Feb 23
My Parole Board Did Not Go As Planned Sitting in a waiting room in anticipation to be seen next was nerve racking. The parole board was in session and my turn was coming up. These people would decide three things for me. First, if I was eligible for the next custody level from Minimum to Trustee. …
Feb 16
Blowing It It was early April, 1991 and I had to submit my parole packet before my board in June. My parents would not be back to the U.S. for me to live with them, so the plan was to stay with my grandmother in Connecticut. That plan changed when we felt like it was …
Feb 09
How A Visit Made Me Feel Human Again It was a normal day of mess hall duties when I received a surprise message. I overheard a transmission on one of the cadre’s radio. The person on the other end said, “Send inmate Mike to South Gate, he has a visitor.” Since my parents would not …
Jan 26
Music and Friends A couple of friends from Ft. Polk were also in building B-6 with me. Devin who used to live in Jane’s trailer and Chris Holmes. We were all living in the same bay. Our relationship was different now, especially since I testified against Chris. It wasn’t the same as with Captain Tessler …
Jan 19
Crime and Punishment Although we were serving time for the crimes we were convicted of, there were times when if you messed up you were punished again. If you screwed with other inmates, there would be a great chance of retaliation. Not always right away, but things didn’t just go away. Or, there were some …
Jan 12
On 17 January 1991, the United States started an extensive aerial bombing campaign in Iraq, changing the name of Operation Desert Shield to Operation Desert Storm. Combat troops were on the ground blazing their way towards Kuwait City. The U.S. was at war which meant so was I, but I couldn’t do anything about it. …
Jan 05
December Blessings This was a heavy blow to me because I really wanted to cut hair when I got out of prison. My plan was to get my barber’s license, gain some professional experience and start working as soon as I got out. It seemed as if I was going to have to attend school …
Dec 29
Good News Bad News Good News came on Dec 6th, 1990. I was elevated to Minimum Custody and it was time to leave 3 Wing. My red badge was swapped for a green one with the letters MIN on it. This badge was a key to more freedom than I had experienced for over a …
Dec 22
Regret In early November, the guards woke us up at 5:00 am on a Saturday, to go get our flu shots. This was a pretty smart idea because this many people in a confined area getting sick, could cause an epidemic. After the flu shot we were all taken to the gym to have our …
Dec 15
Laundry One of the jobs that I am glad I did not get was laundry detail. It was a thankless job and it was extremely hot. We could send our clothes to the laundry once a week. All of our soiled clothes went into a green Army laundry bag that was tied to the end …
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