Current students at Cokeville Elementary School aren't taught about the '86 bombing, but most know the general story. David wasit was just like he was dead. Joshua Cooper as John Miller, a music teacher who is shot by David Young after the bomb goes off. It had worked perfectly. DVD (Wide Screen) $19.99. It was a normal day for the 154 children . Ill shoot everyone if I have to! Teachers called it the magic square and told the children to stay away from it. David, Doris and Penny (Caitlin EJ Meyer), one of David's two daughters from his previous marriage, bring the bomb into the school, with Doris and Penny carrying firearms. So Im wondering where the protection is for those? According to investigators at the time, if the bomb had functioned as designed, it would have blown off the entire southwest side of the school building. Believing 2 plus 2 equals 4 hardly invalidates Knowing 0=[infinity]. These various combinations of Man with teir various concepts of themselves invented war in order that any singular combination might achieve dominance over other combinations. Remembering the Miracle at Cokeville. Forensic evidence aside, the town residents began to realize that a series of lucky events had preceded the bombing, events that ended up saving the lives of the children who had been injured. Ron and Claudia both talk to Jason, who then tells him "there were other people in the room." For the first time, I remember thinking, Im safe. Its something I will never forget., Despite the explosion, all students and staff made it out alive; only David Young and his wife perished. Young, a former Cokeville town marshall fired for misconduct years earlier, had returned to start a revolution and create a brave new world where he would be leader. One effect is that, for quite a long time after I went in any public building, anything, I made sure I sat by the exit. Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis, "Radical Right Link Suggested in Hostage Case", "Cokeville Elementary School Bombing | WyoHistory.org", "Couple take over school but die after bomb blast", "Couple in School Blast Linked to Extremist Group", "Certified Bomb Technician Rich Haskell on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School | WyoHistory.org", "Lead Investigator Ron Hartley, Father of Four Student Survivors, on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School | WyoHistory.org", "Secretary Tina Cook on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School | WyoHistory.org", "A projectile killed Dorris Young, not bomb blast, police in Cokeville say", "In 1986, 154 children and teachers survived the bombing of Cokeville Elementary School", "Emergency Management Coordinator Kathy Davison on the 1986 Bombing of Cokeville Elementary School | WyoHistory.org", University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, List of school shootings in the United States by death toll, 'No Way to Prevent This', Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cokeville_Elementary_School_hostage_crisis&oldid=1131851510, Improvised explosive device bombings in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 6 January 2023, at 01:49. [5], "You could see that the roof tiles had been lifted out of their brackets. Yes, the bomb did explode and it exploded in a room packed full of children, but the only persons to die that day were Mr. Young and his wife. And that that needed to be remembered. Many of the extras in the film are children of those who were students at the time the bomb went off, Christensen explains. [5][10][8], When the bomb detonated, the majority of the explosive force was channeled through loose ceiling tiles into the roof, and open windows acting as vents. It was very dark from the smoke. So I went and visited with them, but the topic didnt come up. I feel like it was pretty significant. The prolific writer-director-cinematographer, whose credits include 17 Miracles and Ephraim's Rescue, has a passion for faith-promoting true stories that combine tragedy with divine intervention and heartbreak with hope.His latest, The Cokeville Miracle (read my review), portrays the events of a 1986 elementary school bombing, in which multiple children . I dont remember much of what she said, but I remember suddenly feeling like I had a warm blanket around my shouldersthis incredible amount of comfort and joy that I cant explain. Those are also Cokeville people. I felt immediately uncomfortable, recalls Amy Bagaso Williams, who was in the fifth grade. Reach the reporter at randy.cordova@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8849. And I was a little of the thought that, is this a hoax? His dutiful wife, Doris (Kymberly Mellen), willingly participates, but his teen daughter (Caitlin E.J. I have no idea when that was because I was standing right by that door, or right through the one door. But that was when David Young came out and shot him. Janel Dayton: Well, everybody knows everybodys business. Ron doubts this but Claudia believes him after Jason points out a picture of his great-grandmother, who had passed away years earlier, saying she was his angel in the classroom. Were you married in the Temple? At approximately 1:30 p.m. on a sunny Friday afternoon, David Young and his wife, Doris, quietly and methodically took control of Cokeville Elementary. Janel Dayton: Well, I fell off Mount Timpanogos [in Utah] once, and that was a little bit of a scare! Janel Dayton: I always win! I felt totally safe. I saw bodies all over the lawn, and I didnt know if they were dead or alive, recalls Conger. Janel Dayton: Yeah, and I dont think that helped. But it was really. After a standoff lasting two and a half