REMEMBER

[WilliamPitt]

This was June 5, 1989.

We are all going to be tasked to remember the next day, June 6, because it is the D-Day anniversary. It is well we do remember that day, because it changed the course of history.

But this one man, on June 5, matters as well. Perhaps he changed the world, perhaps he did not. But if all of us had a tenth of the courage of this man, the world would change despite itself.

Remember.

[GOPisEvil]

1. I remember that down to where I was when it was happening.

A pool hall in College Station, TX, of all places, happened to have the TV tuned to a news station. I remembered being transfixed by this lone, courageous man. The world needs more like him.

[Shakespeare]

12. OH how weird is that!

I was in College Station then, too--more specifically, I was somewhere out in the stix that day working a remote at a hot air balloon festival for the radio station where I worked (KTAM/KORA). I'll never forget watching that, and that photo STILL makes me choke up every time I see it.

[GOPisEvil]

13. Small planet!!

I was Junior Political Science major at A&M. 1989 was a fascinating time to study politics and international relations.

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. what ever happened to him?

Does anyone know his name, or what he does now?

Or if he's even still alive?

[charlie]

3. No one knows who he is n/t

[theboss]

4. Editing due to being wrong

Never mind.

[WilliamPitt]

5. Here

http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/rebel.html

The Unknown Rebel

With a single act of defiance, a lone Chinese hero revived the world's image of courage
By PICO IYER

Monday, April 13, 1998

Almost nobody knew his name. Nobody outside his immediate neighborhood had read his words or heard him speak. Nobody knows what happened to him even one hour after his moment in the world's living rooms. But the man who stood before a column of tanks near Tiananmen Square — June 5, 1989 — may have impressed his image on the global memory more vividly, more intimately than even Sun Yat-sen did. Almost certainly he was seen in his moment of self-transcendence by more people than ever laid eyes on Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein and James Joyce combined.

The meaning of his moment — it was no more than that — was instantly decipherable in any tongue, to any age: even the billions who cannot read and those who have never heard of Mao Zedong could follow what the "tank man" did. A small, unexceptional figure in slacks and white shirt, carrying what looks to be his shopping, posts himself before an approaching tank, with a line of 17 more tanks behind it. The tank swerves right; he, to block it, moves left. The tank swerves left; he moves right. Then this anonymous bystander clambers up onto the vehicle of war and says something to its driver, which comes down to us as: "Why are you here? My city is in chaos because of you." One lone Everyman standing up to machinery, to force, to all the massed weight of the People's Republic — the largest nation in the world, comprising more than 1 billion people — while its all powerful leaders remain, as ever, in hiding somewhere within the bowels of the Great Hall of the People.

...more...

[Mrs. Overall]

I remember watching that scene on TV--

it is forever imprinted because it was the first time watching the news had ever made me cry. I guess I had finally reached the age where I understand my connection to the world.

[meegbear]

6. Watching T.V.

Artist: Roger Waters

We were watching T.V.
Watching T.V.
We were Watching T.V.
Watching T.V.
In Tiananmen Square
Lost my baby there
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
She was a short order pastry chef
In a Dim Sum dive on the Yangtze tideway
She had shiny hair
She was the daughter of an engineer
Won't you shed a tear
For my yellow rose
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
She had perfect breasts
She had high hopes
She had almond eyes
She had yellow thighs
She was a student of philosophy
Won't you grieve with me
For my yellow rose
Shed a tear
For her bloodstained clothes
She had shiny hair
She had perfect breasts
She had high hopes
She had almond eyes
She had yellow thighs
She was the daughter of an engineer
So get out your pistols
Get out your stones
Get out your knives
Cut them to the bone
They are the lackeys of the grocer's machine
They built the dark satanic mills
That manufacture hell on earth
They bought the front row seats on Calvary
They are irrelevant to me
But I grieve for my sister

People of China
Do not forget do not forget
The children who died for you
Long live the Republic

Did we do anything after this
I've a feeling we did

We were watching T.V.
Watching T.V.
We were watching T.V.
Watching T.V.
She wore a white bandanna that said
Freedom now
She thought the Great Wall of China
Would come tumbling down
She was a student
Her father was an engineer
Won't you shed a tear
For my yellow rose
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
Her grandpa fought old Chiang Kai-shek
That no-good low-down dirty rat
Who used to order his troops
To fire on the women and children
Imagine that imagine that
And in the spring of '48
Mao Tse-tung got quite irate
And he kicked that old dictator Chiang
Out of the state of China
Chiang Kai-shek came down in Formosa
And they armed the island of Quemoy
And the shells were flying across the China Sea
And they turned Formosa into a shoe factory
Called Taiwan
And she is different from Cro-Magnon man
She's different from Anne Boleyn
She is different from the Rosenbergs
And from the unknown Jew
She is different from the unknown Nicaraguan
Half superstar half victim
She's a victor star conceptually new
And she is different from the Dodo
And from the Kankanbono
She is different from the Aztec
And from the Cherokee
She's everybody's sister
She's symbolic of our failure
She's the one in fifty million
Who can help us to be free
Because she died on T.V.
And I grieve for my sister

[WilliamPitt]

7. Kick

[VelmaD]

8. I remember that day with crystal clarity

I had just graduated from high school the previous weekend. I didn't do much of anything that day...slept late, bummed around. And then it was time for the news. Even back then I was a news junky. I remember seeing this and sitting in my parents' living room in stunned silence not knowing quite what to say or think or do. And then dragging my momma in to see it.

