Monday Nov. 4, 2013: 12:00pm: Listening to "We Are Soldiers": by "Otherwise"

Hi everyone. Just a short one today. Last night our Catholic church organization, the Holy Name Society, we sponsored our annual Veterans Day Service celebration here in the prison chapel. We had a good time and this is important to me as a man because so many people live and fight in the wars our governments start and thousands of young men and women die, needlessly, in these wars. In my family, my grandfather desperately wanted to follow his brother into the military but Pop Pop had bad hearing so he was denied. But his twin brother, my great uncle Tony Pizzica, from Maryland, was a Marine and my great uncle Dean was in the Navy. And my own brother Jerry was in the Navy. So I salute the men & women who do serve in our country's military installations, from the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard and all of the reservists. I might be serving a life sentence in prison but I thank each and every one of you's for helping make our country safe for my family and friends. My life might not be important anymore but theirs is. I've never understood why our president and his cabinet does not have some sort of vetting process for prisoners who want to fight for this country and attempt to earn our lives back and redeem ourselves. I for one would jump at the opportunity to be trained and taught to fight in combat. I could pass any physical fitness test that any of our military requires. I already have the will to want to do better and succeed, but for some reason our government doesn't do this. They let us sit here and rot, and allow young men & women to die fighting in the wars they started. I'm not anti-war, I understand that war is sometimes a necessary evil. When you come up against pure evil, war is probably going to be your only recourse. Our government has not used prisoners in the military since the 1940s, this is what I was told by a man who was in the military for over 30 years. But he also said they were never used for combat purposes. Well, maybe it's about time they look into doing this. Give me a chance to redeem myself, earn my life back, or at least earn something for my daughter that could help her in life. Don't just let thousands upon thousands of potential soldiers sit and rot with no purpose. Maybe one day but I doubt it will happen in my lifetime. One person asked me how that would happen, I could run. I responded by saying, implant GPS tracking in my body. Maybe this isn't an option for every lifer, but for a lot of us it is. In here, for the annual Veterans Day service, I hold the title of "Food & Beverage Coordinator". But inside, I still desire to do more. Will our government ever allow this? Only if the people speak up. I leave it at that. To anyone reading this who is serving or has served in our military, you are not just appreciated and thanked by free citizens, there are thousands in prison who also feel the same way. I thank you myself and I do not have to know you to appreciate the great sacrifices you make for us. If I could do more, I would. I am open to ideas though. If anyone has any, let me know. In here we do donate to the Wounded Warriors Foundation, Red Cross, the U.S.O., Salvation Army, many local food banks. I can't name them all. There are a lot of good men in here who want to help, they get paid 19" per hour but they still donate half of their monthly pay check to the Red Cross, that speaks mountains about a person. I am attaching our Veterans Day service program handout. If you can make out the picture, read the words on the inside to see what the picture represents. It was new for me to learn this. Take care, stay safe, thank you's all and God bless. Ciao.

PS: I'm told that most vets feel they were once important, and now forgotten. Imagine how the vets in prison feel. Some have been here for 20-30+ years. Thanx for listening.