from forgotten, I remember when this happened, I was just a kid but I can still recall the news talking about it. Later as a police officer, we studied the law enforcement activity surrounding this incident, the errors and the positive aspects of the law enforcement officers at the scene.
Agreed💯...in 2024 we have mass shootings every week,in dozens of town/cities...that/this is REALLY whacked🤕🕯️🕯️and if I had 2 brain's I couldn't even imagine, Argh 🆘
Collin I love the content of the videos you and Mike make. I've watched many videos and read many different types of literature on "this story", so seeing the description in the notification that popped up about this new video on your channel, I almost did not watch it, simply because of obvious reasons stated above, but I quickly remembered how detailed You and Mr.Dupree are, referring to the content of the videos y'all make, and I then decided that I would watch it, and I guaranteed myself (kind of like betting with oneself), that I would learn something new, which is the only type of media/videos that I will spend my life's priceless time watching, and listening to. And yet again I have not been dissatisfied. Both of you gentlemen are great in the delivery and in the details of the true and accurate stories y'all make. Thank you, Great video 👍
I have childhood memories of those days of the shooting and thereafter. In Dallas, my folks and I heard of the shootings over the radio. In the days the followed may of the school campuses around Texas brought in police to patrol against any copycats. It was an uncertain and frightening time for a little boy in far off Big D. Great video, thanks for the indepth research.
Really informative telling of this horrific tragedy. I was a youngster when the shootings occurred, but I vividly remember my parents and all the other adults talking about it for days. The background information that you provided about Whitman was excellent as were the additional facts I learned that I had not known ( e.g. the poor university employee lady and the visiting family members Whitman also killed on his way up the tower).
By far the most detail-rich recounting of this story to be produced. Fantastic work, Forgotten History! What a strange and unfortunate sequence of events in this.
I saw in another documentary, Martinez thought that Crum (who managed an appliance store) was a detective. He realized his error on the observation deck when Crum said that he should deputize Crum.
Our family was living in San Antonio when this happened and we watched everything unfold on live TV. I was 13 years old and remember being very scared. I will never forget the day. Officer Martinez was my hero - he and the others showed incredible bravery. Also, my father who worked at the Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, knew the psychiatrist (Dr. Heatley) who treated Whitman before this event happened.
I was there. There were two of us that were driving the armored cars to try and rescue those that were either shot or too scared to move. There were heroes that day, but two of the policemen didn't want to be recognized as being part of it. I only want to set the record straight: Charlie Whitman was no misunderstood tragic victim. He was a self-absorbed, whiney bully that does not deserve any sympathy. Liked carrying weapons around with him and a copy of Soldier of Fortune. Thought he gained respect that way. Blamed everybody, and everything, else for any failures-no matter how small. I knew Charlie--I wish I hadn't. What set Charlie off was: he was on scholastic probation and needed to go to class that summer to get his grades up to stay in school. His father, and mother, had told him if he flunked out they weren't going to pay for his living expenses any more. He was failing one of his classes and the instructor told him he wouldn't change his grade to let him pass and stay in school. His mother told him he wasn't getting any more money. He was used to beating up his wife--and liked it. Charlie was no hero. Nor misunderstood. Nor blameless.
Thank you for boldly sharing the truth. Several years I watched a documentary about this incident and some of his personal failures leading up to the massacre were revealed.👍🏾
There are always at least two sides to the story. Thanks for your side. Makes sense of a lot of what was said in more detail. Hope your well thanks again😊
Soldier of Fortune magazine didn't appear until the 1970s. In 1966 Bob Brown was active duty, not a retired SF Opo in the media business. The rest of your story is probably true though.
i was a 12 year and remember it being on the news. i have learned more through your channel and appreciate it. No body learns that it's not the guns but the person using the gun 😢😢😢😢😢😢
I was a student nurse at Brackenridge Hospital on that day. We also had classes at UT and often literally ran the several blocks between them. I will not forget it. I had been up in the tower lots of times.
Thank you Sir for your patriotic service to our County, and Thank you for producing this video! I'm 63 years old, so I was 5 or 6 years old when this occurred. I didn't learn of the horrific event until well afterwards! I learned a great deal about this guy and the horrific things he did that day. A true American tragedy and unfortunately, things have only become so much worse in regards to mass shootings! God bless always 🙏
I'm from Austin. I was one year old when my mother, myself and my 2 brothers came across a road block in the UT area. She was told there was a sniper. In 1985 my boss at Austin Bearing Corp. told me he was a student at UT and was walking along carefree on campus. He said he heard the noise of the gunfire but thought it was from a construction project. He was stopped by several people hiding at a corner of a building who told him to quickly join them because there was someone on the tower shooting people. He smiled when he said his natural reaction to being told that was not to run over there but to remain in full view of the tower and shield his eyes as if saluting and look up without a worry. He saw puffs of smoke and then was with the group telling other passerbys to take cover. Whitman was such a good shot that he hit some people that were moving on bicycles from over 400yds away. Sad day and a shame that mass shootings began in my hometown. RIP to all his victims.
I love the Chanel and the great content. I did not know about his childhood. I’m glad you brought up the headaches and you are one of the few authors to talk about the tumor and it’s likely affect on this day and the years leading up to it. I would encourage you to reword the name of this episode to inform viewers of the potential cause. S/F
Thank you so much for such a detailed documentary. Such a such sad and tragic incident and am glad that he was stopped as quickly as he was. The aftermath was even more tragic as families and friends had to deal with such loss.
I first heard about this on television on the day it happened. I remember the newspaper reports including the autopsy results revealing the tumor. This video provides me with the contents of the two suicide notes and the information about the very abusive, drunk father. Thank you for this. I was only a boy at the time this happened. There was too much death growing up in the 1960s. It was very sad at times. God help us all.
I absolutely LOVE the videos you're producing - perhaps this one most of all as it does have some special meaning to me. No, I wasn't there and don't know anyone who was, but as a former peace officer this is something I had a better-than-average chance of having to deal with at some point. Oddly enough a lot of police chiefs (and other law enforcement agency administrators) are opposed to providing or allowing officers to carry rifles in their vehicles while on patrol as they see only the potential for liability for the department (longer range, more powerful, etc) and not the department's responsibility to stop the bad guy. (There are courses to certify officers in the use of the rifle.) That's the mentality it takes to get to the top. That, and "it can't happen here". After retiring from the Navy I became a police officer - ending up in a small Texas town where there was that one guy (I suppose every small town has one) who was nutty as a fruitcake and openly talked of someday climbing up onto the grain elevator and shooting people. Of course nothing could be done - and I swear that if the department tried to do anything about it that half the town would have criticized us for picking on him. "He's just crazy, he doesn't mean it." Of course you can imagine the same people's reaction had he actually done it. As there was often only one officer on duty and backup from the Sheriff's Department was practically non-existent (not enough registered voters in town for the sheriff to give a damn) - I spent many boring nights with a rangefinder recording distances from various places of cover to the grain elevator and other select tall buildings in town to keep in a special notebook. Anyway, great video - thanks for the history lesson, and thanks for the memories.
it's touching that you shared such a personal detail, the notebook and all. Hope you are keeping yourself and your loved ones healthy and as safe as can be expected, living in the usa.
My best friend and I were on the way from San Antonio to his new home in Wichita Falls when we stopped off at UT to visit his girlfriend at the Scottish Rite Dorm. We parked at the foot of the Tower plaza on the Inner Circle Drive (you could at the time) and walked to the SRD, crossing the plaza and going up Whitis Ave. We visited for a while and, as I was unsure how long it would take us to get to Wichita Falls, I kept saying we had to leave. They finally said their goodbyes, we walked back the way we came, got into his VW and headed to the Interregional (as IH35 was called then). As we turned onto the highway from 19th (now MLK), an announcement came on that there was a shooting at the UT campus. As we drove and more details came available, we realized we were walking across the plaza as Whitman was riding up the Tower elevator. If we had been five minutes later, we would have been shot.
I remember this event. I remember that colleges around the area I lived in all shut down access to any tower of any sort on campus. I remember that it also contributed to the distrust many had about military personnel, that you never knew when one of them "changed by the war" would go crazy and start killing people. People had given my oldest brother the side eye when he was home on leave just a few years before this. I can only imagine what it would have been like after this.
And absolutely NOTHING has changed in America since. More WAR, More GUNS, More SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, MORE (A LOT) MORE MONEY for the American government!!!! Let's keep that War Machine rolling!
