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05/09/93
Agents return to Waco to mourn slain comrades
By Lee Hancock / The Dallas Morning News
WACO-For the emotionally battered agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, a return Saturday to the scene of their agency's bloodiest day was a time for private mourning.
"It's part of the healing process, to go out there and recall what happened that day,' said Ted Royster, special agent-in-charge of the Dallas ATF office. He was among 100 ATF agents who faced an intense firefight Feb. 28 when they tried to serve search and arrest warrants at the Branch Davidian compound.
He and other agents from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana visited the ashes of the religious sect's compound Saturday morning east of Waco. Accompanied by counselors, they received a briefing from federal prosecutors and were given time to grieve for the four agents killed during the raid. Sixteen agents were wounded.
"They got together. Some cried. They thought about what happened. I wouldn't call it difficult. It was something that had to be done,' Agent Royster said.
It was an effort, some ATF officials said, to begin closing a horrific chapter-a standoff that began with the worst loss of life in ATF history and ended in a fire that left cult leader David Koresh and 72 of his followers dead. Five cult members were killed in the initial raid.
The raid and its aftermath has brought ATF under scrutiny, including congressional hearings and-by order of Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen-an independent review of the raid. The Justice Department has begun a separate review of actions by the FBI.
The FBI took over direct negotiations with the cult leaders. The fire-which arson investigators say the cultists set-began April 19 after FBI agents used tear gas in an attempt to force cult members to surrender.
Prosecutors are developing cases against many cult members who left the compound during the 51-day standoff or escaped the fire.
Saturday's ATF visit, together with an afternoon church service and evening dinner, were planned to give the agents involved in the raid a symbolic way to put the ordeal behind them, ATF officials said.
To mark the end of ATF's presence at the lonely expanse of windswept prairie that cult members called Ranch Apocalypse, Texas Department of Public Safety officials lowered three flags they had raised over the compound after the siege ended, Mr. Royster said.
One, a U.S. flag, was given to Dallas ATF district agents. The second, a Texas state flag, was presented to Houston district agents, who lost one colleague in the raid, he said.
The third flag, a white banner emblazoned with ATF in gold letters and a gold star for each of the four dead agents, was presented to New Orleans district agents, who lost three colleagues during the raid, Mr. Royster said.
News media representatives were kept away from the compound during the 2 1/2 hour visit, and agents were met with only low, gray skies and a cool, intermittent drizzle eerily similar to the dismal weather in Waco on Feb. 28.
Some residents along the road leading to the compound strung yellow and black ribbons and balloons to honor the visiting agents. The colors were those worn by ATF and FBI officials as symbols of mourning during the standoff.
Skies cleared Saturday afternoon as about 350 agents and local police gathered at a Waco Baptist church for a private memorial service.
ATF Director Stephen E. Higgins delivered a eulogy for the dead agents, Steven Willis, 32, of Houston; Robert J. Williams, 26, of New Orleans; Conway LeBleu, 30, of New Orleans; and Todd W. McKeehan, 28, also of New Orleans.
The service was highlighted by a 21-gun salute by a Texas Department of Public Safety honor guard and the playing of taps by two DPS troopers. As ATF agents left the church, a lone bagpiper in Scottish dress played a mournful tune.
Reporters were not allowed to enter the church, and local police stood guard to keep outsiders away. Several ATF agents openly cursed television cameras.
But most agents attending the service simply declined to comment, citing orders not to discuss the raid or its aftermath.
"We're human. You really can't express yourself when the cameras are around, the media is around,' said Agent Royster, one of the few agents willing to talk Saturday. He also was the first ATF official to tell reporters what had happened after the ill-fated raid.
"It was a time for us to come together and remember them and never forget what happened,' Agent Royster said. "I think after it's all over, we'll be a lot stronger.'
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