Texas congressmen survive terrorist attack

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  • Bartee Haile
    Bartee Haile
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Puerto Rican terrorists turned the U.S. House of Representatives into a turkey shoot on March 1, 1954. While his colleagues dove for cover, Congressman Wingate Lucas of Fort Worth reacted in true Texas tradition by bounding up the stairs to help subdue the snipers in the gallery.

Three and a half years after an abortive attempt on the life of President Truman, the island nationalists returned to Washington on another malevolent mission. Disguised as ordinary tourists, three men and their female leader found seats in the spectator section behind the speaker’s rostrum that faced their unsuspecting targets.

Shouts of “Free Puerto Rico!” suddenly interrupted a mundane debate on immigrant Mexican laborers. Due to the topic under consideration, several members thought the battle cry was “Viva Mexico!”

But not Lloyd Bent-sen of McAllen, who had just finished addressing the body and was walking back to his seat when the quartet leaped to their feet. The future senator instantly recognized the banner they were waving as the flag of Puerto Rico.

Drawing carefully concealed handguns, the terrorists opened fire on the stunned assembly wounding five representatives. Bentsen yelled at the top of his lungs, “Get those blankety-blanks!” He later blamed the attack on “the extremists who poll only four percent of the vote” in Puerto Rican elections.

Assuming the episode was a harmless prank, Waco’s W.R. Poage made fun of fellow Texan Clark Fisher for jumping under the nearest table. Poage told the cringing congressman from San Angelo to come on out since the demonstrators were obviously shooting blanks.

“Blanks, the devil!” retorted Rep. Walter Rogers of Pampa. “The plaster’s falling!”

As Rogers dropped to the floor, Poage realized he was right. When asked where he was during the mayhem, the shaken statesman sheepishly told reporters, “I should have been in an insane asylum, but I was on the front row standing up and looking around.”

George Mahon of Lubbock and Homer Thornberry of Austin mistook the sharp reports of the small pistols for firecrackers. When wounded colleagues cried out in pain, they knew different. “It was unbelievable,” said Mahon.

Olin Teague had the closest call of any member of the Lone Star delegation. Had the Bryan representative not stepped aside a second or two earlier, the slug that almost killed Michigan Congressman Alvin Bentley would have struck him down.

Until Teague saw his friend fall, he “never dreamed they were firing real bullets. When we turned him over, blood came pouring out.”

The most seriously injured of the five victims, Bentley was rushed to the hospital with a perforated lung, diaphragm, liver, stomach, and spleen. Though given only a 50-50 chance of survival after undergoing emergency surgery, he eventually recovered.

Two other Texans also had lucky stars to thank. Moments before the shots rang out, Albert Thomas and Wright Patman, who hailed from Houston and Texarkana, concluded a conversation at the rear of the chamber. If they had kept on talking, the two bullets that plowed into the back wall likely would have hit them instead.

Athens’ John Dowdy owed his good health to a phone call, which he had to leave the House floor to answer. Greeted by gunfire upon his return, Dowdy closed the door and hid in the outer hallway. He later discovered a bullet hole mere inches above his chair.

A conference with a constituent from Beaumont caused Jack Brooks to miss the mayhem. He not only lived to tell the tale but continued to hold the same office for 19 more elections.

Omar Burleson had a ringside seat for the shooting. Two rows in front of the Abilene Democrat, a Tennessean was shot and an Alabama politician who sat even closer suffered a leg wound.

Burleson’s FBI experience came in handy. The former agent instinctively picked up the bullet that passed through his neighbor’s limb and held it for police. He then methodically taped over every bullet hole he could find to prevent curious congressmen from tampering with the evidence.

Representatives, House Pages, visitors and police officers quickly detained three of the assailants outside the gallery. The fourth used the chaos to escape but did not get far. He was captured later that same day.

The four Puerto Rican nationalists were tried, convicted, and received sentences ranging from 16 to 75 years in federal prison.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter commuted the sentences of the three shooters still serving time in Federal Prison. Some claim it was in exchange for release of American CIA agents being held on espionage charges. That remains unconfirmed. But we do know the Representatives Texans sent to Congress were both brave and lucky that day.

Bartee Haile welcomes your comments and suggestions at BarteeHaile@gmail.com.