I may feel this is an important point to call upon but. . . Was it only police offering return/cover fire? I also read that civilians with personal weapons also provided fire. That forced the shooter to duck
It's Texas - so yeah, civilians with rifles shot back. Though I could not find anything regarding Austin PD policy at the time, it is likely that "patrol officers" were not allowed to carry rifles in their vehicles although others (supervisors, detectives, etc) may have been permitted. That is still the case in many police departments today.
@@dougearnest7590 , @SuperCulverin If that's the case, This qualifies as a 'defense of others' in the matter of self defense shooting. Which somehow is "very conveniently left out" whenever they make a documentary of the event.
@@dougearnest7590back then Texas had more restricted gun laws then California! Things took a turn for the worst. And it's sad to think Texas will be blue eventually because of open borders.
There is footage here on TH-cam that shows the local news to broadcast the warning to the public to stay away from the campus. It's eery watching Whitman shooting from different openings and watching the clock in the tower as the shooting progressed. Civilians in the area arrived and assisted the Police in pinning him down from having free reign in firing.
I was living in Austin, TX in the Spring of 1966 and joined the Boy Scouts at age 11. I met Charles Whitman briefly. What is scary about Whitman was that he seemed so normal.
Simply incredible; the planning, the preparation, the execution. One can almost hear, within Whitman's mind, the screaming torment of his life leading up to the massacre. Excellent documentary
I remember hearing about this when I was in Austin Tx visiting my great aunt on her birthday August 1st,1966. It was her 66th birthday. It was a tragic day and the beginning of the era of the epidemic of mass shootings that plague America.
As usual, whenever a story like this happens, there's just not enough of a full, lay down, as he DID try to reach out for help in the Marine Corps. As Marines do NOT have their own doctors, those are provided by the U.S. Navy, let it be known that this man complained of headaches constantly, and that the shape of his head had begun to change. Upon autopsy, there was a tumor found pressing on his head. This story is one for the lack of medical response. OR, everyone can communist themselves, and blame the guns
Thank you very much for this clarification. Today he might very well have been given a brain scan and the tumor found early on. It would be helpful if the brain studies and position of the tumor could be reevaluated. Advances in neurology since that time might shed light on how this brain abnormality factored into his patterns of thought and behavior.
"Communist themselves"...??? What the fuck does that even mean? What the fuck does communism, or any economic system, have to do with mental health, mass murder, or whatever this might concern. Did you not listen to the many aspects of what may have POSSIBLY set Whitman off? Crawl back into your MAGA hole you fucking moron.
Absolutely not the gun but there are Drs available outside of the Navy… I don’t believe it’s fair to blame the military. Maybe his father was a cause and like father, like son ?
I was a kid raised in Austin when this occurred, and could see the U.T. tower from my back yard. My grandpa worked down at the campus so my family was very worried when this occurred. Everyone was so shocked and terrified because nothing like this had ever happened before. Austin was a relatively small city then too, peaceful, so the impact was that much greater.
That SOB killed my next door neighbor, Patrolman Billy Speed. He completed an Army combat tour in Viet Nam and came home to be killed by a fellow American! As an eighth grader I used to hang out with Billy and his brother. They lived on the East side of San Antonio .
I grew up in Austin. Tragic day, long ago. Marines can shoot...too bad this guy went rogue. As always, you filled in a whole bunch of voids in the story. Outstanding.
As an aside, the civilian with the gun who was deputised was so nervous he let off a round which distracted Whitman and the officer got behind him and shot him dead. Great video. Subbed!
I haven't researched this topic in many years. I forgot how genuinely messed up this situation was. This monster shouldn't be forgotten, and the modern media severely underplays this incident on the rare occasions that it's discussed. Thank you for the enlightening refresher
Media do not talk about this MASSACRE in the US?? ...HUH!... 🤔 ...WEIRD!... I beg your pardon - I'm not American but Polish (...with SOME "DNA-strands" from the sunny Italian peninsula apparently! 🙂 ...) - but I distinctly remember WHITMAN being mentioned in the "Full Metal Jacket" movie & a couple of other (famous) movies, too. This case strikes me for one (probably MAIN) reason only! -i.e: the behavioural pattern does indicate someone who is absolutely - (ALMOST) 100% and in an almost "clichè"-way - a typical "American" of the late 50's/early 60's - YOUNG, INTELLIGENT, INTEGRATED WELL with (...SEEMINGLY!...) - no "over the top problems" or signs of any schizopathology (unlike in so many other cases). PS. NOT TO MENTION! Whitman chose a VERY SPECIFIC "POINT" TO START HIS KILLING-SPREE, which was also meant from the get go to be HIS DEATH! He KNEW BEFOREHAND he would have never gotten out alive of that ...?..."observation"/"panoramic view" tower (...or whatever it was!...) - AND NONE-THE-LESS ! - he prepared for a WAY prolongued "siege". It surprised me that he actually did NOT kill even MORE people! - his proficiency in weapon-use is BEYOND ANY DOUBT! The fact that he shot a man from 500 yards with an M1 Carbine - back then, when there were almost only "iron sights" to such weapon a man that seemingly was too far away to even notice something was going on, or the policeman shot through a small opening of his cover - straight to his heart - is a testament to his SKILLS! (I'm sorry to say it!) ....but what's truly bugging me (BEYOND the fact that a perfectly "well adjusted citizen" one day decides to STAB HIS CLOSEST RELATIVES and only then go on carrying out his plan in the most (for lack of a better term!) "SPECTACULAR" way, where "SPECTACULAR" DOES NOT MEAN "BEUTIFUL/ELEGANT/SKILLFUL" - but sure as hell RUTHLESS and MILITARY-EFFICIENT! ...AT THE SAME TIME! - he purposefully chose a spot, where he KNEW he would die! People do not simply "EXPLODE" that way, and CREATE THE MOST MAYHEM POSSIBLE, while at the same time "de facto" commiting suicide! ...HENCE THE CHOICE OF THAT "TOWER" THAT SEEM TO STAND OUT IN THIS "STORY"! ... WHY that particular "spot"?? ...it gave him MANY ADVANTAGES...but it also gave him NO WAY OUT! ... Apparently he had a long-standing fascination with that "TOWER"! ...WHY???
I was twelve years old and was in Austin visiting my grandparents that day. My grandmother and I were in a tiny branch library in Twin Oaks shopping center when the librarians heard the news on the radio. My grandmother was very concerned because my two teenage aunts were downtown at the time and she didn’t know if they were safe. They were both ok, and in fact had not been anywhere near the shooting, but even from a distance of so long ago, I still remember the fear and sense of panic that was everywhere in Austin that day.
I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned this since I haven't seen any comments about it, but along with the bravery of helping injured people, several civilians also helped the police maintain suppressing fire with their own firearms.
True. They ran home and grabbed their deer rifles and went back and were shooting side by side with APD officers. Also true that many of them had stopped along the way and picked up a 6 pack of beer and were side by side with the cops drinking cold suds shooting their rifles. People asked me why didn't they try shooting him from the upper deck of Southbound IH 35 and I said because it wasn't built till 1973. The upper/lower decks are due to be torn down soon.
If Joe Biden has his way, civilians won't be able to help the next time this happens because they won't be able to own firearms, only the criminals will have guns under Democrat rule.
I will never forget this. I had a friend working in the Tower. I later worked briefly with some of the officers who killed Whitman. They were great people.
We could not forget. Our Grand Daughter was temporarily living there and working there. We did a lot of praying to have him stopped. Thank God 2 brave men went and stopped him.
We are still experiencing the same tragedies today,unfortunately its less shocking today,mental illness is a tragedy by itself this man was desensitized, he had no feelings for other people especially with his life experience and the ones he had not known.his emotional turmoil May not have been understood at the time.
Coming less than a month after the Richard Speck murders, which were even more haunting, this episode made the best summer of my life turn very unsettling.
I was 13 and I spent that summer terrified. I lived in Austin but was in Indiana when it happened, visiting my dad. A young woman from my church was killed by Whitman. When I started at the University of Texas five years later, I was surprised that no one had filled in the bullet holes on the Drag sidewalk or the outside walls of the stores. Those bullet holes were a constant reminder.
I remember this story as a little kid living in West Philly. Somewhere around the same time a guy named Richard Speck killed 8 nursing students in Chicago. I thought all of this was insane, even as a youngster. Sadly, it's now the norm.
Speck killed the eight nursing students on July14 1966 and this incident happened a little over two weeks later and this events started the modern mass killings which sadly in 2024 happen too often and not just in the U.S either.
