Mood:
don't askTopic: "The Boston Massacre"(9)
Frank Shorter won a Gold Medal when he finished first in the marathon at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. He has often remarked about the horror he saw that first day when the ski-masks appeared on the balcony. Forty one years later, Frank Shorter ran in yesterday's marathon in the City of Boston. His first thoughts, as he relaxed just beyond the finish line, were "Oh no, not again." It is unlikely that anyone else in the entire world played such an active role in both events.
Frodo was close by when the 1996 Olympics yielded something more than the skills of Edwin Moses and the insanity of Eric Rudolph. Hawkeye Pierce and those who portray him for real performed admirably and ran to assist the really wounded, as if they really were dressed in fatigues and unloading choppers while "Suicide is Painless" accompanied their acts of heroism.
There it was, as Frank Shorter said, and young Martin Richard was declared dead by the young surgeon, only moments after hugging his favorite runner, at the finish line. Oh no. Hawkeye Pierce had to yield to Father Mulcahy, again.
It may be a long, long time before that which motivated the perpetrator is known. After all, Boston is the home of the real "Tea Party," and it was the 15th of April and our taxes were all due, and the Government of North Korea was celebrating, and the Saudis announced that they were authorizing women to drive motorcars, and the Governor and the President were both black. Surely, thinks one, that one or more of these arguments justify the end of small lives by small explosions.
The very first marathoner collapsed, and died, as he delivered the message that motivated the first 26.2 mile trek. Frodo has always thought that someone would have to be crazy to follow in those footsteps. Perhaps he has learned that the real craziness is in the throngs that watch, with nothing else to do, again. Henry Blake's lament lives for all time.
