tank
Posted June 4, 2008
Weilin and Willson; A comparison
On June 5, 1989, the day after the Tiananmen Square protests had been put down by the Chinese military, an unknown man carrying two shopping bags walked in front of a line of tanks and into several profoundly memorable photographs and videos. Known now simply as “Tank Man“, his name has been reported as “Wang Weilin”, but this is unconfirmed. His real name, fate and current whereabouts are unknown, although he is generally considered to have been executed. His simple act is a hugely powerful and graceful meme of resistance in the face of power and political oppression.
Some credit, however, might also be due to the tank crew for having the decency and simple humanity to stop before crushing “Weilin”, and his groceries too, beneath their treads. They may have eventually felt some heat themselves, since the image was not exactly supportive of the Chinese government’s long term PR goals.
Now compare this well known event with one less widely known: On September 2, 1987, during a protest by environmental activists at the Concord Naval Weapons Station in California, USA, a 46 year old former Air Force captain, Vietnam veteran, lawyer and Ph.D. named Brian Willson sat on the tracks along with other protesters in order to block a munitions train leaving the base. The actions of the engineer of the munitions train were not up to those of the Chinese tank commander; Willson was crushed beneath it’s wheels, losing both legs and suffering massive head injuries.
It should be pointed out that the operators of the train had been given orders NOT to stop, in order to prevent the train from being hijacked (!?) by terrorists pretending to be environmentalists - although the plans and itinerary of the protesters were given to the military before the protest. The crew of the tank presumably had received no orders covering a lone-man-with-groceries blockade.
Perhaps it’s because the photos of the Concord tragedy are less spectacular than the “Tank Man” images that Willson is less well known to Americans and others.
Or perhaps it’s because Willson was categorized as a domestic “terrorist” by the Reagan administration, and the American press didn’t raise a heavy sweat claiming otherwise. Doubtless “Weilin” was regarded similarly by Chinese rulers. In any case, it’s a great irony that one man is a world renowned hero and the other is largely forgotten - when their actions were really quite similar.
Here’s a link to a stunning PBS documentary on the “Tank Man” (52 minutes), created by Antony Thomas.
Willson is NOT a mystery btw, nor has he been forgotten by environmentalists - he is still active and lectures frequently.
The tenth anniversary of the Tank Man’s Stand will be June 5, 2009.