Being subjected to repeated violence all through one’s developmental years, witnessing mother endure violence repeatedly, not being protected by mom or other relatives, seeing his brothers beaten and terrorized… this boy needed help long before he did this. I think the violence against his own wife caused him to unravel. His entire childhood, fear, anger, rage, shame, he was sick. Too bad he didn’t get his dad. Sad for all those innocent t people. The survivors must have had ptsd the rest of their lives. I wonder how his brothers fared in their adulthood.
Truly a very hard video to watch. Yet you did an excellent job. My thoughts and prayers to all those killed. Aa well aa the families left to mourn those killed. 💪🏻🙏🏻✨
I remember this. After the Kennedy killing in 1963 -- still too fresh in many minds -- and I remember many folks wondering what had become of our otherwise friendly state, and how they hated imagining what others must be thinking of Texas.
How well I remember that day. I was 21 years old and had been a San Antonio Police officer for a little over a year. I was on the way to Corpus Christi with my mother and a friend. At the time there was not a lot of details known on the radio. Much later in life I had the privilege of meeting Texas Ranger Ramiro Martinez. We talked for some time. Of course the tower came up and I was able to hear the story directly from him. In times here in San Antonio, I have met three different people that were survivors of the shooting. Kind of strange how you are able to remember your location on these historical events.
In 1966 Whitman was an anomaly, now there are dozens. If you can be a concealed carrier and pay attention to whats going on around you. If you want to learn more about this event read "A Sniper In The Tower" by Gary Lavergne. The movie with Kurt Russell has a fictional ending. It portrays Whitman being shot by officer Ramiro Martinez. Whitman was killed by officer Houston McCoy whom the producers despicably removed from the ending.
To me, Whitman sounds more like a damaged soul, wounded by his abusive father and filled with rage. His story also reflects inadequate mental health care; ill prepared and inexperienced at addressing such violent/extreme behavior. Yet it is the embrace of and ready supply of guns, that enables such mutant carnage. Remove guns from the equation and you won't stop the anger or hatred, but you will at least make it harder to kill...Of course, the pro gun folks needn't worry about the government taking away their guns, it's way too late. 400 million guns are already distributed; even if they stopped selling 'em, we got plenty to last for centuries, just like our stockpile of nuclear weapons...Oh, and interestingly, of the 40,000 annual gun deaths, more than half are suicides (the same goal of our Charley-boy here)...
Whitman seems a lot different than the mass shooters of today who are basically social rejects or conspiracy theory nut job racists. Whitman had good relationships with the people in his life, he had a wife , a job, clean cut and attractive guy . And not a malignant narcissist or bipolar or Asperger’s or whatever other mental illnesses are ascribed to the shooters nowadays .
I remember learning about this as a kid when the Kurt Russell TV movie about it was first aired. Lucky he didn't shoot at cars, and potentially cause them to go on fire or explode. Anyway, I once had a lady friend (shall we say) whose father was one of three brothers. The one brother started acting ever more erratically as he got older, sometimes getting violent for no reason. When he died, an autopsy was done, and a tumor was found in his brain. It was judged that where the tumor was caused his behavior. Take it easy.
I remember watching this on the news. I also remember thinking this guy was nuts. Now seeing this video all I thought about was the victims especially the lady that was pregnant. As far as Whitman is concerned I don't feel sorry for him at all. We,of that period all had our own version of being traumatized in one way or another. I still consider him to be nuts. He was a blyth on the marine core and to humanity. Thank you Colin and FORGOTTEN HISTORY for all of your hard work. Enjoyed.
@@jamesdeen3011 I agree. My mind went to the young men in California that shot their parents with shot guns and said they were abused as defense. I just wonder, nothing more.
Excellent documentary! I remember watching The Deadly Tower (1975) with Kurt Russell as Charles Whitman as a kid. That’s how I learned about the incident. Ironically I would later briefly attend the University of Texas.
I was only a sophomore in high school when this tragedy took place and it gave me nightmares. Some years later, a made-for-TV movie was made about it starring my main man Kurt Russel (who's handshake I have in my collection) called The Deadly Tower. Mr. Russel did an excellent job in his role as Charles Whitman.
Strange...before visiting Texas, I saw the movie of this case, and also the case of the train tracks in San Antonio, with the hand prints in the trunks of the cars.
You should more crime history videos. Your production quality greatly surpasses anyone else on here. No jokes, no false information, no AI garbage, no personal opinions. Amazing lol.
I remember watching this as a seven year old. Someone at either Austin’s public TV station which might have been on campus (or perhaps someone from what was once known as the school of RTF (TV/Radio/film) managed the schlep out one of those huge old school studio cameras, train it on the tower & left it running while sending it a satellite for a live feed. I’d always heard that the biggest tumor in Whitman’s life was his overbearing, hooch guzzling father. He was physically & mentally abusive to his wife & kids. I think that summer in Austin, Charlie W. just reached a sad, tragic point. He snapped. While he HAD to have known he’d be killed, he did have at least a days worth of provisions. Also, the modern SWAT team was designed & implemented as a tactical division of the police force in direct response to Whitman’s onslaught. At the time, Austin cops were only issued service revolvers which in 1966, didn’t have the reach or the accuracy. So (this being Texas) hunters in the live viewing audience grabbed deer rifles with scopes answered the SOS call and headed to campus. Police needed their help. Hell, in ‘66, Texas didn’t even campus police! SIDE NOTE: I attended Texas after HS. Depending on which orientation class you were assigned when starting as a Freshman, part of the campus tour included bullet holes. Most have been filled in, but a few never have been & although this was a tragedy, UT won’t repair. As the place of the first American public mass shooting, those holes must remain. I seem to remember there being a few holes in wall external walls Batts Hall (or Parlin Hall-it’s between 47 years since my orientation class). There were bullet marks on & around a confederate statue and many you couldn’t see (on the external walls of lower floors of the tower. Back in the day, Binoculars would help you see the holes all over the facade. The tower looked like it had acne scars-even more proof the Austin cops were sadly outgunned.
I was 9 years old at that time When the 6 o'clock news came on , us kids were sent out of the room ( you only had 1 TV back then) because the adults had already heard about it and we were not aloud to watch . And that's the way things were done back then .
I remember this day all too well. My dad was on the UT campus that day taking classes, working on his PhD. We lived in Bryan at the time (about 100 miles from Austin), it was my birthday and were waiting to have birthday cake and open presents until he got home from classes that afternoon. We then saw all this unfold on live TV and had no way of knowing if my dad was among the casualties, and my mom and brother and I were terrified and crying. As it turned out, when the gunfire started, he took cover under his car which was parked on campus not far from the tower until Whitman was exterminated. When he finally got home that evening (much to our relief) and told us what had happened, we were horrified. I will never forget it. Thank you for your very thorough treatment of this terrible day.
HOWEVER,for those of us who actually saw it unfolding ALL knew he had BLONDE hair, not Brown as portrayed in the reenactment. THE brown hair Ruined it for me !
Great video. I recently watched a 1968 movie on TCM called, 'Targets', loosely based on the events of 1966. It's one of Boris Karloff's last films. Like Whitman, the shooter in that film is a clean-cut, unassuming individual who one day snaps, killing his family, then targeting people at a drive-in theater where Karloff is making a public appearance. Very scary to see how an 'average guy' can turn into a homicidal maniac.
Notice how he killed his mother, wife, and strangers all because of his hatred for his father, but somehow left his father alive. This is what we call a coward.
In the video he stated he killed his mother, and wife to not put them through the horrible acts he was fixing to do. He probably spared his dad so he would have to live everyday thinking abt what his son did. That’s twisted thinking.
Harry Chapin's song "SNIPER" was written about this event. It's a powerful, gut-wrenching, epic song. There are some inaccuracies in the song because it was written early after the event, and some of the details were released later, but it's still very worth a listen.
I remember this happening when I was 14 growing up in Omaha. I did a post-doc at U. Texas in the '80s. Access to the tower was still blocked off and you could see divits in the tower where people had taken shots at Whitman. Pretty sobering stuff.
You left out one of the most intriguing and tragic aspects of the story. In his suicide notes, Whitman requested that an autopsy be performed on his body because he suspected something was a matter with his brain. And, of course, he was proven right.
From what I have read, had this not happened, he would have died within a year at most
He had a brain tumour and knew it...
@patgalvez4563 he had an inkling that something was wrong with him but did nor know exactly what
@@shirleyaprile4838 My father was there at the same time, there's nothing wrong with him.