Thanks for posting the reminder.

[wtmusic]

9. "the world would change despite itself"

why you're a writer, and I'm not :thumbsup:

[WilliamPitt]

10. Kick

[Feanorcurufinwe]

11. Let's never let this happen here. nt

http://tsquare.tv

[IrateCitizen]

16. Never let what happen here? The tanks, or the confrontation?

We don't really have much control, ultimately, over whether or not we have a column of tanks going through our streets. But if it were to happen, I would hope that there would be those among us who would have the courage to act in ways of nonviolent defiance as this one man did fifteen years ago tomorrow.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

24. The government sending tanks against its citizens and killing them

for speaking up.

[IrateCitizen]

25. OK, I thought so, but I just wanted to be sure.

That I can agree with.

[EldreEdda]

14. True boldness

A brave man indeed.

[Forkboy]

15. Thanks Will

this man is my personal hero.I still get the chills when I see that pic or the footage.Everyday people can make a difference.Thanks for that reminder.

[redqueen]

17. Well put, Will.

Thanks.

[John_Shadows_1]

18. I was at work washing dishes ....

... at a restaurant. I also remember the protesters waving the American flag at the cameras - they wanted freedom.

And then I remember King George Bush I sending Brent Scowcroft to kowtow to the Chinese politburo.

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Forkboy]

21. oh fer christs sake

do give it a rest.

[playahata1]

22. Got anything CONSTRUCTIVE to add tio the dialogue?

n/t

[jokerman93]

20. Let's Remember

Let's remember and take it to heart -- in our own approaching time of challenge.

[proud patriot]

23. Boy Will you sure now how to bring tears to my eyes

I'll never forget .

He stood .

I wonder if tanks will ever cross the path of where
I choose to stand .

[MuseRider]

26. I was standing

in a hotel room in Branson, Missouri transfixed by this scene. Two little ones were running around my legs excitedly wanting to go play and I could not move. I think of this scene whenever I think or hear about Branson.

[WilliamPitt]

27. Kick

[CityZen-X]

28. What Ever Became.........

of this patriot? And did we ever get this brave mans name?

[WilliamPitt]

29. See post #5

[WilliamPitt]

30. It was today, 15 years ago

[Amaya]

31. Thank you for the reminder of what courageousness looks like.

n/t

[No2W2004]

32. Song

Watching TV
-Roger Waters

In Tiananmen Square
Lost my baby there
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
She was a short order pastry chef
In a Dim Sum dive on the Yangtze tideway
She had a shiny hair
She was a daughter of an engineer
Won't you shed a tear
For my yellow rose
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
She had a perfect breasts
She had high hopes
She had almond eyes
She had yellow thighs
She was a student of philosophy
Won't you grieve with me
For my yellow rose
Shed a tear
For her bloodstained clothes
She had shiny hair
She had perfect breasts
She had almond eyes
She had yellow thighs
She was a daughter af an engineer
So get out your pistols
Get out your stones
Get out your knives
Cut them to the bone
They are the lackeys of the grocer's machine
They built the dark satanic mills
That manufacture hell on earth
They bought the front row seats on Calvary
They are irrelevant to me
And I grieve for my sister

(Woman speaking Chineese) People of China
Do not forget do not forget
The children who died for you
Long live the Republic

We were watching TV
Watching TV
We were watching TV
Watching TV
She wore a white bandanna that said
Freedom now
She thought the Great Wall of China
Would come tumbling down
She was a student
Her father was an engineer
Won't you shed a tear
For my yellow rose
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
Her grandpa fought old Chiang Kai-shek
That no-good low-down dirty rat
Who used to order his troops
To fire on women and children
Imagine that imagine that
And in the spring of'48
Mao Tse-tung got quite irate
And he kicked that old dictator Chiang
Out of the state of China
Chiang Kai-shek came down in Formosa
And they armed the island of Quemoy
And the shells were flying across the China Sea
And they turned Formosa into a shoe factory
Called Taiwan
And she is different from Cro-Magnon man
She's different from Anne Boleyn
She is different from the Rosenbergs
And from the unknown Jew
She is different from the unknown Nicaraguan
Half superstar half victim
She's a victor star conceptually new
And she is different from the Dodo
And from the Kankabono
She is different from the Aztec
And from the Cherokee
She's everybody's sister
She's a symbolic of our failure
She's the one in fifty million
Who can help us to be free
Because she died on TV
And I grieve for my sister

[buddhamama]

33. i have this photo framed and hanging on my living room wall.

I remember.

[Bertha Venation]

34. amen

[wellstone dem]

35. kicking

[Paragon]

36. Sorry, but every time I see the headline to this thread, I think of...

[kimchi]

37. I remember it well.

I was at a friends house and couldn't believe what I was seeing on TV. It broke through my apathy and awakened me to the state of the world. This man's bravery inspired me to fight the system in my own small way.

[underpants]

38. Shot of the world BEING changed

[Terran]

39. I remember the 'Godess of Democracy'

The huge female figure that oversaw the gathering in the Square, that so resembled the Statue of Liberty. I have always seen that as an emblem of the kinship that all humans have in their desire for freedom and justice. We often see the Chinese as a world apart from America, but they're not. They want the same things we want, and I don't mean cars and plasma TV's. When it all came crashing down in June 1989, I thought, This is not over. It may take a long time, but it's not over.