StarDestroyer.Net BBS

I have a question. It's a pretty popular and ubiquitous image. A protester standing in the middle of a street as a tank rolls toward him.
I think someone here even has it for their avatar. Does anyone know the story behind this? Where does it take place? Does he survive?

Lazy Raptor wrote:I have a question. It's a pretty popular and ubiquitous image. A protester standing in the middle of a street as a tank rolls toward him.
I think someone here even has it for their avatar. Does anyone know the story behind this? Where does it take place? Does he survive?

I think you're thinking of Tiennamen Square. A bunch of Chinese students decided to protest for democracy back in the 80s. The governent cracked down hard with troops, and a bunch of protesters were killed. At one point, a column of tanks were rolling down the street and a protester walked out and stood in front of them.

A very large group of student protestors had gathered in Tianamen Square in Beijing, China in 1989. They were protesting against the repressive policies of the Chinese government and for democracy, freedom and all that. Eventually, the government declared martial law and ordered a crackdown on the protestors, and eventually the military was brought in, which led to the picture in question. The individual did survive, he was pulled out of the way in the last moment.

Was it ever said who that one guy was?

This one? Czechoslovakia January 1968. This protestor survived afaik.

I'm pretty sure it's the Chinese incident, which upon closer inspection is decidedly not depicted in Gandalf's avatar.

Thanks a lot guys. Mystery solved, nagging curiosity quenched.

Another pic from Czechoslovakia 1968.

Lazy Raptor wrote:I'm pretty sure it's the Chinese incident, which upon closer inspection is decidedly not depicted in Gandalf's avatar.

It is, pulled this off from a site about it..
China man

The tankers refused to run over the Chinese man. That was the first wave, troops from Beijing. They refused to open fire on their neighbors. The Chinese government pulled them out, court-martialed the lot, and brought in more troops from the outlying provinces. They crushed the protest.

Noone knows who tank guy was, IIRC.

*twitchtwitch..... twitchtwitch...**

That someone asked this question makes me *twitchtwitch* feel old. This was a scene that shook the world at the time. This was a scene that I, 18-19 years old, was scared, fascinated, and horrified by. It was seen as a lead-in to the collapse of China Communism. In the aftermath of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, this brought hope to the Western World that Communism could be seen as a thing of the past.

Then the Chinese Government rolled in and massecred the students protesting. Those not killed were jailed, and supposedly some are still incarcerated even today. Thanks to global television, my friends and I watched in horror, wondering why something couldn't have been done to stop it.

Now, I recall that 15 yrs have gone by. Some posters on here weren't even in school when it happened... some weren't even born. How many will remember in 30 years?

Vympel wrote:Noone knows who tank guy was, IIRC.

Of course not. He made the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army look impotent before the world. If he wasn't summarily executed he's never getting out.

And I, for one, will remember, my lady. I wasn't old enough to see it live, but I learned my history and that incident shook me when I learned of it.

If he wasn't summarily executed he's never getting out.

Hopefully he escaped.

HemlockGrey wrote:

If he wasn't summarily executed he's never getting out.

Hopefully he escaped.

Yeah, maybe. I doubt it, though. The Chinese aren't talking on the matter.

ABC recently asked a Chinese government official on that protestor's status.

His responce was "...not killed, I think."

Soontir C'boath wrote:It is, pulled this off from a site about it..

Wow, I guess so. It looked shopped in black and white.

Lazy Raptor wrote:

Soontir C'boath wrote:It is, pulled this off from a site about it..

Wow, I guess so. It looked shopped in black and white.

It's someone's av from the forums at http://www.soviet-empire.com. I tried to bring the size up to 100x100 pixels but it just looked crap.

Soontir C'boath wrote:

Lazy Raptor wrote:I'm pretty sure it's the Chinese incident, which upon closer inspection is decidedly not depicted in Gandalf's avatar.

It is, pulled this off from a site about it..
China man

He was pulled out of the way by fellow protesters, according to the photographer who was took the picture.

Some of us did more, but I can't get into that with the board's discussion of illegal activities ban, even ones which Bush Senior has granted blanket pardons for.

Reading your sig, I can guess of the nature of these activities. Hats off to you. *Takes off hat.*

LadyTevar wrote:*twitchtwitch..... twitchtwitch...**

That someone asked this question makes me *twitchtwitch* feel old. This was a scene that shook the world at the time. This was a scene that I, 18-19 years old, was scared, fascinated, and horrified by.

Being the same age I too flinch just a bit to realize some teens might not know where that image comes from. I remember getting a tear in my eye when I saw that guy.

I do rember several years later while in college hearing that individual "dissappered" but I don't know if that is just a rumor or not.

No rumor. And yes, my peers' lack of historical knowledge makes me sick, although it has enabled me to beat them at many a trivia competition. My personal geeky glory is not worth this.

In fairness to the people I made feel really old, I'm really quite ignorant on non-dinosaur subjects.

TrailerParkJawa wrote:

LadyTevar wrote:*twitchtwitch..... twitchtwitch...**

That someone asked this question makes me *twitchtwitch* feel old. This was a scene that shook the world at the time. This was a scene that I, 18-19 years old, was scared, fascinated, and horrified by.

Being the same age I too flinch just a bit to realize some teens might not know where that image comes from. I remember getting a tear in my eye when I saw that guy.

I do rember several years later while in college hearing that individual "dissappered" but I don't know if that is just a rumor or not.

I've always known about it despite being around 6 at the time it happened. I always remember the fall of the Berlin wall too, no idea how, but I have them stuck in my mind. I can't believe there's anyone over 10 who hasn't seen and heard about Tianaman Square.

I was thinking that that's the main advantage and the main drawback of the digital age: on the one hand, anyone with internet access can find images of the event in question. On the other, there's doubtless some tinfoil-hat segment of the population that will argue it was faked.