@@shirleyaprile4838 '53-'85, but the earlier you were there, the less of concentrated levels were present. My dad got a settlement check in '17 for 10k tax free because there was really nothing wrong with him at his age. The peak levels were measured in the 'mid '70s and those people are getting the most as long as they have ill effects, 50-150k. The whistleblower and law firms are the ones making the real money. My dad said he drank more beer than water when he was there and usually showered off base at houses of ill repute, the chow hall wasn't a place he wanted to eat at either, lol.
Just adding to your story- The "other officer" that hid with Billy Speed behind the stone wall was my dad, Jerry Culp. He was Speed's partner. The bullet hole where Whitman shot at them is still in the wall, filled in but absolutely still there. My dad's Sam Browne was grazed that day, and his hat also had a hole in it. My parents met at the police station where my mom also worked. The story I was told was they met after this event when my dad stormed through the APD building after Speed died, kicking the door off the hinge. My mom was a secretary in the building. I was born in 1972, and still live in Austin. What a wonderful episode of this event. So glad I found it!!
Wow - amazing story & to have that involving your dad.
Awesome
Agreed ... from San Antonio
Proof ?
Pics or it didn’t happen. Anyone could get into the comments and say did anything, where is your proof?
this is the most comprehensive account that i have ever seen. Thank you for doing such a thorough presentation.
You're very welcome!
No, he missed a few key details: 1. Charles Whitman left in his suicide note that he requested for his brain to be examined for irregularities. It indeed did.
2. There were many local citizens who showed up with their personal hunting rifles to assist police to shoot at Whitman.
What's not mentioned is a few good Samaritans with high powered deer rifles arrived on campus to help as police service revolvers couldn't reach that high. They shot at the Tower and distracted Whitman while the officers made their way to the top. According to Neal Spelce, the local reporter, most of the casualties took place early on. Once the citizens with deer rifles started shooting at Whitman, it distracted him and prevented more lives from being lost.
Today Austin DA would arrest these people
If Joe Biden has his way, civilians won't be able to help the next time this happens because they won't be able to own firearms, only the criminals will have guns under Democrat rule.
Bigly.Go 2A
Thank you for the information 🇺🇸
Well, that's as may be, jlh, but many of those rounds fired up to the tower only managed to tear through windows on the lower floors and may have hit any by-standers who may have been standing too close to those windows.
I’m 75 and lived in Dallas at the time. I will never forget a minute of it.
Just a few days before, I had turned 14 while visiting my grandmother in Dallas. Some friends across the street, who had heard news of the event on their radio, ran over to my grandmother's house to let us know what was happening. Their eighteen year old daughter, who was about to enter her first year at UT, was in Austin and they were understandably anxious as to her safety. She later called them to let them know she was fine and that she had been inside one of the stores on the drag, the University Co-Op, I think. All of us were relieved when she drove into the driveway early that evening. Thanks for posting the video. I learned much more about the people and events than I had known.
I was 9yrs old. Remember all the confusion in the news reporting. Public didn't seem to get many answers until a made for television movie. And we know how the movie industry tinkers with the truth!
Man, this is becoming my favorite channel!
Wow, thanks!
Amen
I was there and one of Whitman’s bullets broke the glass in my father’s store, he put us kids in a back room and only let us out after it was over.
It would be funny if he let you out BEFORE it was over. “Kids it looks like the fire storm’s dying down, come on out.”
I was in class at Garrison Hall directly below the UT Tower when Whitman started firing. It was a day I will never forget. This documentary is a very accurate description of what happened that day.
Except that part about Chuck's Gun Shop. Area code 708 is in Illinois.
The worst part of this was that he knew something was wrong with him, he tried to get help and was refused multiple times. He asked that they do an autopsy and sure enough they found a mass in his brain.
The tumor wasn't thought to be the cause of his mental illness.
Millions with brain tumors didn't act like he did. He was a born criminal.
Let's be honest in the 1960s they didn't know crap about things like this and we're still issuing Lobotomies till I think 69??..not defending the guy hell no what he did deserves prison if he didn't off himself but if he was held in the main psyche hospital and actually taken seriously he probably could have gotten what help albeit pretty archaic and still 19th century ish still but he'd have gotten some help but electric shock and a lobotomy and padded cell might've been all he got tbh but the irony is the electric shock might've helped the tumor especially a small pecan size one .as the video says..who knows but all it takes is a little malignancy or some brain disease or infected drinking water to really eff you up and he would have both maybe it's safe to say this guy was one of the first victims of camp Lejunes water idk I'm not military and my old man's ex army but I was raised to respect everyone and all branches of the military..but the alcoholic stuff and other crap he had going on in his skull wasn't helping him any..I kinda understand to a small certain degree it took many years to determine i was Autistic and not Narcissistic or a Psycho in the late 90s early 00s.. and even as late as 2003 I could've had a very good chance of being thrown away in the Denton State school for the retarded so yeah pretty nuts pardon the pun..and please excuse my lack of punctuation my eyesights isn't the best and take care and God bless and have a wonderful day..and please excuse my nerding out i love history even the sad effed up kind from my own backyard cause we can learn from it maybe how to properly medically help someone and also what not to do again
Pretty nuts though how now people go yup the tumor effed that guy up or maybe the water gave it to him pretty wild..
@@carolholt3313 That’s what the doctors said after his rampage , I wonder why.. they didn’t want to be held accountable for ignoring him asking for help multiple times.
Are you familiar with Johnny Lewis?
Never was violent in his life. He had a motorcycle accident. His behavior completely changed.
His parents took him to a specialist. His brain scan showed a mass in his brain. They said “It wasn’t significant enough to change his behavior”.
Not long after he mutilated his neighbors cat, killed the neighbor and jumped headfirst off the two story roof. He had no drugs or alcohol in his system or history of abuse.
Point being doctors know almost nothing about the human brain. We know more about the universe that we do the human brain.
A small mass...and nowhere near it would cause such a wicked problem with him
Living in Austin, I have heard many versions of the massacre. My ex-gf's dad was on campus that day and described it as well as a 19 y/o kid would have seen it. Unfortunately, many of those that were there are dying off and there is a 'myth' forming over the story, thanks for setting it straight.
In any incident people have different points of view.
How the mind works, we fill in the blanks of what we saw and didn't see, and form some sort of recall of events.
So often in incidents (crime, accidents, etc.) witnesses say different things to a greater or lessor degree.
Of course assuming people are not lying to cover things up or just embellishing a story for impact.
Not an expert, just my understanding from critical thinking study..
What 'myth"
Odd that he didn't kill his father, but opted for innocent strangers.
Quite possibly his way of making him live with the shame
Wife and mother weren't innocent strangers.
@@kennethcurtis1856you sure? I was just thinking about that...can a woman really make that much of a difference in a man's life?
@@watermelonlover745huh?
left dad alive cause not concerned about him. Mom and wife died cause he loved them
Those of us who were alive at the time have not forgotten.
I don’t think no one is still alive from back then twin and if they is they too old to work a computer
IKR? Forgotten by whom?!?
You’d be surprised lol
And Never Will !
My mother is 80 years old and she does all of her work on her computer. Take several seats. @@degengam2781
I was on campus that day. I am 77 years old now but I can remember it vividly. In those days before 911, funeral homes had ambulances. Several of the funeral homes sent both ambulances and hearses to take people to Breckenridge Hospital. One was a funeral director from Hyltin-Manor was Morris Hohlman (sp?). He was shot but continue to evacuate students and take them to the hospital. He later took some of the victims to the medical examiners office.
Hospitals are fictional however. Who goes to fictional places?
Two members of a responding ambulance was wounded by skip fire under the ambulance they were taking cover behind
That’s cap
I used to know a woman who was a secretary on campus at day. I haven't seen her in about forty years now so my recollections are far from perfect. I think that she was just leaving for lunch when she found out about the shooting and had to take cover.
This is my favorite new youtube channel. So glad to find you
Thank you kindly
How many of you guys first learned about this guy from full metal jacket?
I learned about it from the 1970s TV movie about him.
None of you dumba$$es knows...
Learned about it from my dad, he graduated there shortly before the incident if I remember correctly.
I did
I watched it on TV.
Great video, Colin! Back in 1975, they had made a made for TV movie called "The Deadly Tower", with Kurt Russell playing Charles Whitman. Just something to watch, if people get the chance. Again, great video, Colin! Thank you!
