yesterday our good friends were over for dinner and Ron and I

[madokie]

were talking about first one thing and then another when out of the blue he started talking about bushco's* criminal behavior in the many transgressions of the past 5 1/2 years. This is my friend who I had given up on ever seeing the light as to the illegal and immoral war in Iraq and in bushco* policies in general. I feel we are making progress it waking the citizens of this country up. And yes he is one of the ones who took the deferment route during the Vietnam War.

In hindsight I wished I would have had the courage to do what ever it took to not have been a part of the illegal and immoral Vietnam War.

[niyad]

1. glad your friends are beginning to see the light--and please don't blame

yourself for taking part--there were not a lot of options for getting out of going--the possiblity of leaving one's home, never to return, was surely daunting. what we need to do is make sure nobody has to face those choices ever again.

thank you for your service, and I hope you are able to find peace in your soul.

[madokie]

2. Thanks thats been my mission for 37 years now

President Clinton helped me with the peace

[alfredo]

3. I have a friend that went to prison instead of Nam.

Amnesty International adopted him and worked for his release. He was a prisoner of conscience.


Back in Detroit during the early 70's, a young man walked up to us. He was dirty, tired, shoeless. He said he needed help. He said he was with a draft resistor's league. I can't remember the actual name of the group, but they were well known. We could tell he was at the end of his rope.

HIs story went like this: He was sitting in his Denver apartment when he heard some car doors. He looked out his window and saw men rushing his building. He crawled out his window and escaped. He hitched a ride east and ended up in Detroit. He needed to escape to Canada. We took him to Open City, a local organization for the hungry and homeless. We got him some food, clean clothes, some money and an someone got him an ID. He was taken to the bus to Windsor Canada. He got turned back at the border. He next tried the bridge, but once again he got turned back. He then tried to find a boater to take him across. That failed. He then decided to try and swim across the Straits. The current is quite strong there, and he drowned in his attempt at freedom.

[madokie]

4. so sad, no person should be a prisoner because of their convictions

[alfredo]

5. That's why we started a local chapter of

Amnesty International.

[madokie]

6. and I commend you for that

[alfredo]

7. We do what we can.

I won't have much time for it until after the fall elections. It appears that I might be put in a leadership role, but I don't want that.