Guard Cancels Patriotism Plan--Too Scary

A patriotism program that featured mock attacks on high schools by uniformed National Guardsmen firing blanks was canceled today after a mock raid here drew protests from angry parents.

Maj. Gen. Carl Wallace, adjutant general of the Tennessee National Guard, made the decision after meeting with top staff members at his Nashville office, said Maj. Hooper Penuel, a guard spokesman.

“We got complaints that the kids were not made aware beforehand and that the shock value was too much,” Penuel said. “It was just a way to get the attention of students and parents as to what could happen if we were taken over by a foreign power.”

‘Scared Everybody’

On Wednesday, guardsmen in camouflage uniforms landed in helicopters and fired blanks from automatic weapons as they entered darkened auditoriums at three Knoxville high schools.

“We weren’t expecting anything like that. They scared and surprised everybody,” said Mark Jerrolds, a sophomore at Doyle High School, where 10 helmeted guardsmen staged an exercise in the school’s gymnasium before a patriotism speech was delivered.

“The sound system was bad, but at the end everybody sort of got patriotic, although a lot of people said it was stupid to have guns,” he said. “All the soldiers had their faces painted in camouflage. At the end, they passed out little American flags that you can pin on your shirt.”

First in Urban System

Penuel said the program had been staged at 18 other schools since November but never in an urban school system like Knoxville’s.

Pete Lotts, chairman of the Knox County Board of Education, applauded the guard’s decision.

“My first reaction was that it was not an appropriate way to teach patriotism. I stick by that. Also I’m not sure how safe this kind of thing is. Some students could have been traumatized by the shock,” he said.