The bomb was an improvised explosive device constructed in a small two-wheeled shopping cart with two baskets, one on top of the other. Mark Junge: Do you think he took up thatwanted to take that up because of you? And it burned some children. Is that morbid thinking on my part? Rich Haskell: Approximately three and a half days. Encircled it. A new movie is coming out on Friday called "The Cokeville Miracle" that depicts not just this terrible event, but the various miraculous stories that emerged afterward. Rich Haskell: Okay, I'll buy that! In a May 16, 1986 photo, the body of Doris Young is removed by officials after the Cokeville Elementary hostage situation in Cokeville, Wyo. And they had practiced how to get out of that building. Mark Junge: This bomb was designed to do what? So if the state didn't pay him, he figured the Mormon church would pay him because the Mormon church has money also. He still needed to tell it to his parents though, and that's basically what you see in the movie. While David and Doris Young were not involved in an organized religion, both were deeply spiritual. The photo of Rich Haskell is by Wyoming State Archives. Then he went to the restroom, which was attached to the classroom. I actually hadn't thought of doing that, yet. Chaos ensued. Interesting stuff to me! Rich Haskell: Yes. I've been involved with law enforcement since 1977 in Sweetwater County. Cokeville officially has only536 people in it and two LDS wards that meet in the same chapel. Rich Haskell: Because of the response and because of the emails and everything that took place. There are several great resources out there. Mark Junge: With bombs? The Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis occurred on Friday, May 16, 1986 in Cokeville, Wyoming, United States, when former town marshal David Young, 43, and his wife Doris Young, 47,[1] took 136 children and 18 adults hostage at Cokeville Elementary School. I called back to my dispatcher and they did inform me that the school in Cokeville was being held hostage by two individuals and there was bombs involved. This allowed gasoline to drip into the tuna fish cans, turning the aluminum-flour mixture into paste, unable to aerosolize. Rich Haskell: That's my oldest boy, Steven. Kind of a synopsis of what they were going to do and what their plans were and the whole thing. Mark Junge: Yeah, my brother-in-law worked in the Navy as a chief petty officer and he worked with what they called EOD. The only two fatalities were David and Doris Young. I can't explain it. The tuna fish cans, if you can imagine, here's two tuna fish cans sittin' here like this, and a gallon jug of gasoline sittin' above it. When I walked inside of the classroomit was a kindergarten classroom which meant that the desks were smaller, everything was smaller because of the smaller children. And what happens if they trigger something accidently?" Because in the bus, everything was solid in the school bus. The explosion engulfed her in flames and burned many nearby children. They had to come and get my car and get me another one. But everything was black, like you had gone in there with a flamethrower and just torched everything inside there. The Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis occurred on Friday, May 16, 1986 in Cokeville, Wyoming, United States, when former town marshal David Young, 43, and his wife Doris Young, 47, [1] took 136 children and 18 adults hostage at Cokeville Elementary School. And you could see that she had been burning by just looking at her out on the front lawn. Well, he had put wooden shelves for layers. It has shaped me to know that God is real. Mark Junge: Do you still think about this? What stands out in your mind the most, looking back? Interview by Mark Junge. On May 16, 1986, when former town marshal David Gary Young and his wife Doris Young took 154 children and 13 teachers hostage at Cokeville Elementary school in Wyoming, and kept them at bay with a shopping-cart sized bomb attached to five hairpin-trigger blast caps, it should have ended in great tragedy - one of the worst in American history. Where's he running? [5], "You could see that the roof tiles had been lifted out of their brackets. Cokeville Bombing. Undated scrapbook. SHARE Cokeville miracle marking 25 years. Mark Junge: And when you went into the classroom you saw holes in the walls? The tuna fish cans with the two floury would be spread out in the air likehave you ever seen a grain elevator explosion? Accessed May 17, 2013, at, Wyoming Horror: A Fiery Schoolhouse Bomb., A 1986 Hostage Event at a Cokeville, Wyoming Elementary School., Jarvik, Elaine. I was frightened and felt that