I vividly remember seeing this movie back in 75 as a 12 year old. I was 3 hours from home at my neighbor and best friends camp in Northern NY, up on the eastern edge of Lake Ontario near Canada. We had our own .22's and 4 bricks of ammo(2000 rounds) for the weekend, along of course with paper targets and Zebco 303's and worms. TV reception of 3 channels with rabbit ears needed to tune it was bad to non-existent at times. But on that weekend at night a Canadian station was coming in clear and this movie came on. We were transfixed as we couldn't believe that such a thing was true and what we were seeing as it jolted us. We knew Kurt Russell from his Disney movies and seeing him as Whitman shooting up people was shocking. My friends mother, a school principal told us it was real and she remembered it happening as if it were yesterday. Made me think that as both 12 year old's we were able to take the 15 foot row boat with a 5 HP Evinrude motor, our poles, rifles and radio and lunch bucket and go out in the water and be gone from morning until getting dark with no adults worrying. We shoot at tree's and rocks on shore, catch fish, listen to baseball and have a blast all the while not thinking about the freedom we were enjoying. Would the average parent today let a couple of 12 year old's out all day with guns and a boat ? I guess we learned how to do things and not get scared or dead back in those days.
Thanks for the info!
I always thought that Kurt Russell was a strange choice to play Whitman. He didn't look anything like him.
@@jaydouglas5847 cool story.
The movie was filmed at the Louisiana Capital Building ( which is similar in appearance) because the University of Texas expressly forbade the producers from filming there.
I had the pleasure of meeting Alan Crum in Vegas in the seventies. We worked together at the MGM Grand. He was soft-spoken very down to earth guy. He told me some of what happened that day, but downplayed his part in stopping Whitman.
Thanks for watching
Stumbled across this channel and I am so glad i did. Well done sir. Wishing you and yours the best.
Thank you kindly!
This channel takes the last 30 min of my class! Then my students don’t want to leave the classroom! Thank you for all you do!
Thanks so much. We really appreciate it!
As with all your other content, this venture into a horrific moment of true crime is outstanding. Concise and to the point, your documentary manages to inform and educate others regarding Charles Whitman and his crimes that other 1 or 2 hour documentaries are unable to do. Perhaps one day you can consider examining the Clutter Family tragedy, which was my first venture into true crime many decades ago.
My only regret in watching your videos is that I did not have you as an instructor in high school or college. I only hope that the younger generation are aware of your work so that they can be enlightened by the information and history that you present.
Thank you for the kind words. We will consider an episode on the Clutter family murders.
I remember when this happened in 1966. A lot of people learned about Charles Whitman from the movie "Full Metal Jacket".
I knew after they mentioned his name I knew exactly what both of them had in common the USMC,my friends sitting n cy to me in the movie theater never knew who Charles Whitman was,I told them the story later in about him and what happened in Austin Texas …..
I learned about it from the insane clown posse song about him
Is that who inspired that movie? Never knew that.
@@KittredgeRitterhe didn’t inspire the movie, he was cited by the sergeant as an example of a great marine sharpshooter, along with Oswald (JFK’s assassin who was also a former Marine sharpshooter)
As former law enforcement, Whitman has always seemed an interesting case study. Excellent job with the video.
Far from forgotten, I remember when this happened, I was just a kid but I can still recall the news talking about it. Later as a police officer, we studied the law enforcement activity surrounding this incident, the errors and the positive aspects of the law enforcement officers at the scene.
Too bad these same type of officer’s, weren’t in Uvalde, TX
@@KittyGrizGrizapples and oranges bud.
You need to study the event before commenting stupidly.
@@coryhoggatt7691 Dimwit reply! 😂
What humans are forced to say or appear/sound like theyre saying.
the title is not referring to you personally
A great, in-depth video on this horrible tragedy!
I remember when that happened. I was in high school at the time and the idea of a mass shooting was unfathomable.
Agreed💯...in 2024 we have mass shootings every week,in dozens of town/cities...that/this is REALLY whacked🤕🕯️🕯️and if I had 2 brain's I couldn't even imagine, Argh 🆘
Now it's on the news more than good news. So depressing of a thought to think no one knew what kind of evil this really is
No drugs involved but a Brain Tumor what I was told
Collin I love the content of the videos you and Mike make.
I've watched many videos and read many different types of literature on "this story", so seeing the description in the notification that popped up about this new video on your channel, I almost did not watch it, simply because of obvious reasons stated above, but I quickly remembered how detailed You and Mr.Dupree are, referring to the content of the videos y'all make, and I then decided that I would watch it, and I guaranteed myself (kind of like betting with oneself), that I would learn something new, which is the only type of media/videos that I will spend my life's priceless time watching, and listening to.
And yet again I have not been dissatisfied.
Both of you gentlemen are great in the delivery and in the details of the true and accurate stories y'all make.
Thank you,
Great video 👍
Thank you kindly. We appreciate the support
The stock footage of an old biplane made me laugh though. It happened in 1966, not 1926.
I have childhood memories of those days of the shooting and thereafter. In Dallas, my folks and I heard of the shootings over the radio. In the days the followed may of the school campuses around Texas brought in police to patrol against any copycats. It was an uncertain and frightening time for a little boy in far off Big D. Great video, thanks for the indepth research.
Really informative telling of this horrific tragedy. I was a youngster when the shootings occurred, but I vividly remember my parents and all the other adults talking about it for days. The background information that you provided about Whitman was excellent as were the additional facts I learned that I had not known ( e.g. the poor university employee lady and the visiting family members Whitman also killed on his way up the tower).
By far the most detail-rich recounting of this story to be produced. Fantastic work, Forgotten History! What a strange and unfortunate sequence of events in this.
I saw in another documentary, Martinez thought that Crum (who managed an appliance store) was a detective. He realized his error on the observation deck when Crum said that he should deputize Crum.
Our family was living in San Antonio when this happened and we watched everything unfold on live TV. I was 13 years old and remember being very scared. I will never forget the day. Officer Martinez was my hero - he and the others showed incredible bravery. Also, my father who worked at the Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, knew the psychiatrist (Dr. Heatley) who treated Whitman before this event happened.
Officer McCoy
I was there. There were two of us that were driving the armored cars to try and rescue those that were either shot or too scared to move. There were heroes that day, but two of the policemen didn't want to be recognized as being part of it. I only want to set the record straight: Charlie Whitman was no misunderstood tragic victim. He was a self-absorbed, whiney bully that does not deserve any sympathy. Liked carrying weapons around with him and a copy of Soldier of Fortune. Thought he gained respect that way. Blamed everybody, and everything, else for any failures-no matter how small. I knew Charlie--I wish I hadn't. What set Charlie off was: he was on scholastic probation and needed to go to class that summer to get his grades up to stay in school. His father, and mother, had told him if he flunked out they weren't going to pay for his living expenses any more. He was failing one of his classes and the instructor told him he wouldn't change his grade to let him pass and stay in school. His mother told him he wasn't getting any more money. He was used to beating up his wife--and liked it. Charlie was no hero. Nor misunderstood. Nor blameless.
Good post thanks.
Thank you for boldly sharing the truth. Several years I watched a documentary about this incident and some of his personal failures leading up to the massacre were revealed.👍🏾
People in glass houses Ken…. We are all selfish and self absorbed in our own ways. Humans would never have survived and evolved if they weren’t!
There are always at least two sides to the story. Thanks for your side.
Makes sense of a lot of what was said in more detail. Hope your well thanks again😊
Soldier of Fortune magazine didn't appear until the 1970s. In 1966 Bob Brown was active duty, not a retired SF Opo in the media business. The rest of your story is probably true though.
Thanks for sharing your videos and keep them coming please.
i was a 12 year and remember it being on the news. i have learned more through your channel and appreciate it. No body learns that it's not the guns but the person using the gun 😢😢😢😢😢😢
I was a student nurse at Brackenridge Hospital on that day. We also had classes at UT and often literally ran the several blocks between them. I will not forget it. I had been up in the tower lots of times.
Thank you Sir for your patriotic service to our County, and Thank you for producing this video! I'm 63 years old, so I was 5 or 6 years old when this occurred.
I didn't learn of the horrific event until well afterwards! I learned a great deal about this guy and the horrific things he did that day.
A true American tragedy and unfortunately, things have only become so much worse in regards to mass shootings!
God bless always 🙏
you should probably look up the word patriot in the dictionary.....how is it that telling an almost 60 yr old story patriotic?