hours, the gasoline bomb the couple had brought into the school went off prematurely, badly burning Doris Young while David Young was out of the room. Im glad! Director T.C. The next day, the five set out for Cokeville Elementary School, where David reveals their real plan is to take the school hostage and blow it up with his bomb, which will then lead to David being the leader of a "brave new world". Flipboard. Janel Dayton: My grandparents, on my fathers side, came from Denmark. Do you have. Shed been dead for three or four years.. That looks like a deaths head with his arms spread out. And he says, No, thats where the Lord stood when he protected us.. In other words, don't ask too many questions. Ron then overhears some words the bishop, John Teichart (Shawn Stevens), is saying in a class. The children are quickly evacuated as firefighters and paramedics are stationed right outside the doors and windows. Therell be a contest between good and evil, and itll look like evils going to triumph, but it doesnt. I asked what grade this particular woman had taught and why she quit teaching after the bombing. As survivors would later attest, and against all rational explanations, a tragedy of immense proportions had not been set into motion. It was just black! In the end, although the classroom was completely destroyed and 79 people were injured, the only deaths were those of David and Doris Young. Williamss skin began to heal at a rapid rate, and despite the severe burns, no scar tissue formed. Janel Dayton: Not so much. Experts still cannot explain how or why. Etched into the wall, just behind the blast area, was the burnt outline of a large, human-shaped figure with what looked to be wings extending from the sides of its body. One of the teachers convinces David to let them open the doors and windows. Transcribers notes: I have added some reference footnotes to this transcript where I thought appropriate. In the darkness, she heard someone speak and caught her bearings. Cause theyd all gone out different exits. Mark Junge: Nor did Princess [David Youngs daughter by a previous marriage, the very pretty young woman mentioned earlier to whom he tossed the keys to the van]? Janel Dayton: I didnt really notice the smoke so much. She had short, dark brown hair, Payne recalls. Ive never doubted for a second that they saw exactly what they claimed to have seen or heard, Wixom says. . For instance, The Cokeville Miracle Foundation's 2005 book Witness to Miracles: Remembering the Cokeville Elementary School Bombing and the Wyoming State Archives oral history project called "Survivor is My Name" both focused on the reconstructing of this narrative as a miracle instead of a tragedy. Janel Dayton: Well, the only thing that I noticedone thing I was worried was that somebodyd come back and try to finish the job. For more information about our sponsors and the people behind WyoHistory.org, visit our About Us page: Hostage crisis at the elementary school in Cokeville, Wyo. So if you would just give me your name and tell me what you did at the school, and then on what day it was, and so forth. It explodes and Doris is ignited in flames. The imortal Greek told us, showed us, and taught us the limitations of knowledge and we killd him for it, not merely one individual once, but in all this nonsense weve engaged in since. Both men were handcuffed in a van outside the school.[1]. Janel Dayton: One thing, my husband thinks that it needs to be kept alive, because it was a miracle. At best a probability, at worse nonsense, proof in any event is very distant from reality. But for Williams, her healing was not the greatest miracle she experienced. It was almost as if she landed on my shoulder. . The man pointedly told the hostages that he could, at a moments notice, simply twitchhis arm totrigger the bomb. The movie's second half looks at the aftermath once the bomb goes off, as the town sheriff (Jasen Wade) interviews hostages and tries to grasp what happened. While looking through a family album with her grandmother, Johnson stopped at a familiar face. David Young, hearing the explosion, rushed back into the room with a .45 pistol in one hand and a .22 in the other. I think a layer of skin had gone. Penny speeds to the local police station where she informs them of her father's plan, proving it by showing them Deppe and Mendenhall, still handcuffed. And to me, it s a type in a shadow of what s going to happen to the world, according to the Bible. The police take the three for questioning, while they start informing the families. one hostage asks Doris. Parentheses ( ) are used for incidental non-verbal sounds, like laughter. But these little sisters sacrificed a lot to come. 2023 www.azcentral.com. He confides in them that he saw people dressed all in white angels. And then another teacherId been over preparing a talk for church once, and he came in and I was talking to him a little bit about religion, and he said, Oh, Im waiting to see the burning bush. And so, after this happened, I said, Well, what did you think? He said, I dont know who saved us, but I sure like his style! (Laughs). Get out!, Children and teachers escaped through windows and the classroom door. Some of the teachers said, Oh no, she was in on it! She wasnt. Deppe and Mendenhall refuse to cooperate, and David handcuffs them in the back of his van. It is. Christensen Hartt Wixom (based on the book: "The Cokeville Miracle) She dropped to the floor and started rolling to put out the flames. The way those witnesses all came out, each very independent of each other, is proof enough. Conger agrees. Janel Dayton: Ill tell you one thing that I did. If you ask residents of the town how such a thing could happen, they will look you in the eye, smile, and answer in one word Angels. 