we needed to do something to try to calm down or to be careful, because he was so agitated. Shortly after their wedding, David and Doris left Cokeville and headed to Tucson, Ariz. During their time in Tucson, according to Doris daughter Bernie Petersen, David became increasingly reclusive, focusing on his philosophical readings and writings. At that time, about 500 people lived in Cokeville, and there were slightly more than 100 students attending the elementary school. David Young was the only police officer in Cokeville for six months in 1979. Mark Junge: One of the things that Sue and I found out is that people don't regret doing this because they think it's important for history. She lured them by telling them there was either an emergency, a surprise, or an assembly there. Rich Haskell: You walk into the door, and I don't know if you got to go into the classroom, but you walk into that door and it opens up into the whole thing. When they asked pointed questions like "what did the angels look like?" Mark Junge: Which means you had to be doing over a hundred miles an hour! Lota, Louinn. Rich Haskell: Uh, I can understand that. It became a story of a miracle rather than a tragedy. For instance, The Cokeville Miracle Foundations 2005 book Witness to Miracles: Remembering the Cokeville Elementary School Bombing and the Wyoming State Archives oral history project called Survivor is My Name both focused on the reconstructing of this narrative as a miracle instead of a tragedy. Because it was sittin' low enough and the kids were low enough that it would have done it. I know there's angels. She was totally burned. When Deppe and Mendenhall finally got wind of his plans moments before the hostage crisis unfolded, they refused to participate. I contacted the dispatch up in Kemmerer to get firsthand information as to having second- and third-hand information and they informed me that the school indeed had been taken hostage. A quarter of a century later, Williams can still vividly recall the chaotic scene following the explosion. In the meantime, David and Doris Young gathered children, teachers, staff and visitors in the elementary school into one central location. Parentheses ( ) are used for incidental non-verbal sounds, like laughter. The Cokeville Elementary School was the site of a horrific hostage situation on May 16, 1986 when David and Dorris Young took a homemade bomb inside the school. As I sat there and watched him, I could feel he was becoming agitated. At 1:00 pm, they pulled up to the Cokeville Elementary School and unloaded a gasoline bomb, along with four rifles and nine handguns. AN EXPLOSION of vapors, resultLing from a combination of circumstances at the Kearney, N. J., plant of the Koppers Coke Company, on May 17, 1948, resulted in the death of ten men and started a . Amy Bagaso Williams was a fifth-grader when a couple used a bomb while taking hostages at her Wyoming school on May 16, 1986. What should people know going into the film? Personally I gave him 17 pages of journal notes! Many children showed signs of distress with sobs, complaining of headaches from the smell of gasoline from the bomb, or simply wanting to go home. Mark Junge: And that's the lesson we learn. During the chaos, Doris' burnt body was expelled through a window, and left lying on the front lawn. it is VERY LDS, and yet there are at least 3 other churches in town: Episcopal, Catholic, Baptist (and sometimes a non-denominational church). I've spent many, many hours and many days with the leaders of the Mormon church, with the Prophet of the Mormon church. On May 16, 1986, David and Doris Young entered Cokeville Elementary School with a gasoline bomb, a variety of rifles and handguns, David's philosophical writings and demands for $300 million in ransom. Here is a local story from the 20 year anniversary (we are at the 29th year now), What's your side of the story? Some of the children just sat right all around and just watched him. "If you can see the bomb, the bomb can see you," an officer shouted. The Hilton Garden Suites in Laramie, Wyo. Mark Junge: EOD. Can you describe this? This did, in fact, happen in Wyoming! [T]rust is big here youngsters grow up knowing they can turn to many other members of the community with confidence, write Hartt and Judene Wixom in Trial by Terror: The Child-hostage Crisis in Cokeville, Wyoming. Rich Haskell: Well, I didn't know a lot about 'em and I still don't know a lot about 'em. Did you see anything? Lenita's father Rocky was a fifth grade teacher at Cokeville Elementary School at the time of the bombing, Lenita was a seventh grader. In the movie, it shows the tension building towards the prayer and then shortly after the bomb went off. They're the ones that died from the whole thing. After a two-and-a-half hour standoff, the children were becoming restless, so the teachers preoccupied the kids in the form of movies, games, prayer, and books. And the bathroom was off to the side of it because it was the kindergarten class. Don't go past this square. Read more SHARE Cokeville recollects 'miracle' of 1986. In 1986 , 154 children and teachers survived the bombing of Cokeville Elementary School. Virginia Tech, it wasn't that way. [10][2][3] The injured were triaged to several area hospitals in Wyoming and Idaho.