by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
American artist Thomas Hart Benton was a native of Neosho, Missouri. Back during the Second World War that same small southwest Missouri town was home to Ft. Crowder, the largest inland military base in America. In 1957 it was one of ten communities in America to receive the coveted "All-America City Award," an honor that led to the town being featured in Life Magazine. Also in the 1950's the rocket engine manufacturer, Rocketdyne, built a large new plant in Neosho, ensuring that many young professionals moved to that community.
That was Neosho's heyday. Now Rocketdyne has closed, the Walmart cancer that has shuttered small communities throughout America has brought about the demise of many Neosho family businesses, and the town's once progressive nature has faded into little more than an historical footnote.
I have ties to Neosho and the surrounding area that go back to before the Civil War. My g-g-g-grandfather was the town's constable, and many of my ancestors and relatives farmed and helped to build the community - including my great-grandfather who literally helped to construct the courthouse that stands in the city's public square. I was born in Neosho and lived and worked there at various times, and my father, son, and grandson all graduated from Neosho High School.
I have a long and personal history with Neosho, Missouri, and that is why I was so saddened (sickened, really) when I read yesterday evening that nine-year-olds (third graders) in Neosho are selling raffle tickets for the benefit of their sports team. The grand prize: an AR-15 automatic rifle - the same type of gun that was used in the massacres at Las Vegas (58 dead), Orlando (49), Sutherland Springs, Texas (26), San Bernardino (14), Aurora (12) - and of course this week's mass murder at the high school in Parkland, Florida (17). Nine-year-olds are selling chances to win a weapon that is primarily known for mass killings!
The prize was apparently a gift from a team-member father who is in the business of manufacturing guns. The coach running the team and the raffle mouthed words about being saddened by this week's tragedy in Florida, but said that the raffle would continue. Members of his team would not have to sell tickets if they were uncomfortable doing so, the coach added in an interview with the Kansas City Star.
While brave young people in Florida are hard at work trying to change an American mindset and make our schools safer, nine-year-olds in rural Missouri are going door-to-door selling chances to win a weapon whose primary purpose is killing human beings. The message that those kids are receiving is awful - on so many levels - and if that particular gun should happen to go on to become 'famous," it will scar those children in ways that can never be healed.
This is a tragedy, and Nesoho's children are already victims.
Neosho, you are on the skids.
Citizen Journalist
American artist Thomas Hart Benton was a native of Neosho, Missouri. Back during the Second World War that same small southwest Missouri town was home to Ft. Crowder, the largest inland military base in America. In 1957 it was one of ten communities in America to receive the coveted "All-America City Award," an honor that led to the town being featured in Life Magazine. Also in the 1950's the rocket engine manufacturer, Rocketdyne, built a large new plant in Neosho, ensuring that many young professionals moved to that community.
That was Neosho's heyday. Now Rocketdyne has closed, the Walmart cancer that has shuttered small communities throughout America has brought about the demise of many Neosho family businesses, and the town's once progressive nature has faded into little more than an historical footnote.
I have ties to Neosho and the surrounding area that go back to before the Civil War. My g-g-g-grandfather was the town's constable, and many of my ancestors and relatives farmed and helped to build the community - including my great-grandfather who literally helped to construct the courthouse that stands in the city's public square. I was born in Neosho and lived and worked there at various times, and my father, son, and grandson all graduated from Neosho High School.
I have a long and personal history with Neosho, Missouri, and that is why I was so saddened (sickened, really) when I read yesterday evening that nine-year-olds (third graders) in Neosho are selling raffle tickets for the benefit of their sports team. The grand prize: an AR-15 automatic rifle - the same type of gun that was used in the massacres at Las Vegas (58 dead), Orlando (49), Sutherland Springs, Texas (26), San Bernardino (14), Aurora (12) - and of course this week's mass murder at the high school in Parkland, Florida (17). Nine-year-olds are selling chances to win a weapon that is primarily known for mass killings!
The prize was apparently a gift from a team-member father who is in the business of manufacturing guns. The coach running the team and the raffle mouthed words about being saddened by this week's tragedy in Florida, but said that the raffle would continue. Members of his team would not have to sell tickets if they were uncomfortable doing so, the coach added in an interview with the Kansas City Star.
While brave young people in Florida are hard at work trying to change an American mindset and make our schools safer, nine-year-olds in rural Missouri are going door-to-door selling chances to win a weapon whose primary purpose is killing human beings. The message that those kids are receiving is awful - on so many levels - and if that particular gun should happen to go on to become 'famous," it will scar those children in ways that can never be healed.
This is a tragedy, and Nesoho's children are already victims.
Neosho, you are on the skids.
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