I'm from Austin. I was one year old when my mother, myself and my 2 brothers came across a road block in the UT area. She was told there was a sniper. In 1985 my boss at Austin Bearing Corp. told me he was a student at UT and was walking along carefree on campus. He said he heard the noise of the gunfire but thought it was from a construction project. He was stopped by several people hiding at a corner of a building who told him to quickly join them because there was someone on the tower shooting people. He smiled when he said his natural reaction to being told that was not to run over there but to remain in full view of the tower and shield his eyes as if saluting and look up without a worry. He saw puffs of smoke and then was with the group telling other passerbys to take cover. Whitman was such a good shot that he hit some people that were moving on bicycles from over 400yds away. Sad day and a shame that mass shootings began in my hometown. RIP to all his victims.
i do love history and always enjoy your presentations...thank you
Our pleasure!
I love the Chanel and the great content. I did not know about his childhood. I’m glad you brought up the headaches and you are one of the few authors to talk about the tumor and it’s likely affect on this day and the years leading up to it. I would encourage you to reword the name of this episode to inform viewers of the potential cause. S/F
Thanks. We will consider. Semper Fi
Thank you so much for such a detailed documentary. Such a such sad and tragic incident and am glad that he was stopped as quickly as he was. The aftermath was even more tragic as families and friends had to deal with such loss.
I first heard about this on television on the day it happened. I remember the newspaper reports including the autopsy results revealing the tumor. This video provides me with the contents of the two suicide notes and the information about the very abusive, drunk father. Thank you for this.
I was only a boy at the time this happened.
There was too much death growing up in the 1960s. It was very sad at times.
God help us all.
Yes there was. We saw the Vietnam war every night on the news and all the race riots everywhere
2023 🍻
How about the amount of death in the 20th century. Access to information can be a bitch..
And it's better now ????
I'd go back to the 70s or 80s in a second
@CountIblis-jb4uh I turned 6 in 80. Sounds good to me. I'm am old soul in a new word to rip of a few people, and I'm not even that old. 😔
Thank you for taking the time to tell this story, and for leaving politics out of it. I enjoyed it very much.
Very disturbing, but very well done...thanks for the post
I am a Swede. I remember very well when this happened. The sheer horror of it all really made an impact.
Wow really? How did you hear of it first? What were your first thoughts?
This and Mark Felton are THE BEST CHANNELS here on YT!!!
Thank you kindly
Brilliantly put together thanks for the upload 😉 and i love your channel 🔥 much love from South Africa 💯
Thank you kindly
I absolutely LOVE the videos you're producing - perhaps this one most of all as it does have some special meaning to me. No, I wasn't there and don't know anyone who was, but as a former peace officer this is something I had a better-than-average chance of having to deal with at some point.
Oddly enough a lot of police chiefs (and other law enforcement agency administrators) are opposed to providing or allowing officers to carry rifles in their vehicles while on patrol as they see only the potential for liability for the department (longer range, more powerful, etc) and not the department's responsibility to stop the bad guy. (There are courses to certify officers in the use of the rifle.) That's the mentality it takes to get to the top. That, and "it can't happen here".
After retiring from the Navy I became a police officer - ending up in a small Texas town where there was that one guy (I suppose every small town has one) who was nutty as a fruitcake and openly talked of someday climbing up onto the grain elevator and shooting people. Of course nothing could be done - and I swear that if the department tried to do anything about it that half the town would have criticized us for picking on him. "He's just crazy, he doesn't mean it." Of course you can imagine the same people's reaction had he actually done it.
As there was often only one officer on duty and backup from the Sheriff's Department was practically non-existent (not enough registered voters in town for the sheriff to give a damn) - I spent many boring nights with a rangefinder recording distances from various places of cover to the grain elevator and other select tall buildings in town to keep in a special notebook. Anyway, great video - thanks for the history lesson, and thanks for the memories.
Thank you and thanks for your service in the Navy and PD.
it's touching that you shared such a personal detail, the notebook and all. Hope you are keeping yourself and your loved ones healthy and as safe as can be expected, living in the usa.
I remember reading about this some years ago 😢so tragically sad😢thx for sharing....
My best friend and I were on the way from San Antonio to his new home in Wichita Falls when we stopped off at UT to visit his girlfriend at the Scottish Rite Dorm. We parked at the foot of the Tower plaza on the Inner Circle Drive (you could at the time) and walked to the SRD, crossing the plaza and going up Whitis Ave. We visited for a while and, as I was unsure how long it would take us to get to Wichita Falls, I kept saying we had to leave. They finally said their goodbyes, we walked back the way we came, got into his VW and headed to the Interregional (as IH35 was called then). As we turned onto the highway from 19th (now MLK), an announcement came on that there was a shooting at the UT campus. As we drove and more details came available, we realized we were walking across the plaza as Whitman was riding up the Tower elevator. If we had been five minutes later, we would have been shot.
I remember this event. I remember that colleges around the area I lived in all shut down access to any tower of any sort on campus. I remember that it also contributed to the distrust many had about military personnel, that you never knew when one of them "changed by the war" would go crazy and start killing people. People had given my oldest brother the side eye when he was home on leave just a few years before this. I can only imagine what it would have been like after this.
And absolutely NOTHING has changed in America since. More WAR, More GUNS, More SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, MORE (A LOT) MORE MONEY for the American government!!!! Let's keep that War Machine rolling!
I may feel this is an important point to call upon but. . .
Was it only police offering return/cover fire?
I also read that civilians with personal weapons also provided fire. That forced the shooter to duck
It's Texas - so yeah, civilians with rifles shot back.
Though I could not find anything regarding Austin PD policy at the time, it is likely that "patrol officers" were not allowed to carry rifles in their vehicles although others (supervisors, detectives, etc) may have been permitted. That is still the case in many police departments today.
@@dougearnest7590 , @SuperCulverin
If that's the case, This qualifies as a 'defense of others' in the matter of self defense shooting.
Which somehow is "very conveniently left out" whenever they make a documentary of the event.
@@dougearnest7590back then Texas had more restricted gun laws then California! Things took a turn for the worst. And it's sad to think Texas will be blue eventually because of open borders.
There is footage here on TH-cam that shows the local news to broadcast the warning to the public to stay away from the campus.
It's eery watching Whitman shooting from different openings and watching the clock in the tower as the shooting progressed.
Civilians in the area arrived and assisted the Police in pinning him down from having free reign in firing.
I was living in Austin, TX in the Spring of 1966 and joined the Boy Scouts at age 11. I met Charles Whitman briefly. What is scary about Whitman was that he seemed so normal.
Wow, you and Walt have that in common!
Simply incredible; the planning, the preparation, the execution. One can almost hear, within Whitman's mind, the screaming torment of his life leading up to the massacre. Excellent documentary
Thank You Colin. I am just commenting to feed the algorithm. Best Wishes.
Thanks for that!
I remember hearing about this when I was in Austin Tx visiting my great aunt on her birthday August 1st,1966. It was her 66th birthday. It was a tragic day and the beginning of the era of the epidemic of mass shootings that plague America.
Thanks for watching
As usual, whenever a story like this happens, there's just not enough of a full, lay down, as he DID try to reach out for help in the Marine Corps. As Marines do NOT have their own doctors, those are provided by the U.S. Navy, let it be known that this man complained of headaches constantly, and that the shape of his head had begun to change. Upon autopsy, there was a tumor found pressing on his head. This story is one for the lack of medical response. OR, everyone can communist themselves, and blame the guns
Thank you very much for this clarification. Today he might very well have been given a brain scan and the tumor found early on. It would be helpful if the brain studies and position of the tumor could be reevaluated. Advances in neurology since that time might shed light on how this brain abnormality factored into his patterns of thought and behavior.
I thought he was 'evaluated ' by the Corps for pulling a 45 on a fellow Marine and threatening to kill him?
"Communist themselves"...??? What the fuck does that even mean? What the fuck does communism, or any economic system, have to do with mental health, mass murder, or whatever this might concern. Did you not listen to the many aspects of what may have POSSIBLY set Whitman off? Crawl back into your MAGA hole you fucking moron.
Um, what?
Absolutely not the gun but there are Drs available outside of the Navy… I don’t believe it’s fair to blame the military.
Maybe his father was a cause and like father, like son ?
I was a kid raised in Austin when this occurred, and could see the U.T. tower from my back yard. My grandpa worked down at the campus so my family was very worried when this occurred. Everyone was so shocked and terrified because nothing like this had ever happened before. Austin was a relatively small city then too, peaceful, so the impact was that much greater.
Good recap of things I had missed. This was an incredibly influential point in American history, society and gun culture.
Excellent videos, I have subscribed to your channel. Thank you very much.
Awesome, thank you!