[2][3][11]. Of what you would picture an angel, with the wings and, Mark Junge: Well, if I'm a skeptic, I could say, "Well, that's just the way the flames shot up.". 1 of 7. But I know that, well, I'll just be quite frank. Angelic Intervention save all 153 in bomb blast - Cokeville Wyoming - Unexplained Mysteries - Angels Brain Boyle 2.05K subscribers Subscribe 928 158K views 11 years ago All 153 Children &. Rich Haskell: No. Rich Haskell: It's a combustible. Rich Haskell: There was also ayou look through the ceiling and there was a bigger hole up there. I guess I should say I am only speaking as a child, the adults were probably tense the entire time! She was on fire! How did it affect your family long-term? David had the makeshift bomb attached to his body and housed inside a grocery cart, while Doris and Princess carried an arsenal of rifles, handguns and ammunition, as well as the Zero Equals Infinity handouts. But it didn't. That's why I have a computer. My husband and I are looking forward to seeing the movie, as we weren't around when it happened and have just recently learned about it. David saw John Miller, the music teacher, trying to escape and shot him in the back. Throughout both baskets were chain links, gunpowder, and boxes of ammunition acting as shrapnel. When the children became increasingly loud, Doris Young began begging the teachers to settle the group down. All the hostages escaped, though 79 were later hospitalized with burns and injuries, the majority of which were severe.[3][2]. I knew fairly quickly that he would be the best chance we had at this. Either way, right after my joke is about when David excused himself from the room. Edit: Also, were you at that early screening? When I looked at everyone looking at me (as if I should call on someone to say it) I realized I should call on Allyson Cornia - literally because she was the smartest kid in the class! You have to think about what you're doing right at that particular time so you can stay focused on what you have to deal with. That much I know. "The sadness that comes with the death of an 8-year-old, you can . Well, he had went into the bathroom and she was out with the bomb, and they said she was complaining of a migraine headache. Dr. Clark is the faculty advisor of the Sweet Memories: Research Group at Western. I know that for a fact! To go off to the side? It was just shootin' everywhere. David attached the bomb trigger to his wrist and threatened the group that he might, at any time, move his arm and ignite the bomb. She was a total torch! While he was writing his philosophy, Zero Equals Infinity, Doris took part-time jobs including housekeeping and waitressing to support their meager lifestyle. Edit: Thank you so much for your questions! The miraculous events that followed have changed many people foreverespecially survivor Amy Bagaso Williams. Meanwhile, Doris went from classroom to classroom, luring 136 children, six faculty, nine teachers, and three other adults, including a job applicant and a UPS driver, into a first-grade classroom for a total of 154 hostages. In addition, national reporters began arriving within hours of the explosion. There's a piece of wood in there that separates the jaws of a clothespin and in that clothespin there are two metal connections that the wires were hooked to which made the electrical connection with the bomb. Accessed May 28, 2013 at. When the thing went off, when the bomb exploded, they just started chuckin' people out the windows. Whether or not you believe in God or miracles, show some respect. I gathered up some of the equipment that I would need and a change of clothes and proceeded to Cokeville. So we decided to take some masking tape, and we tapedI think it was an eight-foot square in the middle of the room, right here, and he pushed the cart, the homemade bomb into this, and we told the children this was the magic square. Doris tried numerous times to calm the children by telling them to "think of it as an adventure movie," or that they "would have