Two boys growing up in Midland Texas, separated by over 40 years. One used his gun to rape a girl and kill her and her family in a war zone. One gave him that gun and sent him there. What a difference time and circumstances make in the lives of men.
One boy moves to Midland Texas at the age of 2 in 1949, and grows up in a modest,
1547 square foot house with a detached garage. His oilman father and a stay-at-home mother both had an Ivy League education and inherited wealth. Times were booming in West Texas in the Permian Basin in 1949. Friday night high school football under the lights, tall buildings, hundreds of oil companies and their suppliers. Boom times with growth and prosperity. This boy grew up in a loving family, but he was touched by tragedy when his younger sister died from leukemia. His parents took his sister back East to seek help from a specialist, but little sister died without this boy knowing she was sick. The sister was buried in Connecticut, but no funeral was held.
This boy had an otherwise happy childhood in Midland, playing ball and roaming free. He didn't stay in Midland for high school, but returned to the east for high school and later college at Ivy League schools. There was a war on when the boy graduated from college, so he joined the Texas Air National Guard as an F-102 fighter pilot. There was a waiting list, but the boy's influential father urged his friends in the National Guard to let his son join. The boy eventually lost interest in flying and stopped showing up, even though the war continued. Instead, he had decided to return to school to learn about business.
His business education completed, this man got a job in the Texas oil business, working for his dad's friends. For two years he was wild and careless, drinking and partying hard. In 1976 he was arrested for drunk driving and pled guilty near his parents Maine summer home. His life settled down in 1978 when he met a young woman. She was from Midland Texas like himself. She was living in Austin. After 3 months of dating, they married, and the couple returned to live in Midland. This young man ran for Congress from Midland that same year, but he lost the election as an outsider. He began working in an oil company associated with his family, but times were now tough in Texas oil fields. His company had a fairly small book value, but this young man evidently impressed many wealthy investors. The investors continued to put money into the young man's business.
In 1985, another young man was born in Midland . For most oil companies, the 1980s were boom, followed by bust. The oil revenues peaked in [1982 ], with oil selling at 37.50 11.15 by 1985. Midland Texas lost a lot of jobs, and people left. New office buildings that were planned weren't built. The newly built office buildings remained empty, with no tenants to pay the rent. Banks failed with their borrowers unable to pay their loans.
The older Midland man stepped down as CEO of his oil company to help his father become the President of the United States of America. Luckily his stock values held up through the bank failures, stock market crashes and oil industry collapses. Luckily, when this man sold his company stock, the business was doing well- a friend of his father had arranged for a huge foreign contract for the oil company. But, without his stock ownership, the Midland oil company lost all of its value within a week- bad luck for the others but a close call for the lucky Midland man. He had borrowed money to buy a share in a baseball team and worked for them for some happy years. When he decided to sell his share in the team, it was worth a lot more money than the original investment, and the money he borrowed to make the investment was easily repaid.
The older man had some problems with drinking, beginning at the age of 15. He eventually stopped drinking after his 40th birthday party, and quit smoking soon after that. He found the strength to change his life because of he became "born-again.." He ran with Billy Graham. His wife and two small daughters inspired these changes. Reformed and having struggled through crises in business and his personal life, the older Midland man decided to run for Governor of Texas and won. Twice.
The younger man from Midland had family problems from an early age. His father and mother divorced when he was 4. His mother remarried when he was 8. He didn't seem to do well in school, since he dropped out in 2002. He left Midland for Denver City and got a high school equivalency degree in 2003. This young man's mother had some problems with drinking and driving. She pleaded no contest to a drunken driving charge and spent six months in jail in 2000. Her son was probably in 8th grade when this happened.
In 2000, the older Midland man ran for President and won in a very close election. Luckily, the judges his father had appointed to the Supreme Court decided not to recount the votes in the closest state. He was lucky once again, because his brother was governor of that very state- and his campaign manager in that state ran the election recount. But his luck didn't hold when he was in office. He wasn't well-liked and popular.
His worst day while president came on September 11, 2001. Terrorists attacked and brought down important buildings with airplanes. The Midland President was lucky because Americans did not care that he had neglected to investigate the early reports of these threats. The Midland President invaded two countries over this, and those wars continue to this very day. He won a second close election in 2004. He was lucky again, that his campaign manager in the closest election state was once again the secretary of state, and there were plenty of voting booths in all of the affluent, suburban districts with history of voting for his party.
The Midland teen had some drinking problems before he was 21. He was arrested and cited with a misdemeanor. He felt rootless and joined the army in 2005. He joined the army to get some structure to his life. And the big cash bonus probably helped out too. He was sent to Iraq to fight in the "Triangle of Death" an area where there were many "enemies". This was stressful work. Four in ten of the war fighters in the Sunni Triangle have been treated for mental problems or emotional anxiety. This young man received treatment but stayed on.
