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| We Are Virginia Tech |
| 04.19.07 (3:26 pm) [edit] |
|
I have not written a blog in over 2 years, and I am sure I have lost my faithful readers, but I feel an undying need to write about the events of April 16, 2007 just a few miles from my home (13.5 miles, according to Google Maps).
A typical Monday in most respects, I was sitting at my desk at work when a co-worker asked if we had heard that there was "another shooting at Virginia Tech." The community had been distraught just months before due to the actions of an escaped prisoner near Virginia Tech. William Morva (someone I had met once or twice as an acquaintance of a friend of mine years before) escaped from a hospital and shot and killed a hospital guard. There was an intense manhunt that ended with Morva killing a sheriff's deputy. Morva was apprehended on the campus of Virginia Tech. This was on the first day of classes of the fall semester. Morva's trial began recently and his actions have not ceased to effect this community. The notion of another shooting in this area was horrifying. We were told that one student had died and 7-8 were injured. As the morning went on, I kept checking the local news' websites for updates. At around 10:30, another co-worker notified us that he had just received an update on his cell phone stating that 20 students had been killed. I was shocked. I honestly did not believe it. I checked the local websites for clarity, but they were still showing the same report - 1 dead, 7 or 8 injured. Foxnews.com, however, showed a different report. In bold letters were the words "20 deaths confirmed." I felt utterly nauseous. As I began reading the article, with only a few details of a shooting rampage, the power went off. Complete darkness, no phones. For a split second, all I could think of was a crazed gunman entering the building. Then I realized that it was only due to the intense wind. Once the power came back on, I frantically checked the news websites for information. I still could not fully grasp the idea of 20 people being shot to death at Virginia Tech, home of the Hokies we all love so much. I continued to work, though it was not at all easy to concentrate. Then I got word that the number of deaths had risen to 32. Just as I cannot truly comprehend $1,000,000, I could not even grasp the concept of so many students being killed by some insane gunman. 32. Once the stories of what transpired in Norris Hall came out, I felt even sicker. The gunman chained shut the doors of the building, locking the students inside, and keeping the police outside. How could anyone be so cruel? And how is it possible that no one was able to prevent this from happening? I knew immediately that the actions of campus authorities would be called into question. Two hours separated the first shooting (2 victims, in a dorm building) and the massacre at Norris Hall. Where were the police and why wasn't the campus on lockdown? No answers could be given that could possilby satisfy the victim's loved ones, but the responses provided do little to ease the minds of anyone concerned over this tragedy. The police were investigating the first shooting while, across campus, 30 people were shot and killed, and over 15 sustained significant injuries. It is difficult to think that this could have been prevented. There were so many warning signs regarding the shooter (I have no desire to cite his name, nor his potential "motives," though none are readily evident)that, in retrospect, he should not have been left in society. The difficult reality is that this tragic event did happen, 32 lives were lost. Though it is only a small action, all the employees at the locally owned and operated grocery store I work for have been wearing maroon and orange ribbons in the days following the tragedy. The day after the shootings took place, a woman was going through the checkout line and saw the ribbons and asked if she could have one. The cashier gave her one and the woman began to cry. She said that she was the mother of one of the victims and she thanked the cashier, adding that it was really good that we were giving ribbons out. I have felt as though there is nothing I can do in this situation, but it turns out that even the smallest of actions can translate into the most meaningful sentiments. The Virginia Tech community has suffered a tragedy of immense proportions this week. There is very little any of us can do, other than show our support and offer our sympathies to the victims' families. The words of VT's resident poet, Nikki Giovanni, sum up the feelings of all affected by this: We are sad today and we will be sad for quite awhile. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning. We are Virginia Tech. We are strong enough to know when to cry and sad enough to know we must laugh again. We are Virginia Tech. We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did not deserve it but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, but neither do the invisible children walking the night to avoid being captured by a rogue army. Neither does the baby elephant watching his community be devastated for ivory; neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy. We are Virginia Tech. The Hokie Nation embraces our own with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong and brave and innocent and unafraid. We are better than we think, not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imagination and the possibility we will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears, through all this sadness. We are the Hokies. We will prevail, we will prevail. We are Virginia Tech. |
posted by: kurtmaddox (reply)
post date: 04.21.07 (7:21 pm)
I just posted a very similar sentiment myself... nice to read something new from you :-) ~Kurt