a great story to tell their grandchildren." Anything? I don't think that they were planningor David was planning on the ceiling tiles in the school. Rich Haskell: No. I mean, not everybody would do this. Survivors shared their stories with each other, investigators, family members, and hospital personnel. Mark Junge: And you know, in Sue and I's conversation with these dozen people we've talked to now, seems like they also feel the same way you do. Had a gallon milk jug full of gasoline on one level, had aluminum powder, flour and those two components was in tuna fish cans directly under the gasoline bomb. One hostage observed a birthday on that day and songs were sung in his honor. Well, after interviewing some of the people, what had happened, the bombDavid Young had set the bomb to have what they call a dead-man switch. Rich Haskell: Well, as we were talking before we started recording, because of my knowledge with the explosives and with the law enforcement and everything else, I've had many opportunitiesbecause of the explosivesI've been with Vice President Cheney when he was here in Wyoming up in Pinedale. How has that experience shaped your life? Mark Junge: Well, and it burned some of the kids. Because in the bus, everything was solid in the school bus. By Jamie Armstrong May 22, 2015 09:35 AM MDT. TC, I think, saw it the same way. If you are interested in seeing the film, theaters are listed here. They have a lot of first-person histories of the actual event, teachers, investigators and students. It was there for a long time, all that support. May 24, 1986 12 AM PT. Of course, most children were elated by the prospects of an assembly. I was still trying to make sense of it all! Do you think this is a historical event? One of the miracles that day was that not a single person was lost. You just do whatever you have to do and get up there." Cokeville seems like a pretty small town. We had people from ATFAlcohol, Tobacco and Firearmsand there was another bomb technician that came up from Evanstonhe was studying to be a bomb technicianand we all looked at that and said, "That wire's been cut." David's youngest daughter from his first marriage, Princess, entered the elementary school with David and Doris, but refused to carry out the plan, leaving to report the incident at the town hall. As I got closer to it I could tell it was a body, and of course, you just start thinking about what took place. The only thing I bristle at is that TC has me suggesting that we say a prayer. Mark Junge: Why do you think that God chose Cokeville to save? I immediately went into rendering safehe had brought in several devices with him to place in different places in the room, and there was a lot of ammunition, a lot of guns out in the hallway, and I immediately started rendering all those safe, making sure that those were safe and they could move them out of the building. His fever broke within minutes of getting it off his chest. He shot and killed her. The windows had been knocked outhad been blown out. No, this is something that people need to know about. Mark Junge: Well, what do you think would cause two people like this to do this? Rich Haskell: Absolutely! The detonation didn't do it, it was cut. Excerpt from the book "On This Day In Wyoming History": David young Mark Junge: Do you know the names and birthdates of all your grandchildren? Doris had a migraine headache that day, in talking with the other folks, and she was complaining about that, and asked David if she could open the windows because the gas fumesevidently the gas was leaking from the incendiary and he finally consented to let 'em open the window. Rich Haskell: There was a reason I was there for some reason. There was no give in the school bus. You know something about bombs. Rich Haskell: Well, I got a lot of it while I was in the Marine Corps and in the Army National Guard. Is there a news article that I could read to get a better idea of what happened? Students, teachers, visitors, staff who survived the ordeal and bystanders began recounting their memories of this event as it was still unfolding. And it was a perfect trajectory up into the ceiling where that bullet was. David Youngs journals and writings reveal that he was a troubled man who spent many years grappling with deep philosophical questionsabout mans existence, the afterlife and spirituality. "Move!" At about 9:30 a.m., the bomb disposal squad used a robotic device to shoot out the end caps of the device, remove the . Once the wooden piece was removed, the two metal connectors completed the circuit, detonating the bomb. The two died after the bomb. There was nobody killed but the perpetrators. The Youngs both died that day. So I went to Huntsville, Ala., to Redstone Arsenal. I contacted my sheriff, and that was Jim Stark at the time, and he said, "Definitely! over there. As time progressed, however, a different story emerged in this highly religious and largely Mormon community. With fear that David might become unhinged, the teachers decided to make an ~8-foot square of masking tape for his own personal space. Both men were handcuffed in a van outside the school.