While in Iraq he was attracted to a young woman he saw at a checkpoint. He hatched a plan to have sex with her. A week later, he raped and murdered her and her family. Three of his Army buddies stood watch while he committed the crime. The four threatened their other platoon members to keep the secret They burned the bodies and wrote reports that insurgents had killed these civilians. Unluckily, two other soldiers in his platoon were captured by the insurgents and brutally killed. One was beheaded. This news unnerved one of the remaining platoon members who learned of the Midland soldier's crime. Upset by the execution of his fellow soldiers, this soldier told the story of the attack on the civilians to his doctors.
Meanwhile, the Midland soldier had been discharged and made a civilian. He was diagnosed as having "antisocial personality disorder" before this story bubbled up from the psyche of his fellow soldier. The Midland veteran was arrested yesterday for rape and murder.
Yesterday the veteran's uncle said:
''He thought it was a good thing to be serving his country.... When he was here for this visit, he seemed like the same old Steve. I don't understand what happens in a war, so I don't know how these things happen."
The accused Midland soldier will be appointed a federal public defender and could be extradited to Iraq for trial.
Some people from Midland are just luckier than others. They have powerful friends who will throw a little business their way, or give them a job. They have family connections to the best schools. Their family friends give them good financial advice. They have family name recognition and get into politics. Their families and churches work to help them become good people- and don't abandon them when they are arrested, or drink heavily for 25 years, or stand accused of partying and doing drugs.
Some people in Midland are not so lucky. They grow up in the poor families with broken homes and don't fit in. Their family home won't be open for tours.
Midland is just a town run for Catoico: short for "Cattle, Oil, & Cotton." The tall, now-empty office buildings, remnants left empty from the Oil-Bust have been sold to make loft apartments. The oil company jobs were hard to come by, but so are the telemarketing jobs these days. Young people who have left have created a My Space account for the city of Midland and make it their friend. They reminisce about growing up there in the 90s.
Midland is 30% Hispanic, and now the Ku Klux Klan is becoming active there to protest immigration. They rally but the "Anti-Racist Action" protestors were arrested. They took the position:
Ignoring hate groups is ineffective, for if no one who is against the Klan shows up, then only the supporters will be there, making it that much easier for violent racists to organize in our town. We must all come together to stand up to the Klan.
Their fellow West Texas bloggers disagreed- anyone taking a position was an attention seeking fool who should be ignored:
Juneteenth Parade on June 17, 2006 (also KKK meeting)
This Saturday morning in Midland the Juneteenth Parade will create a trail of cars and floats from Jumburritos on Lamesa Road to Washington Park. It was lots of fun last year, and it's sure to be a good one this year.
However, there's a competing event scheduled to take place that same day a half mile away. It's a tiny group of attention starved individuals who have attached themselves to the name "Ku Klux Klan." The Klan today is an anachronism, a toothless entity. And it seems to me that the only reason anyone would want to associate themselves with it is because of a desperate need for attention. And try though they might, they cannot come up with any other way to get noticed. They can't even come up with an original issue. Immigration? Puleeeze!
Anyway, according to Ku Klux Klan group plans Midland rally at MyWestTexas, they are planning some sort of gathering in Midland on June 17 at the Court House. There aren't likely to be many of them. Their last rally in Austin was attended by 14 members.
Since they want attention, then the best response would be to ignore them. So can't we do that? I guess not. See KKK plan to rally in Midland spurs community action. It seems that the opposition groups like that attention, too.
So if you are looking for something fun to do Saturday morning, go to the parade and have a good time. Ignore the Klan and the opposition groups they attract. Don't satisfy their weird need for glorification.
The letters to the paper show that there are still issues with race and class in Midland.
it seems that most of the people who oppose the european-american civil rights groups such as the klan and others that were there at the rally are the closed minded one sided individuals on this issue. step back and look at both sides of that fence that day, on one side it was a message of love of our country and upholding our american rights, the other ... well they are in jail today for assaulting our fine peace officers who were doing the same upholding of justice as the klan and amercan Nazis.
The Midland President doesn't read the paper, but he knows he isn't a racist.
The Midland President is sixty today. He keeps fit, exercising at least an hour a day. He will go on national TV with his wife to reminisce about his life, and he won't mention his Texas energy buddy who died two days ago from a massive heart attack. He won't mention his fellow Texans, struggling with the issues of immigration and the war. He won't mention the Midland veteran, whose life path has taken some different turns.
The reporters are gathering today around the former home of the young Midland veteran, trying to understand his life. His neighbors say the things the neighbors always seem to say:
"He always mind his own business," Rodriguez recalled. "Real friendly."
"I am angry," said neighbor Ronnie Hinks, of the attention his neighborhood has received. "Because, a lot of people are trying to sleep around here, trying to rest, because of work. They're aggravating."
Two boys growing up in Midland Texas, separated by over 40 years. One used his gun to rape a girl and kill her and her family in a war zone. One gave him that gun and sent him there.
Who will receive the punishment they deserve for their actions? Or will we prefer to keep on sleeping?