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CNN Live Saturday
Remembering Standoff at Waco
Aired April 19, 2003 - 15:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Timothy McVeigh, who was executed for the Oklahoma City bombing, timed it to fall on another deadly anniversary. On April 19, 1993, the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas went up in flames after a 51-day standoff with federal agents. About 80 people died. Ten years later, Gary Reeves of our affiliate WFAA reports that many people around Waco are still torn about what happened that day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY REEVES, WFAA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are the pictures burned into the memory of the world. And with them, the name of the nearest city, Waco.
But Waco is really miles away, and visitors there would be hard pressed to find any sign of the tragedy. Unless they look here, at the local museum, founded by Helen Taylor.
HELEN MARIE TAYLOR, MUSEUM FOUNDER: Because I feel that it was an assault on the -- our Bill of Rights, every one of us.
REEVES: Taylor has strong opinions about what happened to the Branch Davidians, but the exhibit offers an even-handed view, starting with when the separatist sect arrived in Waco in the '30s.
TAYLOR: This will show you that they printed their own money. You see here.
REEVES: Its centerpiece, a detailed model of the compound. When Baylor's science students first proposed the exhibit, Taylor says no other local museum wanted it.
TAYLOR: Waco, in my opinion, has been in a state of denial about this all these years. They just wish it hadn't happened here. It's rather like Dallas, that just wishes that Jack Kennedy has not been killed in big "D."
SHERIFF LARRY LYNCH, MCLENNAN CO., TEXAS: But it's not in the forefront, like you'd think it would be.
REEVES: Only on these anniversaries does Sheriff Larry Lynch think much about the 51-day standoff, even though he's the negotiator who convinced David Koresh to release the first four children.
LYNCH: To me, that was an outstanding moment; the other part was to get the cease-fire and get the wounded agents out. Those were the two things that I really feel good about.
REEVES: But for many in Waco, the tragic ending overshadows the few good moments.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wears you out, as a community. And would people wish it never happened, wish it would go away. But that's just wishful thinking.
REEVES: It took 10 years for the principals involved in the standoff to hold their first panel discussion, sponsored by a local grief counseling group, Hand in Hand. They concluded the community is OK, but still grieving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that the big concern about the tragedy of it all was the loss of the children. Because they were children that they never saw and they never were able to put a face to.
REEVES: Those faces haunt anyone who visits the site of the tragedy today. Friends and supporters of the original Branch Davidians have built a chapel here. They will never forget.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where we're standing is probably right about where the front doors originally were.
REEVES: Today, it's a site of mini memorials. A plaque for the agents who died trying to enforce the law. A tree for each Branch Davidian who died for religious reasons few others will ever understand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 19, 2003 - 15:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Timothy McVeigh, who was executed for the Oklahoma City bombing, timed it to fall on another deadly anniversary. On April 19, 1993, the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas went up in flames after a 51-day standoff with federal agents. About 80 people died. Ten years later, Gary Reeves of our affiliate WFAA reports that many people around Waco are still torn about what happened that day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY REEVES, WFAA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are the pictures burned into the memory of the world. And with them, the name of the nearest city, Waco.
But Waco is really miles away, and visitors there would be hard pressed to find any sign of the tragedy. Unless they look here, at the local museum, founded by Helen Taylor.
HELEN MARIE TAYLOR, MUSEUM FOUNDER: Because I feel that it was an assault on the -- our Bill of Rights, every one of us.
REEVES: Taylor has strong opinions about what happened to the Branch Davidians, but the exhibit offers an even-handed view, starting with when the separatist sect arrived in Waco in the '30s.
TAYLOR: This will show you that they printed their own money. You see here.
REEVES: Its centerpiece, a detailed model of the compound. When Baylor's science students first proposed the exhibit, Taylor says no other local museum wanted it.
TAYLOR: Waco, in my opinion, has been in a state of denial about this all these years. They just wish it hadn't happened here. It's rather like Dallas, that just wishes that Jack Kennedy has not been killed in big "D."
SHERIFF LARRY LYNCH, MCLENNAN CO., TEXAS: But it's not in the forefront, like you'd think it would be.
REEVES: Only on these anniversaries does Sheriff Larry Lynch think much about the 51-day standoff, even though he's the negotiator who convinced David Koresh to release the first four children.
LYNCH: To me, that was an outstanding moment; the other part was to get the cease-fire and get the wounded agents out. Those were the two things that I really feel good about.
REEVES: But for many in Waco, the tragic ending overshadows the few good moments.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wears you out, as a community. And would people wish it never happened, wish it would go away. But that's just wishful thinking.
REEVES: It took 10 years for the principals involved in the standoff to hold their first panel discussion, sponsored by a local grief counseling group, Hand in Hand. They concluded the community is OK, but still grieving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that the big concern about the tragedy of it all was the loss of the children. Because they were children that they never saw and they never were able to put a face to.
REEVES: Those faces haunt anyone who visits the site of the tragedy today. Friends and supporters of the original Branch Davidians have built a chapel here. They will never forget.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where we're standing is probably right about where the front doors originally were.
REEVES: Today, it's a site of mini memorials. A plaque for the agents who died trying to enforce the law. A tree for each Branch Davidian who died for religious reasons few others will ever understand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
