Most people for their birthday decide on a nice dinner or some other sort of event. Not me. All I wanted for my birthday was a trip to Mount Carmel to check out the remains of Waco's most famous contribution to history: the Branch Davidian compound.
The most surprising thing is how critical the literature at the welcome center is of David Koresh. The church has been rebuilt by the Branch Davidians and they have built a memorial as well. So they controlled the visitor's guide, which placed the blame for the "Waco War" squarely at the feet of both the federal government and David Koresh. Which was somewhat surprising to me. I didn't think that Koresh would be up for the blame as well in the Branch Davidian's eyes.
At the memorial, there are 82 stones, one for each of the dead. There is no stone for Koresh.
4 comments:
I remember all that happening very well. CNN had a lot of live coverage of the fire that destroyed the compound. They had people on there talking about the physics of fire and telling us things like, "You can expect an explosion once it hits such-and-such". I was yelling, "There are burning fucking children in there!" Terrible journalism.
My first day in Waco:
I'm dropping off my UHAUL truck at this place that is also a mini-storage. Displayed on the counter is David Koresh's business card. It's title was "Messiah Ministries" and it stated that Koresh was available for church services, youth programs and, among other things, birthday parties.
Now that's a birthday party: "No Mommy, I don't want Thomas the Tank Engine. I want the Messiah at my party!"
On a different note:
I'd say that Waco's most famous contribution to society was in fact Dr. Pepper, and not the Messiah.
Overheard at the David Koresh birthday party...
"Mom, this clown SUCKS."
Honestly, would the Messiah wear glasses?
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