I am writing this knowing this will be forwarded by "The Release Heather
Osland" group.
I live in the City of Reno, Nevada, United States of America. It is the
thirteenth day of January, Nineteen Hundred Ninety-Nine.
To Whom This May Concern:
I urge you to release Heather Osland--and my circumstances are rather
extraordinary to those who will also write to you for her release.
I was guilty of abusing my spouse during our marriage. We are--needless to
say--now divorced.
What I did was gravely wrong. I was young and stupid, insensitive, and have
no excuse. I am reforming--NOT (emphasis) "reformed". When they lay me in
my grave and I have not repeated these acts of barbarism by that time, then
they can call me "reformed." In the meantime, I have been free of this
misconduct for fifteen years this month.
I say this knowing that the violence that once existed in me, exists in me
still. Violence is an urge that I must fight daily, and fight it hard, for
the remainder of my life. I am assisted by medication and therapy towards
that end, but mostly--I isolate myself from others.
Had my wife struck out at me in fear, I would have deserved it. There is no
excuse for my actions.
The actions of Mrs. Osland's husband--not surprisingly--were far graver than
mine, but he and I share the same burden of guilt irregardless. We were
both brutal. We were both bad examples for one another, and for others.
The worst kind of examples, if the truth were told today.
The only reasons I could see for you not wanting to release her, is perhaps
that--among you--are others who practice the same acts of wanton repute who
wish to continue these acts, and fear no punishment or reprisal for them!
Say this isn't so, and release her!
You would not punish or imprison her husband for his acts against her and
their family, but you would gladly send her to prison for protecting her
family and herself from this hostile, threatening, and meancing
individual--one who could menace them even when he wasn't present in the
home!?
Where are your hearts and your souls? Had you intervened to protect Heather
and their family, this incident might never have occurred, and the right
person sent to jail or reformed--and perhaps their family saved...
...but for your lack of neglect or caring, or even in knowing of his violent
ways, perhaps--did not intervene--and they were not saved. This has
happened repeatedly in over 8 million cases a year here in the United
States. Don't let your country become a haven for Family Abuse as has ours.
Have you not now committed a crime against her, by sending her to prison for
the meager act of having defended herself and her loved ones, against the
vicious brutality of another?
Have mercy. Show mercy. Return this woman to her family. Send a message
to the true offenders--those who brutalize innocent women and children--that
there will be forgiveness for those who defend against acts of tyranny and
oppression--and that they (the abusive offenders) will not be missed, if
they continue on the path of mental and physical violence against those whom
they should love, for whom they've professed "love," but in the end, and
none the less, oppress.
Frances Anne Kemble was a French-born actress and Aunt to the American Civil
War Hero Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the latter of which led the all-black
54th Massachusetts up the ramparts of Ft. Wagner, outside of Charleston,
South Carolina, in July, 1863.
Shaw died there on those ramparts so that others might be free. 1,500
men--including half of Shaw's Regiment, and Brigadier General Strong--also
died in the battle...
...making others free. Free of tyranny, free of oppression, free of
slavery.
This woman and her children were no better than slaves in their own home.
Free them.
Free her and you free them all.
Shaw's Aunt no doubt impressed him with her first-hand experiences of being
married to a Plantation Slave Owner, one James Butler, whom she later
divorced for his cruelty. I think she voices the predicament of Mrs. Osland
and her children best:
"...the most disgusting struggle which is going on, all the time, on the one
hand to inflict, on the other to evade...
...oppression and injustice."
I have long regretted my own misconduct; my own acts of tyranny and
oppression.
As a result, I do not feel fortunate to be alive.
Let me assure you--I would feel more fortunate, as would many others, if
Mrs. Osland were free among us at this time.
Search your hearts and your souls--as I have--and set her heart and soul,
and those of her children, free, along with Mrs. Osland's physical being.
Truly, it is in the best interests of all--including those who offend by and
with their wanton abuses.
Most Urgent and Sincere Regards,
Mark S. Daniels
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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