[1]. Mark Junge: Well, I want you to know that we think you're courageous for doing this with us. Two Powell residents, Lenita Moore (a science teacher at Powell High School) and John Miller (a longtime choir director at Powell High School who retired in 2020), remember being in Cokeville during the bombing. He was asking large amounts of money. Cokeville Elementary School teachers and staff tried to keep kindergarteners through sixth graders calm and entertained. On that Friday afternoon in their quiet, rural town, a deranged couple entered the communitys elementary school, took those inside hostage and detonated a bomb in a first grade classroom. Rich Haskell: I was cookin' right along, yes I was! On May 16, 1986, David and Doris Young took 154 people hostage at the Cokeville Elementary School in tiny Cokeville, Wyo. Doris developed a headache from the gasoline fumes, and raised her hand to her forehead. Mark Junge: You'd been tested, though. Now you are a bomb technician. Words emphasized by the speaker are italicized.~Transcribed by Russ Sherwin, Feb. 27, 2011. "[6] The two men eventually refused to participate in the event. What is your assessment of these two people who did this? He instructed Doris and Princess, by now a young adult, to handcuff them inside his van. This sub is dedicated to faithful discourse on church topics. They do now - ever since the Youngs barged in on the Cokeville Elementary School with guns and a bomb to demand . There are a select number of people that would do this, so thank you. Dozens. That your life could change just at a blink of an eye. On May 16, 1986, David and Doris Young entered Cokeville Elementary School with a gasoline bomb, a variety of rifles and handguns, David's philosophical writings and demands for $300 million And that was their whole intent of coming to Cokeville. Rich Haskell: Not really that often, but every time I think about it I get very emotional. Windows were opened to rid the room of gasoline fumes, and prayers were offered in small groups among the children. Then, several years later, Jennie Sorensen identified what she thought was a teacher who led her out of the building after the blast. Used with thanks. Rich Haskell: I don't know. The Hartley story didn't come out publicly until my parents (who wrote the book in the year after the bombing) began asking questions about this kind of thing. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. I'm proud of all my children. They lived in a mobile home with Princess, Davids youngest daughter from his first marriage. . Who died in the Cokeville bombing? Rich Haskell: Well, run fordo another term as sheriff and then retire, and my wife and I are going to doshe loves genealogy. He knew what the community was all about. To my right is Sue Castaneda who is the Wyoming Oral History Project Director, and across the table from me is Rich Haskell, who is a certified bomb technician. She is a beautiful example of turning tragedy into triumph. I was, and I still am, a certified bomb technician at the time, and I was, as far as I know, the only bomb technician in the southern half of the state of Wyoming. Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources, Repanshek, Kurt J. Rich Haskell: Yeah, I think I did. I cannot tell you what happened. I think he went in the Marine Corps because of me and served 25 years and retired. Rich Haskell: Approximately an hour and ten, hour and fifteen minutes. They increasingly spoke about their memories in public with professional psychologists, church officials and community counselors. In Cokeville, Nowhere, Wyo. Go to their hands and knees and crawl out. The Cokeville hostage crisis began the afternoon of May 16, 1986, when David and Doris Young took 154 children and adults hostage at the Cokeville Elementary School in tiny Cokeville, Wyo. A compilation project by the Cokeville Miracle Foundation, a 501(c) (3) charity. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News. But it still sent flames all over in the room and you can see where all the flames were in that room. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising.
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