Tom Knutsen – 50th Reunion Essay

Tom Knutsen

6803 Lexington Road

Austin, TX 78757

tknutsen@austin.rr.com

512-913-2847

Spouse(s): Caroline M. Knutsen (1972)

Child(ren): Amy Whitson, MD (1973). John Knutsen, PhD (1976).

Grandchild(ren): Samantha Whitson (2008); William Whitson (2010); Una Lijek-Knutsen (2016).

Education: The University of Texas at Austin, MA, communication, 1975.

National Service: US Army, 69–72. 1Lt, Military Intelligence.

Career: Daily newspaper reporter 1975-80. Customer service representative for a regional electric utility.

Avocations: Environment, gun violence, affordable health care for all.

College: Branford

The “March For Our Lives” just erased the essay I’d been editing. The young people, their families, and friends who organized a nation-wide protest against gun violence brought 1968 back into a sharp focus. That year began with the Marines besieged at Khe Sanh; then in almost a continuous succession we learned of the Vietnamese breakout called the Tet Offensive; President Johnson announced he’d not seek reelection; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated; Bobby Kennedy was shot to death, too; riots erupted in Chicago at the Democratic Convention. Students all over the country marched for civil rights and/or against the War in Vietnam, and students in Paris and Prague rebelled, too.

Young people then took the streets to express their frustration and anger over public policies that sent young men to an increasingly unpopular war or kept minorities out of good schools or jobs. No changes took place quickly, and opponents accused the protestors of being fomented by outside communists and/or of being cowards for not wanting to serve in the military.

And now, half a century later, a new generation has taken to the streets to protest against firearms. How sad that these youngsters call themselves “The School Shooting Generation.” In only a month after the Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, students around the country coordinated a walkout with 17 minutes of silence, memorializing the 17 students who died.

These juniors and seniors from Florida are articulate, sharp, prepared, and, to date, fearless. They’ve directly challenged their US Senator, Marco Rubio. They met with the occupant of the White House, who sat with his legs curled up and his arms folded as they spoke, the caricature of not listening.

Just as youth 50 years ago pleaded with their governments for change, this generation is being derided by some of their elders. They’re accused of being led from outside, of not being sufficiently “American” because of wearing a Cuban flag patch, of needing to learn CPR instead of asking for safety in their classrooms. Boy, are those comments reminiscent of the antiwar movement!

Out on our streets, we have teenagers who watched classmates die from gunshot wounds. In the two decades since the Columbine shooting, we have parents all around the country whose children didn’t come back alive from school. The deep psychic scarring isn’t visible. Classrooms, not rice paddies or jungle, have become the killing grounds of today, where the post-traumatic stress disorder can cripple for years.

Friday afternoon, 20 April 2018, I watched scores of high schoolers treading across Austin to protest at the Texas Capitol, and I urged them on and thanked them. It may take a while, but their efforts will prevail over time, just as the 1968 protests eventually led to changes in policy and social structure.