Doug was heading to the southern part of the United States to locate some of his targets and blow them up. Once he blew up a few of them in the South he would then head north to throw off the FBI, CIA or any other law enforcement agencies that would be looking for him. He also knew there were a lot of targets in the northeastern part of the United States that he wanted to blow up. He knew the great thing about being in a motor home and older is that he fit right in with the rest of the “baby boomers” that were using their RV’s to travel across America. As he drove along he wondered, why anyone would ever suspect an older retired doctor as being a terrorist.
What was amazing to Doug is that none of the terrorist organizations had ever been able to coordinate its worldwide efforts with other terrorist groups until they came to the United States and set up their organizations in America. He firmly believed it was the goal of the radical Muslim organizations of the world to take over America someday. He wondered if the everyday hard working Americans even knew about the presence of thousands of Muslim Mosques that are already spread throughout America.
The first place Doug was targeting was in South Carolina and it is called “Holy Islamtown.” The founder of the town was well known in the world of radical Islam. The first Muslim Holy Shrine was established in America at “Holy Islamtown” in 1983 by this radical leader. According to some reports by the local people that lived near Islamtown, it is home to hundreds of Muslims all in Islamic attire. The locals say most members drive late model SUV’s with license plates from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The locals say that some members work as toll booth operators for the New York State Thruway, while others are employed at a credit card processing center that maintains confidential financial records of Americans. The locals have said they hear bursts of gunfire all the time, and know there is some type of military training going on in the town. One local said, “They are training for war, either for war here in this country or against our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan.” One neighbor said he saw an armed guard carrying an AK47 and another neighbor said she saw men carrying M16’s in the town. Locals believed that when the time was right and they were ordered by their terrorist leaders to attack, they would attack America from within. They were already armed so Doug wondered who could stop them unless it was the National Guard or our military. (24)
When Doug read these reports he was floored by the lack of concern by the local law enforcement agencies. According to the reports local law enforcement has taken the stance that unless these people pose a threat to themselves or to the local people, they just leave them alone. Doug was going to take his time getting to his next target and gather his thoughts because he had to do some serious planning as he traveled east across America on Highway 10.
Before he got to his target Doug decided he was going to take some time and get his mind off his mission for a while. He knew that if he did proper planning that it would be better and easier for him and maybe he could cut down on mistakes he had made in some of his previous attacks. His first stop was the breathtaking Grand Canyon. He was going to Sedona, Arizona and took the historic railway South Rim Grand Canyon tour. It was an eleven hour tour by rail starting in Sedona and ending up back at Sedona. The train has stops along the way to walk part of the south rim trail and visit the Grand Canyon village. He felt the cost of the ride would be worth it since he had never been up close to the Grand Canyon. He found a spot to park his motor home for the day and take the shuttle to the rail. He was a little excited that he was going to get some great pictures. He spent the entire day doing the tour and had dinner at the local Sedona Hotel Restaurant.
The next morning he was back on the road again. On his second stop he wanted to go a little out of his way off route 10 and make sure he visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico. He had read about it and wanted very much to see it. The memorial was originally constructed on the Val Verde Ranch in Moreno Valley by the Doctor Victor Westphall family in honor of their son David Westphall that was killed by enemy gunfire in South Vietnam in 1968. It tore at Doug’s heart that a grieving family had loved their son so much that they built such a great memorial to him. Once he was there he was taken aback by the memorial and he spent several hours taking pictures and reading everything regarding the memorial. He said a silent prayer to all the fallen American soldiers and to Michael before he left the memorial.
As he made his way east the one thing he definitely wanted to see on his third stop was the Oklahoma Memorial in downtown Oklahoma City. The memorial was built in honor of the one hundred and sixty eight people killed and six hundred and eighty wounded by an American home grown terrorist, Timothy McVeigh in 1995. McVeigh had parked a Rider rental truck filled with explosives in front of the Alfred P. Murray federal building on April 19, 1995 and blew it up. Doug always believed that McVeigh didn’t act alone and that he was part of a radical Muslim terrorist organization. He was surprised that during his research he found that he was wrong and that McVey did act ‘pretty much” alone during his attack. According to all reports the Muslim terrorist organizations didn’t have any connection with the attack. On the outside of each gate leading into the memorial they bear this inscription:
“We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope, serenity.”
When Doug saw this memorial he felt very angry with the terrorist McVeigh and sad for all the people that lost their lives and the people that lost their loved ones at the hands of this home grown madman. He wondered what made a man like McVeigh want to kill hundreds of his fellow Americans. Doug knew why he was on his own mission against the terrorist but what was McVeigh’s motivation? Seeing this memorial just strengthened his resolve to continue his fight against the terrorist organizations in America, including American born home grown terrorists.
He had never seen Nashville, Tennessee or Branson, Missouri so his next stops along his journey would be both places. He wanted to take pictures and see some of the live entertainment. He didn’t have any targets in Missouri that he wanted to go after so he was just passing through this state. He loved country music and especially Vince Gill and Reba McIntyre. When he was a few days out from Branson he called and made reservations at the K.O.A. campground. He loved this country and all the beautiful trees and green lush wooded areas. The further south he got the friendlier the people seemed to get. He loved the “Southern Hospitality.” This campground was only a few miles to the downtown area and all the entertainment activity. They had full-hookups, cable television and also a shuttle bus that took people to the shows if they booked the show through the park. Once he was checked in and had everything settled he thought he would make a reservation to see one of the famous Country and Western shows. George Strait was performing the night he wanted to go. It was a dinner show and it worked out perfect for him. He had a nice dinner and a few glasses of red wine. Even though he was alone he thought it felt good to not think about what had happened to Michael and just relax. During this brief time he wasn’t thinking about the terrorists, he was just enjoying himself for the first time in a long time.
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Chapter 15 - South Carolina
The American Terrorist Page 14