Got to shake a famous man's hand today...

[M. Sage]

Not as famous as he should be, but still I'm sure at least some of you have heard of him. Ramiro "Ranger Ray" Martinez was at the Alzafar gun show in San Antonio selling autographed books. Real nice old guy, and it was good to shake his hand and meet him.

If you're wondering who I'm talking about, Ray put six rounds of Austin PD issued .38 spl into Charles Whitman's guts up in the UT bell clock tower.

Sad that more people probably recognize the psycho's name than the hero's....

 

[Dcav]

Good stuff. How old is he now?

 

[M. Sage]

Good stuff. How old is he now?

Hah, I have to check Wiki to find out. Looks like he's about 73. Retired, obviously, but still full of life. Very smart and friendly, and didn't carry that "cop" aura around him like so many do.

 

[TexasRedneck]

Had to miss the show this weekend - doin' RC duties for Stoney LaRue's ride up ta Luckenbach...interesting ride - had two of his band members go down in front of me - some purty decent road rash, but that was it. Stopped, washed the wounds, did some bandagin' an' led the folks on in that had stopped to help. They impressed me, though - they looked me up once we got there to offer to pay for the supplies I used bandangin' the guys up. Told 'em no way - but I DID appreciate their offer.

 

[M. Sage]

Had to miss the show this weekend - doin' RC duties for Stoney LaRue's ride up ta Luckenbach...interesting ride - had two of his band members go down in front of me - some purty decent road rash, but that was it. Stopped, washed the wounds, did some bandagin' an' led the folks on in that had stopped to help. They impressed me, though - they looked me up once we got there to offer to pay for the supplies I used bandangin' the guys up. Told 'em no way - but I DID appreciate their offer.

Nice!

 

[MR Redneck]

Had to miss the show this weekend - doin' RC duties for Stoney LaRue's ride up ta Luckenbach...interesting ride - had two of his band members go down in front of me - some purty decent road rash, but that was it. Stopped, washed the wounds, did some bandagin' an' led the folks on in that had stopped to help. They impressed me, though - they looked me up once we got there to offer to pay for the supplies I used bandangin' the guys up. Told 'em no way - but I DID appreciate their offer.

Do they still have that yearly thang in Luckenbach. The big ol town party?

 

[TexasRedneck]

Do they still have that yearly thang in Luckenbach. The big ol town party?

WHICH "yearly thang"??? Seems like sumthin' every weekend!

 

[MR Redneck]

WHICH "yearly thang"??? Seems like sumthin' every weekend!

The 4th of July festival.

 

[cowboy45]

Not as famous as he should be, but still I'm sure at least some of you have heard of him. Ramiro "Ranger Ray" Martinez was at the Alzafar gun show in San Antonio selling autographed books. Real nice old guy, and it was good to shake his hand and meet him.

If you're wondering who I'm talking about, Ray put six rounds of Austin PD issued .38 spl into Charles Whitman's guts up in the UT bell clock tower.

Sad that more people probably recognize the psycho's name than the hero's....

I was fortunate to meet him several years ago and have talked to him a few times since then. He is not a man that outwardly shows what he did. He seems to be very humble to have been there and done his job. If you talk to him or read his book, neither of the men on that tower will take full credit for what happened. They share it.

 

[majormadmax]

Dang, was the Al Jeezera show this weekend? I completely forgot! Dang!

 

[kurt]

I used to work with his younger brother. The sad part is his heroics would most likely get him fired in today's APD. Takes a SWAT team to neutralize a madman, don'tcha know? No room for individual bravery.

 

[country_boy]

Had to miss the show this weekend - doin' RC duties for Stoney LaRue's ride up ta Luckenbach...interesting ride - had two of his band members go down in front of me - some purty decent road rash, but that was it. Stopped, washed the wounds, did some bandagin' an' led the folks on in that had stopped to help. They impressed me, though - they looked me up once we got there to offer to pay for the supplies I used bandangin' the guys up. Told 'em no way - but I DID appreciate their offer.

With Waylon and Willie and the boys??

 

[rodbender]

I used to work with his younger brother. The sad part is his heroics would most likely get him fired in today's APD. Takes a SWAT team to neutralize a madman, don'tcha know? No room for individual bravery.

Yep, and taking a civilian with him would get him double fired...if there can be such a thing.

 

[M. Sage]

I used to work with his younger brother. The sad part is his heroics would most likely get him fired in today's APD. Takes a SWAT team to neutralize a madman, don'tcha know? No room for individual bravery.

I know. His reaction was almost exactly how an "active shooter" should be dealt with. Not how they do it now, though that's starting to change...

 

[Jason]

CW looked like a twisted pile at the end of that encounter... some of the pictures are surreal...

In the 60's it was probably opposite... "They only shot him because he was white"

 

[kurt]

Interesting that as I Googled the Whitman photos, an active shooter scenario came up at UT. SWAT Teams, dogs, AR rifles, lockdowns, APC's........ Still amazing to me how so much has changed.

 

[M. Sage]

Interesting that as I Googled the Whitman photos, an active shooter scenario came up at UT. SWAT Teams, dogs, AR rifles, lockdowns, APC's........ Still amazing to me how so much has changed.

Thing is, by the time all that shit mobilizes, it's all but over. It takes time to get assets like that in place, and time isn't something you've got. They'd be better off having SWAT-qualified officers carry ARs with Redi-Mags in their patrol cars and task them with rushing in first and meeting up if possible.

Better yet, hopefully some students (especially vets!) would be best getting together and finding some training. They'd be far more motivated to protect their friends and peers than the police...