A Chance for Reflection and a Time to Heal
Washington DC Bound - And A Visit To The Wall
I’m going to Washington DC
Good Monday morning to everyone! This is a very busy time right now, so I won’t be long with you. I could definitely use your help, though, and I’ll tell you more about that at the end of this post. I will be going to the annual Starving for Justice: Fast and Vigil where hundreds gather to protest the Death Penalty and to pray for an end to the killing.
This is a 4-day event - June 29th - July 2nd, and will be held at the United States Supreme Court building.
Pretty lofty aspirations and accomplishment for a guy who just a few short years ago was in his 47th year of prison in Angola, Louisiana’s largest maximum security prison isn’t it? Why is this trip so important and why am I telling you about it?
Well, my friend and mentor, Abe Bonowitz, invited me to participate this year. Abe is the pre-eminent voice in the abolition movement. I am excited to participate and again, it is important.
Well, HERE’S why it is important.
I oppose the death penalty in ALL cases.
I celebrate my freedom.
I’m a Vietnam veteran (USAF, RVN 1971) and I never had the opportunity to visit the wall, even though as a convict I helped set up and tear down the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall and worked as a volunteer a few times.
I’m the founding president of the Camp F VETS VVA Chapter 689, an incarcerated veterans organization at Angola. When I was released on March 30, 2023, I had served as the president for a total of 12 years. My friend, James “Tennessee” Mysinger, who makes wonderful little Christmas ornaments and home items like miniature furniture, succeeded me and has kept the organization going and very active.
There were a large number of veterans in Angola from several wars - The Korean War, Vietnam, the Panama invasion and as I neared freedom, more and more Gulf War I and II veterans were arriving. The last WWII veteran in Angola passed away several years ago.
I will fulfill my dream of going to the Wall and etching my friends’ names onto scraps of paper that I will treasure. I will wear my Vietnam Veteran headgear. I will wear my Camp F VETS logo-emblazoned shirt - not just for myself, but for all the brothers I left behind me in Angola. This is important for me and for them.
I will be a speaker - not sure of the day yet, probably on the 30th - and I will be speaking on the death penalty in general, and on one case in particular out of Louisiana. It is an abomination. I have one simple message to deliver about the death penalty in general:
You don’t teach people who have killed people that killing people is wrong by killing people.
And, there is absolutely NO WAY on God’s green earth that the ultimate penalty can be doled out fairly. African-Americans make up roughly 13% of the US population, while they make up 42% of the overall death row population. It’s also a question of economics and class. If it can’t be administered fairly, it should never be used.
RACIAL POPULATIONS ON DEATH ROW
Numbers never lie.
MISTAKES ARE MADE! Once a person has suffered for decades on death row while appeals and evidentiary hearings are held, it is often discovered through investigative or scientific methods that a person is factually innocent. If he’s executed, that can never be remedied, can never be undone. The fact is that approximately 1 of every 8 persons on death row is wrongly convicted. Louisiana in particular has a miserable record in capital convictions - 12 are already exonerated and cleared from death row since executions were restarted in the 1970’s, and a 13th has had his conviction and sentence vacated and is awaiting a final ruling after 30+ years on death row. The one single factor in every exoneration in Louisiana has been “official misconduct.” This cannot stand.
So this 4-day event is very important, and I will be attending - to reflect and to heal and to help to offer hope to so many in such need.
Here’s how you can help or get involved and learn more about the Death Penalty Action organization:
And I need help in attending this event. You can really help by becoming a paid subscriber because it helps keep my bills paid and gives me the freedom to continue fighting the death penalty. You can do that by clicking here.
Or you can visit my website and donate there at
Or even easier and faster, you can buy me a cup of coffee (or more!)
Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate every single one of you, and appreciate your support!