LETTER: School shootings 1960s and today

One of the biggest differences between the school shootings in the 1960s and today is that in the 60s most students only had access to single shot firearms while today there are AR-15s available. In 1962 I was a football coach and biology teacher at Woodlawn Junior High School in Groves, Texas.

One day in the fall on a muddy practice field my quarterback stepped back and the cleat of his shoe landed on the top of my big toe and took the toenail right off. I got a staph infection and the doctor told me to go home and prop my leg up for 10 days.

During my convalescing the student body was in the auditorium and the boys were in the back of audiorium making fun of the girls' performance. One of the teachers went to the boys and said, "John, go the principal's office." Mike jumped up and said, "That wasn't John, that was me," and he ran out of the auditorium. When he got home, he got his father's shotgun off the wall. His mother called the school and told the secretary that Mike was on his way to the school with a gun.

The school personnel locked all the doors except the south door to the gymnasium. Mike came in that door. He went up to a classroom where a teacher who had served in Korea was at the chalkboard. The teacher ordered all students to dive under their desks. Mike was breathing so hard that the muzzle went down and the pellets struck the floor and the teacher jumped into his closet. The teacher could hear Mike reloading, so he jumped out of the closet and chased Mike down the hall.

My substitute, Mr. Rhojo, stepped out of the principal's office into Mike's path. Mike shot Mr. Rhoto in the stomach and he fell to the floor. Mike, realizing what he had done, ran out into the parking lot and threw the gun down in a hedge. The police had never left their squad cars and one of them with his pistol out the window yelled, "Kid put your hands up." Mike surrendered and was handcuffed and taken away.

I got a phone call that evening from the secretary begging me to come back to shcool because there was not another substitue. When I got back to the teacher's lounge the next morning I was greeted with, "Where were you Mr. Big Man, Green Beret, when we needed you?"

Perhaps the most ironic thing about this school shooting is that Roger Armstrong is the current president of the Veterans Council (Wall of Honor) and I am the organization's chaplain. Back in 1963 at Woodlawn Junior High, Roger was an eighth-grade student, and I was a teacher and coach. Later, we both served in Vietnam at the same time.

Jim Parsons

Bella Vista