That SOB killed my next door neighbor, Patrolman Billy Speed. He completed an Army combat tour in Viet Nam and came home to be killed by a fellow American! As an eighth grader I used to hang out with Billy and his brother. They lived on the East side of San Antonio .
Hardly forgotten. I'm 65. I remember the day very well. Lived in Austin at the time. Neal was active on local news for decades afterwards.
the title does not refer to you......its referring to everyone else.
I grew up in Austin. Tragic day, long ago. Marines can shoot...too bad this guy went rogue. As always, you filled in a whole bunch of voids in the story. Outstanding.
This is a very very well made video. Nice narration and pace. Nice 👌
As an aside, the civilian with the gun who was deputised was so nervous he let off a round which distracted Whitman and the officer got behind him and shot him dead. Great video. Subbed!
Thank you very much!
Thank you for providing sources in the description!
I haven't researched this topic in many years. I forgot how genuinely messed up this situation was. This monster shouldn't be forgotten, and the modern media severely underplays this incident on the rare occasions that it's discussed. Thank you for the enlightening refresher
Thanks for watching
Media do not talk about this MASSACRE in the US?? ...HUH!... 🤔 ...WEIRD!... I beg your pardon - I'm not American but Polish (...with SOME "DNA-strands" from the sunny Italian peninsula apparently! 🙂 ...) - but I distinctly remember WHITMAN being mentioned in the "Full Metal Jacket" movie & a couple of other (famous) movies, too. This case strikes me for one (probably MAIN) reason only! -i.e: the behavioural pattern does indicate someone who is absolutely - (ALMOST) 100% and in an almost "clichè"-way - a typical "American" of the late 50's/early 60's - YOUNG, INTELLIGENT, INTEGRATED WELL with (...SEEMINGLY!...) - no "over the top problems" or signs of any schizopathology (unlike in so many other cases). PS. NOT TO MENTION! Whitman chose a VERY SPECIFIC "POINT" TO START HIS KILLING-SPREE, which was also meant from the get go to be HIS DEATH! He KNEW BEFOREHAND he would have never gotten out alive of that ...?..."observation"/"panoramic view" tower (...or whatever it was!...) - AND NONE-THE-LESS ! - he prepared for a WAY prolongued "siege". It surprised me that he actually did NOT kill even MORE people! - his proficiency in weapon-use is BEYOND ANY DOUBT! The fact that he shot a man from 500 yards with an M1 Carbine - back then, when there were almost only "iron sights" to such weapon a man that seemingly was too far away to even notice something was going on, or the policeman shot through a small opening of his cover - straight to his heart - is a testament to his SKILLS! (I'm sorry to say it!) ....but what's truly bugging me (BEYOND the fact that a perfectly "well adjusted citizen" one day decides to STAB HIS CLOSEST RELATIVES and only then go on carrying out his plan in the most (for lack of a better term!) "SPECTACULAR" way, where "SPECTACULAR" DOES NOT MEAN "BEUTIFUL/ELEGANT/SKILLFUL" - but sure as hell RUTHLESS and MILITARY-EFFICIENT! ...AT THE SAME TIME! - he purposefully chose a spot, where he KNEW he would die! People do not simply "EXPLODE" that way, and CREATE THE MOST MAYHEM POSSIBLE, while at the same time "de facto" commiting suicide!
...HENCE THE CHOICE OF THAT "TOWER" THAT SEEM TO STAND OUT IN THIS "STORY"! ... WHY that particular "spot"?? ...it gave him MANY ADVANTAGES...but it also gave him NO WAY OUT! ... Apparently he had a long-standing fascination with that "TOWER"! ...WHY???
Yeah. Like Manson, he has reach mythic proportions. Nobody remembers the victims or the kids who ran out trying to help victims under fire.
I was twelve years old and was in Austin visiting my grandparents that day. My grandmother and I were in a tiny branch library in Twin Oaks shopping center when the librarians heard the news on the radio.
My grandmother was very concerned because my two teenage aunts were downtown at the time and she didn’t know if they were safe.
They were both ok, and in fact had not been anywhere near the shooting, but even from a distance of so long ago, I still remember the fear and sense of panic that was everywhere in Austin that day.
I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned this since I haven't seen any comments about it, but along with the bravery of helping injured people, several civilians also helped the police maintain suppressing fire with their own firearms.
True. They ran home and grabbed their deer rifles and went back and were shooting side by side with APD officers. Also true that many of them had stopped along the way and picked up a 6 pack of beer and were side by side with the cops drinking cold suds shooting their rifles. People asked me why didn't they try shooting him from the upper deck of Southbound IH 35 and I said because it wasn't built till 1973. The upper/lower decks are due to be torn down soon.
Thanks for watching.
@@FORGOTTENHISTORYCHANNEL And thank you for making such amazing content!
If Joe Biden has his way, civilians won't be able to help the next time this happens because they won't be able to own firearms, only the criminals will have guns under Democrat rule.
AKA,Hgh powered rifles
I will never forget this. I had a friend working in the Tower. I later worked briefly with some of the officers who killed Whitman. They were great people.
We could not forget. Our Grand Daughter was temporarily living there and working there. We did a lot of praying to have him stopped. Thank God 2 brave men went and stopped him.
We are still experiencing the same tragedies today,unfortunately its less shocking today,mental illness is a tragedy by itself this man was desensitized, he had no feelings for other people especially with his life experience and the ones he had not known.his emotional turmoil May not have been understood at the time.
Like specific methods of torture require specific [implants]?
Coming less than a month after the Richard Speck murders, which were even more haunting, this episode made the best summer of my life turn very unsettling.
I can imagine
This is a terrible story. innocent people taken away. he settled with strangers. instead of his Dad.
I was 13 and I spent that summer terrified. I lived in Austin but was in Indiana when it happened, visiting my dad. A young woman from my church was killed by Whitman. When I started at the University of Texas five years later, I was surprised that no one had filled in the bullet holes on the Drag sidewalk or the outside walls of the stores. Those bullet holes were a constant reminder.
I remember this story as a little kid living in West Philly. Somewhere around the same time a guy named Richard Speck killed 8 nursing students in Chicago. I thought all of this was insane, even as a youngster. Sadly, it's now the norm.
Both tragic events . I was 12 when they happened. Remember both vividly. My younger sister's birthday was August 1
Speck killed the eight nursing students on July14 1966 and this incident happened a little over two weeks later and this events started the modern mass killings which sadly in 2024 happen too often and not just in the U.S either.
Thank you for your work on this video. I never heard about the tumor, idk how that slipped through on other videos.
i was 13 yrs old and lived in Austin,TX AND went to Baker joiner high and lived off 51st street
Being subjected to repeated violence all through one’s developmental years, witnessing mother endure violence repeatedly, not being protected by mom or other relatives, seeing his brothers beaten and terrorized… this boy needed help long before he did this. I think the violence against his own wife caused him to unravel. His entire childhood, fear, anger, rage, shame, he was sick. Too bad he didn’t get his dad. Sad for all those innocent t people. The survivors must have had ptsd the rest of their lives. I wonder how his brothers fared in their adulthood.
Absolutely agree luv,poor guy suffered a lot of mental and physical abuse,too bad he never got the help he needed,and his life ended tragically
Well said & totally agree as violence begets violence, bastard father
@@KittyGrizGrizYeah too bad he was too much of a coward to actually do anything to his father. And stab the two women that love you?!
Truly a very hard video to watch. Yet you did an excellent job. My thoughts and prayers to all those killed. Aa well aa the families left to mourn those killed. 💪🏻🙏🏻✨
I remember this. After the Kennedy killing in 1963 -- still too fresh in many minds -- and I remember many folks wondering what had become of our otherwise friendly state, and how they hated imagining what others must be thinking of Texas.
How well I remember that day. I was 21 years old and had been a San Antonio Police officer for a little over a year.
I was on the way to Corpus Christi with my mother and a friend. At the time there was not a lot of details known on
the radio.
Much later in life I had the privilege of meeting Texas Ranger Ramiro Martinez. We talked for some time. Of course
the tower came up and I was able to hear the story directly from him.
In times here in San Antonio, I have met three different people that were survivors of the shooting.
Kind of strange how you are able to remember your location on these historical events.
Awesome. Thanks for your service
Actually it was Officer McCoy who fired the kill shot even though Martinez got credit for the longest time.
In 1966 Whitman was an anomaly, now there are dozens. If you can be a concealed carrier and pay attention to whats going on around you. If you want to learn more about this event read "A Sniper In The Tower" by Gary Lavergne. The movie with Kurt Russell has a fictional ending. It portrays Whitman being shot by officer Ramiro Martinez. Whitman was killed by officer Houston McCoy whom the producers despicably removed from the ending.
