Words from a Hokie

I want to thank Josh Clowers for taking a few moments to share his thoughts and emotions during this historic tragedy. Please spend some time reading and thinking about his words and what it means to be a Virginia Tech Hokie. If anyone would like to respond on this BLOG, or send any private thoughts or messages to him or his family, please e-mail me. His fiancee is Beth. They're getting married in September.

""As far as what happened at Virginia Tech, it's difficult for me to adequately speak about it. I know how hard it's been for me, and I'm not even there anymore. I can't imagine how much worse it was to actually have been to be in the middle of it. My mom and dad graduated from Tech -- I graduated from Tech -- my sister is a senior there now, due to graduate in about 3 weeks. Beth's dad and sister both graduated from Tech, too. And the list goes on for my extended family and friends. So, it's obviously very close to me...

What I do know, though, is that a lot of people didn't understand Hokies before this all happened. It's impossible for someone who's never been on campus, or never been to one of our football games, or never just immersed in what Hokies are like, to really "get it." It felt to me that the overwhelming majority of the media came to Blacksburg trying to find fodder for pre-fab storylines -- they wanted to find students that were angry at the police and the administration, or scared, and who just wanted to leave forever and forget that the place ever existed. But, what they found in Blacksburg, beneath the shock and mourning, was a tremendous pride and love that Virginia Tech students, faculty and alum have for their school and their community. We honored our victims and our heroes, rather than "made for a good story."

We are so proud of our school and the students, and that pride has shown up again and again in the wake of these recent events. In a lot of ways, even after we've left, Blacksburg is our home, and the Virginia Tech community is a part of our family. And, tragedy does not break a family or a community apart -- I think it's something that has brought us closer together.

I also know that I've never been prouder to be a Hokie than when I saw the drill field overflowing with candles. The chants of "LET'S GO HOKIES!" that echoed all over campus -- we all felt that, no matter where we were. That's kind of what Hokies do best, though -- tailgating, football, and long-past-borderline-obnoxious school spirit. And, in that singular expression of pride and honor, our battle cry that screams "YOU CANNOT BEAT US," the Hokie Nation found some small comfort and solace, and most importantly, unity. Frank Beamer, our head football coach, summed it up best when he said "If I know anything about Hokies, we will become stronger, tighter, together."

While pride and love has held us together, the response and support from people around the world has been what has held us up. I talked to my sister last night. She and her roommate were going to Charlotte to just try and catch their breath a little bit. They had their VT flags flying out of their car windows, and they had hardly stepped out of her car before the bellhops at her hotel had hugged them, told them about how sorry they were, and given them gift cards for free food and massages from the hotel. And, since they've been there, everyone has been so gracious and supportive, and no one has let them pay for anything -- food, drinks -- they even got job offers. They also happened to run into Michael Jordan at their hotel, who hugged them both, expressing his condolences.

And, that's not even to mention the extraordinary support from other individuals, groups and campuses across the world -- each of them declaring genuinely that "We are all Hokies today" -- especially from the students at UVa, our in-state rival. For people around the world to be wearing burnt orange and chicago maroon today -- as trivial as it might sound, I can't find words to express what those things mean, and how it has helped to give Hokies everywhere, but particularly the students, the strength to stand up.

However, nothing can truly remedy this tragedy or the incalculable impact it has had on the lives of the victims, their families, and their friends. The killer's acts were so inhuman, and he himself so lacked human characteristics, that it is impossible to rationalize or understand what he did. The best we can do is to offer our support and prayers to the victims and their loved ones just as we would for our own family, to do whatever we can to carry on and honor their memory, and to make them as proud as we are that they are Hokies. With what help we can give -- maybe they can find some semblance of peace, knowing that the entire Hokie Nation, and now the entire world, is behind them, remembering them, and honoring them.

That's really all I have to say about it. I guess I could also throw in that it was entirely inappropriate and unnecessary to put out those pictures/videos from the package that the killer sent. Also, as usual, the Westboro Baptist Church/Fred Phelps "protesting" at the funerals of victims is about as morally reprehensible as anything I can think of, and I am pretty sure there is a special layer of Hell reserved to deal with that whole situation.

Ok, I'm really done now.""

Small world, enormous tragedy

There's little I can say about Monday's atrocity that hasn't already been said. We all know by now that what transpired was beyond horrific, beyond shocking, and I've no light to shed on how or why someone could come to that.

It astonishes me, though, how close it came to so many people. It seems everyone either went to Tech or knows someone who does. I'm in the second group.

My buddy Charlie was a groomsmen at my wedding. He's younger than me by a couple years and is still in school -- at Virginia Tech -- finishing off his degree in industrial engineering. Yep, engineering. Charlie had class that morning; luckily, he skipped it. But for a few moments I shared the terror of uncertainty with so many others. He didn't answer when I first called, and while I knew the odds were he was O.K., it's amazing what the brain can do in a couple of minutes. Trying work when you're wondering if one of your best friends is alive is beyond difficult. Charlie rang me up a few minutes later, and I nearly lost it.

Trying to analyze what would push someone so far as to carry out what happened is beyond my abilities, and I'm not going weigh in on the political and cultural parsing that's started up over the past week. But I will say that I envy the Hokies.

In the midst of unspeakable pain, the Tech community came together like few other groups I've ever seen. The river of support pouring from each student, teacher and alumni amazed me. People I never knew were Hokies called up the newspaper where I work to express their support. It's an enviable thing despite the tragic circumstances, and it left much of the state in awe.

Could more have been done to prevent what took place? Maybe. Will we learn something from it than can head off future tragedies? Hopefully. Is the Hokie Nation stronger because of its pain? Definitely.

I think Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling summed it up well at a recent speech in Wakefield:
"My friends, we are Virginians, and today, we are all Hokies."

- Dan

VT Tragedy, call for thoughts and comments

(image courtesy, The Virginian-Pilot)
To the entire JPG Photography community:

The news of tragic incident in Blacksburg has now touched the entire world. This senseless act is unfortunately a history making event, one that will be with the country for days, months and years.

The good news is that people and organizations are coming together and will work to correct and prevent similar future incidents from happening again. Simultaneously, we realize that the insane free will of one can ruin the lives of many. We hope that reforms are put in place to prevent the ease for this one gunman to carry out his crimes.

In this awful time, Dan and I offer our prayers to the friends and family of the victims, students, alumni and community of Virginia Tech.

We also are asking for your prayers, thoughts and patience. While Dan and I are both fortunate to not have lost anyone close to us, as journalists, we are now interviewing the friends and family of the deceased.

As many of you know, Dan and I met in Smithfield, Virginia, and one of the 30 student victims, Nicole White, 20, graduated from Smithfield High School in 2004. Another one of the wounded also came from Smithfield. Dan has spent time interviewing family and friends for The Smithfield Times. I also will be conducting follow-up coverage for my newspaper in Maryland.

We have friends who are photographers and clients across Virginia and near Blacksburg too. One client graduated from VT, and our prayers go out to him and his family too. We're with you Beth and Josh, who are scheduled to marry this September.

To grieve for the victims, as well as friends and family of VT, we will be posting messages of our experiences on our BLOG: jpgphotography.blogspot.com. WE INVITE you, or anyone you know, who has a message or story they would like to share to contact us. We are looking to share stories and help because even our tiny community can overcome the tremendous pain and sorrow that the entire country is feeling.

Thank you for your time.

God Bless!

Joe And Dan