I painted this while in the Navy in the Philippines in 1968. When the painting was in the framing shop at Subic Bay a sailor came in and wanted to buy it. Like all Americans I was captured by the enormous harm at the University of Texas on August 1, 1966. The motivation of Charles Whitman (the Texas sniper) will never be fully understood. A theory is he ingested poisoned water while in the Marines which caused a brain tumor that affected his reasoning. Many many injured and seventeen died - plus his wife and mother died earlier. Whitman took an over 200 foot vantage point in the Texas Bell Tower. My painting tries to capture the torment of Whitman and his many victims (including an unborn child).