To me, Whitman sounds more like a damaged soul, wounded by his abusive father and filled with rage. His story also reflects inadequate mental health care; ill prepared and inexperienced at addressing such violent/extreme behavior. Yet it is the embrace of and ready supply of guns, that enables such mutant carnage. Remove guns from the equation and you won't stop the anger or hatred, but you will at least make it harder to kill...Of course, the pro gun folks needn't worry about the government taking away their guns, it's way too late. 400 million guns are already distributed; even if they stopped selling 'em, we got plenty to last for centuries, just like our stockpile of nuclear weapons...Oh, and interestingly, of the 40,000 annual gun deaths, more than half are suicides (the same goal of our Charley-boy here)...
Whitman seems a lot different than the mass shooters of today who are basically social rejects or conspiracy theory nut job racists. Whitman had good relationships with the people in his life, he had a wife , a job, clean cut and attractive guy . And not a malignant narcissist or bipolar or Asperger’s or whatever other mental illnesses are ascribed to the shooters nowadays .
Whats the name of the movie.
@@hibco3000 The Deadly Tower. It was a 1975 made for TV movie.
@@dougkenny6548 thank you
I remember learning about this as a kid when the Kurt Russell TV movie about it was first aired. Lucky he didn't shoot at cars, and potentially cause them to go on fire or explode. Anyway, I once had a lady friend (shall we say) whose father was one of three brothers. The one brother started acting ever more erratically as he got older, sometimes getting violent for no reason. When he died, an autopsy was done, and a tumor was found in his brain. It was judged that where the tumor was caused his behavior. Take it easy.
Well maybe in the Kurt Russel television show would a car maybe blow up from being shot, however it doesn't work that way in the real world
It is actually very hard to get a car to burn, much less explode, using rifle bullets.
I remember watching this on the news. I also remember thinking this guy was nuts. Now seeing this video all I thought about was the victims especially the lady that was pregnant. As far as Whitman is concerned I don't feel sorry for him at all.
We,of that period all had our own version of being traumatized in one way or another. I still consider him to be nuts. He was a blyth on the marine core and to humanity. Thank you Colin and FORGOTTEN HISTORY for all of your hard work. Enjoyed.
You are correct in stating don't feel sorry for a murderer. I am not sure he was telling the truth about being abused either.
God bless anyone that fights the evil that Is America
@@nickma71 doesn't really matter. That's not a reason. Thank you for responding.
Thanks James.
@@jamesdeen3011 I agree. My mind went to the young men in California that shot their parents with shot guns and said they were abused as defense. I just wonder, nothing more.
Excellent documentary! I remember watching The Deadly Tower (1975) with Kurt Russell as Charles Whitman as a kid. That’s how I learned about the incident. Ironically I would later briefly attend the University of Texas.
Loving these videos; old school, unbiased presentations.
Charles Whitman used a model 700 Remington in 6mm rem. caliber, with a Leupold scope in weaver rings.
Do you know how that would compare to a .308?
I believe he also has a M1 carbine and a shotgun.
He used several weapons, including a shotgun, a M1 Garand, a Luger, and a 6 mm. Bolt Action rifle..
I was only a sophomore in high school when this tragedy took place and it gave me nightmares. Some years later, a made-for-TV movie was made about it starring my main man Kurt Russel (who's handshake I have in my collection) called The Deadly Tower. Mr. Russel did an excellent job in his role as Charles Whitman.
8:32 That's Kurt Russell from the movie The Deadly Tower he was superb in that movie. I have the DVD
Strange...before visiting Texas, I saw the movie of this case, and also the case of the train tracks in San Antonio, with the hand prints in the trunks of the cars.
Thanks for watching.
@@FORGOTTENHISTORYCHANNEL You're welcome, "Thank you"!
You should more crime history videos. Your production quality greatly surpasses anyone else on here. No jokes, no false information, no AI garbage, no personal opinions. Amazing lol.
Great presentation, well researched, detailed and insightful.
Thank you kindly
I remember watching this as a seven year old. Someone at either Austin’s public TV station which might have been on campus (or perhaps someone from what was once known as the school of RTF (TV/Radio/film) managed the schlep out one of those huge old school studio cameras, train it on the tower & left it running while sending it a satellite for a live feed.
I’d always heard that the biggest tumor in Whitman’s life was his overbearing, hooch guzzling father. He was physically & mentally abusive to his wife & kids. I think that summer in Austin, Charlie W. just reached a sad, tragic point. He snapped. While he HAD to have known he’d be killed, he did have at least a days worth of provisions.
Also, the modern SWAT team was designed & implemented as a tactical division of the police force in direct response to Whitman’s onslaught. At the time, Austin cops were only issued service revolvers which in 1966, didn’t have the reach or the accuracy. So (this being Texas) hunters in the live viewing audience grabbed deer rifles with scopes answered the SOS call and headed to campus. Police needed their help. Hell, in ‘66, Texas didn’t even campus police!
SIDE NOTE: I attended Texas after HS. Depending on which orientation class you were assigned when starting as a Freshman, part of the campus tour included bullet holes. Most have been filled in, but a few never have been & although this was a tragedy, UT won’t repair. As the place of the first American public mass shooting, those holes must remain. I seem to remember there being a few holes in wall external walls Batts Hall (or Parlin Hall-it’s between 47 years since my orientation class). There were bullet marks on & around a confederate statue and many you couldn’t see (on the external walls of lower floors of the tower. Back in the day, Binoculars would help you see the holes all over the facade. The tower looked like it had acne scars-even more proof the Austin cops were sadly outgunned.
Thanks for watching.
I was 9 years old at that time
When the 6 o'clock news came on , us kids were sent out of the room ( you only had 1 TV back then) because the adults had already heard about it and we were not aloud to watch . And that's the way things were done back then .
and in terms of mental health checks and gun laws nothing has changed
I remember this day all too well. My dad was on the UT campus that day taking classes, working on his PhD. We lived in Bryan at the time (about 100 miles from Austin), it was my birthday and were waiting to have birthday cake and open presents until he got home from classes that afternoon. We then saw all this unfold on live TV and had no way of knowing if my dad was among the casualties, and my mom and brother and I were terrified and crying. As it turned out, when the gunfire started, he took cover under his car which was parked on campus not far from the tower until Whitman was exterminated. When he finally got home that evening (much to our relief) and told us what had happened, we were horrified. I will never forget it. Thank you for your very thorough treatment of this terrible day.
You know phds are fictional right? Need a prop to assist in an act? Something to make it appear like acting with prop (to some)?
Grew up in Austin and knew all about this story but this is the best video I’ve seen
HOWEVER,for those of us who actually saw it unfolding ALL knew he had BLONDE hair, not Brown as portrayed in the reenactment. THE brown hair Ruined it for me !
Great video. I recently watched a 1968 movie on TCM called, 'Targets', loosely based on the events of 1966. It's one of Boris Karloff's last films. Like Whitman, the shooter in that film is a clean-cut, unassuming individual who one day snaps, killing his family, then targeting people at a drive-in theater where Karloff is making a public appearance. Very scary to see how an 'average guy' can turn into a homicidal maniac.
Notice how he killed his mother, wife, and strangers all because of his hatred for his father, but somehow left his father alive. This is what we call a coward.
Exactly what I thought
I was stunned about killing wife,mother and random people but letting alone exactly the most hated person.😊
Afraid of his dad!
In the video he stated he killed his mother, and wife to not put them through the horrible acts he was fixing to do. He probably spared his dad so he would have to live everyday thinking abt what his son did. That’s twisted thinking.
Yeah fucking crazy
Harry Chapin's song "SNIPER" was written about this event. It's a powerful, gut-wrenching, epic song. There are some inaccuracies in the song because it was written early after the event,
and some of the details were released later, but it's still very worth a listen.
I like M.O.D.'s Ode to Harry, great song!!
I saw Harry in concert maybe 1973 at University of Cincinnati. His live performance of Sniper. I remember a lively and emotional performance.
I was young when this happened but I remember it some. So sad.
First saw a documentary on this back in the 90s, this video fills in the blanks.
Interesting video - thanks. I had high school friends who were going to college there during the shooting.
I remember this happening when I was 14 growing up in Omaha. I did a post-doc at U. Texas in the '80s. Access to the tower was still blocked off and you could see divits in the tower where people had taken shots at Whitman. Pretty sobering stuff.
Indeed.