'Miracles', I take it, require the direct intervention of a rational and benevolent deity in a situation about which he is fully informed. "We could tell that he was becoming very nervous. Years later, Jennie Johnson, the student who blacked out and was carried from the burning room, was looking through an old photo album with her grandmother. Inside stood David Young, a string detonator around his wrist and a homemade bomb by his side. Janel Dayton: Oh, time was totally immaterial! Current Stock: Quantity: Increase Quantity: Decrease Quantity: . David went to the school office, handing out a manifesto titled "ZERO EQUALS INFINITY" and announcing "This is a revolution!" TRUTH! Christensen Film Editing by Casting By Art Direction by Monet Devilliers Costume Design by Meanwhile, across town a teenage girl rushed into the Town Hall shouting that her father had taken a large bomb into the local elementary school. As soon as the children began arriving into the arms of frantic parents and waiting emergency workers, their excited stories began. My husband had had an association with him, but Id never seen him before. Sue Castaneda: What did happen to the other two guys, because I dont know. Mark Junge: Yeah, we always pick on the outstanding events that are murders and rapes and molestations and wars, and people dying in accidents, and its kinda like, well, you know, you get to thinking after a while, maybe people like reading about this stuff. No, but its a huge part of our lives. cokeville miracle debunked. Kamron Wixom, a sixth grader, prayed with about a dozen of his fellow students. (Laughs) Wont go quite that far! I flipped to one page when suddenly he put his little hand on a photo and just beamed, Hartley shares. DVD. Kam's lessons from Cokeville are profound: 1.Bad things can happen anywhere, anytime. She said to me, Katie, I love you very much. "Hey, lady, is this your first time kidnapping helpless little children?" He is baffled that the shrapnel David put in the explosive was thrown around the room but no one was injured by it. David returns to the bathroom where he kills himself, making him and Doris the only two to be killed during this event. The circuit was powered by a 9-volt lantern battery. My husbands grandfather, or great-grandfather was in the Nauvoo period when there was a tremendous amount of persecution. See, thats what everyone does around here. Wed taught for years together and one of em after the incidentI was over here preparing, and one of the men teachers came in and I said, Look across there. Because the teacherd had some papers up here, and you know, the smoke had seeped up underneath em and when she took the papers down it looked like a deaths head with its arms spread out. Mark Junge: Did this whole incident, Janel, strengthen you, or do you think it kind of shookyour trust in people? While we have made every effort to avoid graphic language,this article might be disturbing for some readers. A lot of them had lost everything. Williams was baptized on August 16, 1989her 14th birthday. But anyway, it was finally his turn and he went in the restroom and I turned to the school secretary, Tina Cookcause he had given the bomb to his wife, and attached it to herI turned to the secretary and I said, She wouldnt blow these kids up! The secretary says, Dont be too sure! And when I turned my head I saw a fireball hit the ceiling. Mark Junge: Well, obviously, I look in the paper and I see some people who just get wiped out, like these 72 immigrants that got wiped out in Mexico by these drug lords. Mark Junge: Today is Sept. 21, 2010, my name is Mark Junge and Im in the home of Janel Dayton. Other children claimed that during the entire episode, a large angel stood near David and Doris Young, between the children and the bomb, with its wings spread for protection. (Laughing) Well, I dont mean to make light of it, but, I mean, I just wonder how you were affected? But something would trigger and then wed go clear through it again, and then it was done until a trigger came again. . They came down next to us. He told us he had to tell his friends he was going to sit with us, and he would be right back. Vengeance for having been fired did not seem to have been the motive, but rather a philosophy recorded in journal entries referring to a Brave New World where he wanted to reign over intelligent children. Cast: Jasen Wade, Nathan Stevens, Kymberly Mellen, Sarah Kent. So I thought, well Ill go around to the other door because maybe the visibility would be better there. Enter your email to receive updates on our LDS Living content, 2022 LDS Living A Division of Deseret Book Company, 7 Book of Mormon verses that have changed my perspective on body image, Why faith crises are real, and how we can avoid making them worse for loved ones, 7 Latter-day Saint resources that answer questions about death and the spirit world. [5] The leaking gasoline's fumes prompted teachers to open the classroom windows, unknowingly creating vents for the impending explosion. Ultimately, no hostages were killed, and several children reported seeing angels or deceased relatives who helped guide them to safety. When the children became increasingly loud, Doris Young began begging the teachers to settle the group down. Soon, gasoline fumes from the bomb filled the hot, crowded room, making students and teachers sick and convincing Young to allow some windows to be opened. The film debuted on June 5, 2015, in select theaters in Utah, and then across the United States. 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