20 Years Ago Today

[Clark Addison]

天安門

[YOhio]

I was 11 years old at the time of the massacre. I vividly recall walking through City Market in Price and seeing this Time cover.

[Clark Addison]

[QUOTE=YOhio;92030]I was 11 years old at the time of the massacre. I vividly recall walking through City Market in Price and seeing this Time cover.

I was a few months off of my mission to Hong Kong, living with other HK RMs. It was a very depressing day for us.

[Tim]

I was 11 years old at the time of the massacre.

Why do I always have the impression that you guys are way older than me? Oh, I know why... it's because you guys have reproduced and have families, and I still have the same status I've always had.

[YOhio]

Why do I always have the impression that you guys are way older than me? Oh, I know why... it's because you guys have reproduced and have families, and I still have the same status I've always had.

My maturity and wisdom definitely gives the impression that I'm a lot older than I really am.

[wuapinmon]

My maturity and wisdom definitely gives the impression that I'm a lot older than I really am.

+1!

[creekster]

I thought the first post woudl say "Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play" which shows I really am a lot older than most of you guys.

[TripletDaddy]

I thought the first post woudl say "Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play" which shows I really am a lot older than most of you guys.

I thought it was about the longest game ever played in NL history...Dodgers v Houston. Over 7 hours long, 22 innings. Fernando was on the mound to start the game. The Dodgers ended up losing.

[il Padrino Ute]

I remember that day well. The Chinese government still denies that there was a massacre, calling it an "incident".

Here's a 1st person account of what happened:

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/06...y5061564.shtml

[Solon]

I thought it was about the longest game ever played in NL history...Dodgers v Houston. Over 7 hours long, 22 innings. Fernando was on the mound to start the game. The Dodgers ended up losing.

I visited Tiannamen square in 1992, about 3 years after the beat-down. It was a creepy day, and I was thinking about those protesters the whole time.

[JohnnyLingo]

I wonder what the United States' response to Communism would be if the revolution began today instead of a hundred years ago (give or take a few years).

After all, today we're much more open-minded about other belief systems... if Communism had major supporters in the United States back when we were closed-minded hicks, today I imagine we'd be fine with the spread of Communism throughout Europe, Asia, South America, whatever.

No Vietnam War, no Korean War... maybe no Cold War? Interesting to think about.

[creekster]

I wonder what the United States' response to Communism would be if the revolution began today instead of a hundred years ago (give or take a few years).

After all, today we're much more open-minded about other belief systems... if Communism had major supporters in the United States back when we were closed-minded hicks, today I imagine we'd be fine with the spread of Communism throughout Europe, Asia, South America, whatever.

No Vietnam War, no Korean War... maybe no Cold War? Interesting to think about.

It wasnt the belief system, per se, that generated the hate for communism; it was its association with the Soviets and the PRC that was so threatening. Better dead than red was more anti soviet than anti marx. It was all about power and cotnrol and security rather than ownership of the menas of prodcution.

[Colly Wolly]

I lived in Shanghai when this went down. I was 9 years old at the time. Some of my memories:

Our family took a vacation up to Beijing in late May, and I remember seeing the protesters gathered in the square as we rode in a taxi on our way to the only Kentucky Fried Chicken in China for some American fast food. At that point it was still in hunger strike mode I think.

In the days leading up to the violence, similar protests were happening in other parts of the country. Our school was located on the campus of the US Consulate in Shanghai, and I remember hearing a protest of students outside the gates of the Consulate as we boarded the school bus to return home. Security opened the gates and the crowd parted to allow our school bus to exit. We flashed "victory" hand signs at the protesters from the bus and received smiles and "victory" signs from the protesters in return.

The US Government was able to charter a United Airlines 747 to evacuate the families of all US government employees in China. We were taken to the airport in a bus. A consulate security guy sat by the door to the bus and was packing a loaded revolver. The plane first picked up the families of Embassy employees in Beijing, before heading south to Shanghai to pick us up and dropping us off in Tokyo, Japan. They filled the plane up from the back, so we ended up sitting in first class. It was pretty sweet. On the other hand, some of the Beijing people had apartments that looked down on the Square, and had their windows shot out with gunfire. Pretty crazy!

I remember landing in Narita Airport and getting off the plane. Their were tons of reports all around trying to talk to us and interview us. Lots of the wives were crying and it was a pretty tense and emotional time.

We stayed with a Japanese member family who we had met in Shanghai. The husband worked for Toshiba and travelled to Shanghai regularly and attended our tiny branch that met in our living room. They lived in Osaka. After the two weeks, we flew to Portland, OR and finished out the summer with my dad's parents. Flew back to Shanghai in late Aug and everything was back to normal.

[wuapinmon]

I lived in Shanghai when this went down. I was 9 years old at the time. Some of my memories:

Our family took a vacation up to Beijing in late May, and I remember seeing the protesters gathered in the square as we rode in a taxi on our way to the only Kentucky Fried Chicken in China for some American fast food. At that point it was still in hunger strike mode I think.

In the days leading up to the violence, similar protests were happening in other parts of the country. Our school was located on the campus of the US Consulate in Shanghai, and I remember hearing a protest of students outside the gates of the Consulate as we boarded the school bus to return home. Security opened the gates and the crowd parted to allow our school bus to exit. We flashed "victory" hand signs at the protesters from the bus and received smiles and "victory" signs from the protesters in return.

The US Government was able to charter a United Airlines 747 to evacuate the families of all US government employees in China. We were taken to the airport in a bus. A consulate security guy sat by the door to the bus and was packing a loaded revolver. The plane first picked up the families of Embassy employees in Beijing, before heading south to Shanghai to pick us up and dropping us off in Tokyo, Japan. They filled the plane up from the back, so we ended up sitting in first class. It was pretty sweet. On the other hand, some of the Beijing people had apartments that looked down on the Square, and had their windows shot out with gunfire. Pretty crazy!

I remember landing in Narita Airport and getting off the plane. Their were tons of reports all around trying to talk to us and interview us. Lots of the wives were crying and it was a pretty tense and emotional time.

We stayed with a Japanese member family who we had met in Shanghai. The husband worked for Toshiba and travelled to Shanghai regularly and attended our tiny branch that met in our living room. They lived in Osaka. After the two weeks, we flew to Portland, OR and finished out the summer with my dad's parents. Flew back to Shanghai in late Aug and everything was back to normal.

Hey kid, you want a Hershey's bar?

[Colly Wolly]

Hey kid, you want a Hershey's bar?

Holy crap. I remember it was Mr. Goodbar. Start talking.