A Local Mass-Murder (That happened many years ago)
I live about half an hour to an about 45 minutes drive from a small Michigan town called Bath. Always struck me as an odd name and the only thing I really knew about it as a teenager is that my local high school basketball team was embarrassed a couple of times by the "Bath Bees" (but then we embarrassed them a couple of times too, but we were a much larger school and should have routinely walked all over them, but any .... )
80 years ago the Bath School system was known for something else. Until the Oklahoma City bombing, it was the site of what had been the largest mass murder in America's history. An angry school board member, mad because of his taxes, got his revenge on the community by blowing up the school and killing 45 students and then courageously doing himself in. In the last few years it has gone from the largest mass killing to the fourth largest. It strikes me as disturbing that 4 of the 5 worst mass killings in this country have been in the last 17 years. And also noteworthy: only one of them involved guns.
Bath is a nice little town and I have been through it a few times. I attended church with a couple of kids that went to the Bath schools and that event in history just doesn't seem to fit with that town. It just doesn't seem real when you look at the memorial, but you know it is.
It happened 80 years ago today.
80 years ago the Bath School system was known for something else. Until the Oklahoma City bombing, it was the site of what had been the largest mass murder in America's history. An angry school board member, mad because of his taxes, got his revenge on the community by blowing up the school and killing 45 students and then courageously doing himself in. In the last few years it has gone from the largest mass killing to the fourth largest. It strikes me as disturbing that 4 of the 5 worst mass killings in this country have been in the last 17 years. And also noteworthy: only one of them involved guns.
Bath is a nice little town and I have been through it a few times. I attended church with a couple of kids that went to the Bath schools and that event in history just doesn't seem to fit with that town. It just doesn't seem real when you look at the memorial, but you know it is.
It happened 80 years ago today.
posted by shoprat at 8:43 PM
3 Comments:
Yes, there have always been absolute nutcases around. How horrible for those poor kids that a teacher would do something like that!
Incidentally, Waco (Branch Dividians) looks pretty normal too, and so does Killeen (the Luby Massacre). I know I didn't need to give the details to you regarding those two cities, but someone may read this who isn't aware of them, especially Killeen.
From what I've seen, there are usually red flags to people like this. The pending foreclosure of his farm was one. His anger was another.
gayle Sadly it has always been the case.
LP You are right, but the vast majority of the red flags are false alarms which makes determining the real threats a bit difficult.
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