( Below is a photo of the tanks the government used at WACO.)
WACO
(April 19, 1993, Waco, Texas)
Reno, with Clinton behind her,
ordered it- wanted it done!
“Storm the compound at Waco!”
They did it with bullets and guns.
They stormed it with tanks and explosives-
“To save the children”, they said.
With cannons a blazing, they blasted.
The children are all charred and dead.
They were dressed like a Ninja militia,
and armed like the National Guard.
They charged “on behalf of the children”.
The children were all gassed and charred.
How many small little faces
were torched on that cruel, hellish pyre?
That consuming inferno called WACO!
That sad holocaust they call WACO!
How many blazed in the fire?
Bette Wolf Duncan © 1993
The Waco Siege lasted 50 days, beginning on February 38, 1993 and ending in a
fiery holocaust on April 19, 1993. It began when the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms) attempted to execute a search warrant at the Branch
Davidian Compound located about nine miles out of Waco, Texas. An intense gun
battle erupted that lasted for nearly 2 hours, ending in the death of four
agents and six Branch Davidians. (The Branch Davidians are an off-shoot of the
Seventh Day Adventists. They were led by David Koresh.) This started a 50 day
siege, that ended with a second assault on the compound conducted by the ATF
and the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation.)
Hundreds of government agents were involved. There were three helicopters manned by 10 Texas National Guard counter-drug personnel, 9-10 M3 Bradleys, 4-5 M728 Combat Engineering Vehicles (CEVs) armed with CS gas, 2M1A1 Abrams tanks and 1 M88 tank retriever, and 1 Bitten-Norman Defender surveillance aircraft. There were an unknown number of U.S. Armed Forces and Texas National Guard personnel who were standing by for maintenance of these vehicles and instructions on how to use them.
There were 76 Branch
Davidians with a total of about 243 firearms including two 650 caliber
semi-automatic rifles and numerous tactical rifles, shotguns, revolvers and
pistols. Included were the following: about 46 semiautomatic firearms modified
to fire in full automatic mode, 22 M-16 type rifles, 20 AK-47 Rifles, 2 Heckler
and Koch SP-89. 2M-11/nine and 4 Live M-1 Practice Hand Grenades.
76 people died in this fiery inferno, including more than 20 children and two
pregnant women. Below is a photo of the tanks used at Waco.
Agent on a tank at WACO.