The early months of 1968 were very hectic for Officer Bo W. When the sanitation workers started the strike Officer Bo had to work 12 hour shifts, seven days a week, for two months straight. At the time he was married and had 2 kids. He missed his family a lot when he was working these extra shifts. Mr. Bo has lived in Memphis most of his life, but went to seek out more opportunities in Crown Point Indiana when he was 16. He moved back to Memphis after he graduated high school. From there he applied for and became a Memphis police officer when he was 21. He was living a great, but busy life in 1963.
The days before Dr. King was shot, Officer Bo W.’s opinion of Dr. King was wherever Dr. King went there was always trouble. Though Dr. King was a peacemaker, there was not always peace where he went. Although he did not really think much of Dr. King, he did like that he was able to work overtime and make the double pay. The night after Dr. King was shot Officer Bo W. felt like this crime was just another crime in Memphis, and Dr. King as another crime victim. At the time he did not realize how important this assignation would become in history. Now when he looks back he is surprised that he was apart of such an important event. The day Dr. King was shot was a great day in history, but a sad day for everyone who loved the peacemaker Martin Luther King.
Life did not change much for Officer Bo W. after the days Martin Luther King handled. His death was just another event and just another crime and he was not really involved in the things Dr. King did. People did act differently though. Politicians acted differently because they were quickly able to come to a compromise to end the sanitation dispute. However, the racial divide became even worse in Memphis. Blacks started blaming whites for what happened to Dr. King.
Officer Bo W. did not want Dr. King to get shot. He did not want that day to happen, but it did. After Dr. King was shot, a lot of people quit their jobs at the police station. The city was just in pieces. It was like most people were in a state of absolute sadness. When Dr. King was shot Officer Bo W. was 25 and living an easy going life. On March 4, 1963, he was 21 and had just joined the police force. He had been on the job for 5 years an enjoyed it very much. It was a family tradition to be a police officer. He not only wanted to be a police officer growing up, but his dream had come true to still live out in tradition.
Officer Bo W. lived on Cottonwood Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis was a real nice and convenient city in 1963. He was a middle class citizen as he would say“ Blue collar folk.” He said it was “ A city that was going places.” Memphis was a cleaner town, and started winning awards for its cleanliness. It was a very friendly community and you did not have to worry about much at all. Memphis had great economic growth and was very safe.
Everyone trusted each other. You could even leave to go to the market with unlocked house doors and come back with nothing stolen. A lot of that changed after Dr. King’s assassination. 1968 was a great and busy year for Officer Bo W. Officer Bo W. and his partner were two of the very first men on the scene of the shooting at the Lorraine Motel. The Lorraine Motel is located in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was staying the night he was shot. The shot was fired from a bathroom window, the shooter was claimed to be James Earl Ray. Martin Luther King Jr was sent to St. Josephs Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The night after Dr. King was shot was very chaotic for Officer Bo W. because the city had just come apart. People were burning down stores, shooting and killing each other, shooting at officers, and starting riots. Before Dr. King was shot Officer Bo W. was patrolling around the area and had stopped to get a snack before he was dispatched to the scene. Dr. King was in Memphis because the sanitation workers had gone on a strike for two months due to low pay. All officers had spent those two months trying to calm the city down, then Dr. Martin Luther King gets shot, and Memphis became a volatile city.
During the days of 1968 Mr. Bo remembers being tired and being ready to come home from work each day. He did not have a clue what was going to happen the day Dr. King was shot. Everything felt fine like every other normal day in Memphis. Officer Bo saw the event as just another crime. After Dr. King was shot the days went fast for Mr. Bo. He recalls that everything and everyone was being shot at. It was just one thing after another in good old Memphis, Tennessee.