60 Years Later: What Can Be Learned from the 1966 UT Tragedy (Part 2)

By K. A. Strube

What happens when someone is left to be continously emotionally and physically wounded and no one ever helps? Researching Charles Whitman’s case made me face this horrible truth about society—and myself. The crowd is thick with people who automatically blame the 1966 Austin tragedy on Whitman—or his father (C. A. Whitman). But, is the truth really that simple?

Whitman was abused by his father since birth. Studies show that childhood abuse leads to substantially higher risks of traumatic brain injury (TBI), negative outcomes, violence and even early death. The family doctor, family members and others knew about the abuse. One former neighbor said that even the local police department was aware of it, because her parents reported it so many times. The father of Whitman’s mother, who was also abused, was a police officer.

Around his 16^th birthday, Whitman’s father severely beat him after being caught intoxicated. Not long after that assault, he had an infection on his face lanced by a physician and an appendectomy. Research has identified trauma as one possible cause of appendicitis.

To escape the situation, unknown to his father, Whitman joined the U. S. Marine Corps as soon as he turned 18. Numerous potential head injuries followed, including two rollover accidents (one causing unconsciousness for several hours) and a lightning strike. The last one being severe kicks to the head about 22 months before the murders. To function, Whitman regularly took amphetamine to stay awake, other drugs to sleep and aspirin for chronic headaches.

The discovery of a glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive malignant tumor, found during Whitman’s autopsy suggests a brain that was in a steady state of decline. Experts, investigating Whitman’s actions, believed the GBM would have killed him in a year. The tumor was estimated to have begun growing between six and 12 months earlier and severe headaches were reported in his final three months. For various physical and psychological reasons, multiple TBIs and brain tumors have been linked to an increased risk of suicide ideation and violence.

Months prior to the murder spree, Whitman sought help for growing aggression and homicidal thoughts from the university’s doctors. After only one visit, he decided to fight the "mental turmoil alone." Obviously, he lost that fight.

What about his father, C. A.? Unfortunately, the details of his life are not as comprehensively archived as his first son’s, but it is known that he was raised in an orphanage and died alone with Alzheimer’s in 2001. It would not be surprising if his past was marred with trauma, as well—emotional, physical and possibly even sexual. Deep feelings of abandonment is also a likely factor, which can lead to narcissistic and abusive behaviors. Did anyone ever try to help him heal from his childhood trauma? Who is to blame for creating and enabling the “monster” in him?

So, who is to blame for the Austin tragedy? What about the people who knew about the abuse but did nothing, the people who supplied Whitman drugs year after year without question, the university doctors who were told by Whitman that he had thoughts of shooting people from the tower but let him slip away, or the U. S. Marine Corps for their training and “betrayal” (to be addressed in a future post)?

After years of being involved in this project, countless hours of thought experiments and facing my own regrets for not taking action that could have possibly prevented harm to others, my conclusion is the perplexing “no one is to blame…but we are all responsible.”

No one was magically keeping track or had the ability to understand all of the ingredients in Whitman’s life that led to the chaos. No one knew what the abuse and all of the brain injuries could lead to—or how to stop it. Amphetamine and other prescription drug use were very common in the 1960s, so hindsight cannot be used to judge. As for the university doctors who had a chance to help Whitman months before, the situation was so unique that there was no way for them to know what was to come—or recognize the potential causes.

Concerning the U. S. Marine Corps, how can it be responsible for the misuse of knowledge/experience by a brain that was breaking down or for exercising discipline on a Marine without knowledge of potential TBI injury triggers?  

Is anyone really to “blame” for the tower shootings or was the tragedy meant to wake us up to a deeper truth—the truth about our responsibility to our fellow humans?