By Brandon Hall
(Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com)
Terror at a church in Charleston has brought gun and school violence back to the forefront of the national discussion this week, and when asked where the deadliest mass killing at a school in U.S. history occurred, almost all Americans would guess Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, or Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virgina. Some might say Columbine in Littleton, Colorado.
They would all be wrong. Unless they guessed Bath, Michigan.
In 1927, a deadly terror attack killing 38 innocent school kids and 5 adults happened at the Bath School, perpetrated by a disgruntled school board member. And not a single gun was fired.
"Some time between May 16 and the morning of May 18, 1927, Kehoe
murdered his wife. Then on the morning of May 18 at about 8:45 a.m., he
set off various incendiary devices on his homestead that caused the
house and other farm buildings to be destroyed by the explosives' blast
and the subsequent fires.
Almost simultaneously, an explosion devastated the north wing of the
school building, killing 36 schoolchildren and two teachers. Kehoe had
used a timed detonator to ignite hundreds of pounds of
dynamite and incendiary
pyrotol,
which he had secretly planted inside the school over the course of many
months. As rescuers began working at the school, Kehoe drove up,
stopped, and used a rifle to detonate dynamite inside his
shrapnel-filled truck, killing himself, the
school superintendent,
and several others nearby, as well as injuring more bystanders. During
rescue efforts at the school, searchers discovered an additional
500 pounds (230 kg) of unexploded dynamite and pyrotol connected to a
timing device set to detonate at the same time as the first explosions;
the material was hidden throughout the basement of the south wing. Kehoe
had apparently intended to blow up and destroy the entire school..."
 |
| Bath School Killer Andrew Kehoe |
Churchill famously said, "The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see."
As politicians are so quick to use the latest tragedy in South Carolina to push agendas-nine innocent Americans gunned down while at church in a sickening display of evil-it's important to remember that the problems in this country aren't simply because of guns.
We have always had to deal with fellow citizens who have hate in their heart that causes them to commit evil acts throughout our history.
I don't have all the answers and I don't know what the perfect system looks like, but to ignore the mental health and other factors involved and use cases like South Carolina solely to pass gun control laws is disappointing, counterproductive, and won't stop an event like this from happening again. It just won't.
For once, can't we just mourn the victims of a tragedy instead of pushing an agenda? And once agendas start getting "pushed," can we get real about mental health reform in this country and what that might look like?
People like Dylan Roof or Andrew Kehoe will kill with or without guns.So why should you not be able to protect yourself and your family or fellow community members from evil thugs like these two, as law abiding gun owners have done time and time again?
I'll listen to President Obama when he gives up his armed security team strapped with dozens of guns...
>>Read more about the Bath School Disaster below, via Wikipedia, which has a thorough and well sourced page on the topic:
"Telephone operators stayed at their stations for hours to summon
doctors, undertakers, area hospitals and anyone else who might help. The
Lansing Fire Department sent several firefighters and its chief.
[31]
The local physician, Dr. J. A. Crum and his wife, a nurse, had both served in
World War I, and had returned to Bath to open a pharmacy. After the explosion the Crums turned their drugstore into a
triage center with the dead bodies being taken to the town hall, which was being used as a morgue.
Hundreds of people worked in the wreckage all day and into the night
in an effort to find and rescue any children pinned underneath. Area
contractors had sent all their men to assist, and many other people came
to the scene in response to the pleas for help. Eventually, 34
firefighters and the Chief of the Lansing Fire Department arrived on the
scene, as did several Michigan State Police officers, who managed
traffic to and from the scene. The injured and dying were transported to
Sparrow Hospital and St. Lawrence Hospital in
Lansing.
The construction of the latter facility had been financed in large part
by Lawrence Price, Nellie Kehoe's uncle and formerly an executive in
charge of Oldsmobile's
Lansing Car Assembly.
Michigan Governor
Fred W. Green
arrived during the afternoon of the disaster and assisted in the relief
work, carting bricks away from the scene. The Lawrence Baking Company
of Lansing sent a truck filled with pies and sandwiches, which were
served to rescuers in the township's community hall..
People from all around the world provided sympathy to the families
and the community of Bath, Michigan, including letters from some Italian
schoolchildren. One 5th grader wrote: "Even though we are small, we
understand all the sorrow and misfortune that has struck our dear
brothers..." And another: "We are praying to God to give to the
unfortunate mothers and fathers, the strength to bear the great sorrow
that has descent on them, we are near to you in spirit...
Vehicles from outlying areas and surrounding states descended upon
Bath by the thousands. Over 100,000 vehicles passed through on Saturday
alone, an enormous amount of traffic for the area. Some Bath citizens
regarded this armada as an unwarranted intrusion into their time of
grief, but most accepted it as a show of sympathy and support from
surrounding communities.
[46] Many of the victims were buried starting Friday, May 20.
..
Governor Fred Green quickly called for donations to aid the townspeople
[3]
and created the Bath Relief Fund with the money supplied by donors, the
state, and local governments. People from around the country donated to
the fund.
 |
Plaque at the entrance of Bath
|
School resumed on September 5, 1927, and, for the 1927–1928 school
year, was held in the community hall, township hall, and two retail
buildings. Most of the students returned. The board appointed O. M.
Brant of
Luther, Michigan, to succeed Huyck as superintendent. The Lansing architect
Warren Holmes
donated construction plans, and the school board approved the contracts
for the new building on September 14. On September 15, Michigan's
Republican U.S. Senator James J. Couzens presented his personal check for $75,000 (roughly $1,018,000 in today's money)
[36] to the Bath construction fund to build the new school
The board demolished the damaged portion of the school and
constructed a new wing with the donated funds. The "James Couzens
Agricultural School," named for the senator, was dedicated on August 18,
1928.
[58]
The Kehoe farm was completely plowed to ensure that no explosives were
hidden in the ground and was sold at auction to pay the mortgage."
_______________________________________________________________________
Brandon Hall is a lifelong political nerd from Grand Haven, and is the Managing Editor of West Michigan Politics.
>>>Email him at WestMiPolitics@Gmail.com
Facebook
 |
| Photo By Darlene Dowling Thompson |
