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Sunday the 12th of October, 2008

Still Remembering…

On this, the 10th anniversary of the brutal attack and killing of Matthew Shepard, I’m continuing to remember him and all the others we’ve lost. I usually always do something here at Fiercepoet.com in remembrance; whether it be the simple placement of the header image I use, posting of a video, a song or some other form of tribute. I’m slowly building a tribute that can be simply added to and reposted each year. This is the work in progress. I say work in progress because as long as there is hatred towards homosexuals and transgenders, there will always be work to be done.

Charlie Howard - July 1984.... Allen R. Schindler, Jr. - October 1992.... Brandon Teena - December 1993.... Scott Amedure - March 1995.... Billy Clayton - May 1995.... Tyra Hunter - August 1995.... Matthew Shepard - October 1998.... Billy Jack Gaither - February 1999.... PFC Barry Winchell - July 1999.... JR Warren - July 2000.... Danny Overstreet - September 2000.... Fred Martinez - June 2001.... Aaron Webster - November 2001.... Sakia Gunn - May 2003.... Scotty Joe Weaver - July 2004.... Roderick George - July 2004.... Jody Dobrowski - October 2005.... The list continues…

Unfortunately, this list may never end. We can however help prevent further crimes by remembering past victims. No one will ever forget seeing that bloody, split-rail fence on the Wyoming prairie. No one ever should.

Tribute to Matthew Shepard (Flash File)

My son Matthew did not look like a winner. After all, he was small for his age—weighing, at the most, 110 pounds, and standing only 5’2” tall. He was rather uncoordinated and wore braces from the age of 13 until the day he died. However, in his all too brief life, he proved that he was a winner. My son—a gentle, caring soul—proved that he was as tough as, if not tougher than, anyone I have ever heard of or known. On October 6, 1998, my son tried to show the world that he could win again. On October 12, 1998, my first-born son—and my hero—lost. On October 12, my first-born son—and my hero— died 50 days before his 22nd birthday. He died quietly, surrounded by family and friends, with his mother and brother holding his hand. All that I have left
now are the memories....

Matt officially died at 12:53 a.m. on Monday, October 12, 1998, in a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado. He actually died on the outskirts of Laramie tied to a fence that Wednesday before, when you beat him. You, Mr. McKinney, with your friend Mr. Henderson, killed my son....

By the end of the beating, his body was just trying to survive. You left him out there by himself, but he wasn’t alone. There were his lifelong friends with him—friends that he had grown up with. You’re probably wondering who these friends were. First, he had the beautiful night sky with the same stars and moon that we used to look at through a telescope. Then, he had the daylight and the sun to shine on him one more time—one more cool, wonderful autumn day in Wyoming. His last day alive in Wyoming. His last day alive in the state that he always proudly called home. And through it all he was breathing in for the last time the smell of Wyoming sagebrush and the scent of pine trees from the snowy range. He heard the wind—the ever-present Wyoming wind—for the last time. He had one more friend with him. One he grew to know through his time in Sunday school and as an acolyte at St. Mark’s in Casper as well as through his visits to St. Matthew’s in Laramie. He had God....

I feel better knowing he wasn’t alone....

Mr. McKinney, one final comment before I sit, and this is the reason that I stand before you now. At no time since Matt was found at the fence and taken to the hospital have Judy and I made any statements about our beliefs concerning the death penalty. We felt that that would be an undue influence on any prospective juror. Judy has been quoted by some right-wing groups as being against the death penalty. It has been stated that Matt was against the death penalty. Both of these statements are wrong. We have held family discussions and talked about the death penalty. Matt believed that there were incidents and crimes that justified the death penalty. For example, he and I discussed the horrible death of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, Texas. It was his opinion that the death penalty should be sought and that no expense should be spared to bring those responsible for this murder to justice. Little did we know that the same response would come about involving Matt. I, too, believe in the death penalty. I would like nothing better than to see you die, Mr. McKinney. However, this is the time to begin the healing process. To show mercy to someone who refused to show any mercy. To use this as the first step in my own closure about losing Matt. Mr. McKinney, I am not doing this because of your family. I am definitely not doing this because of the crass and unwarranted pressures put on by the religious community. If anything, that hardens my resolve to see you die. Mr. McKinney, I’m going to grant you life, as hard as that is for me to do, because of Matthew. Every time you celebrate Christmas, a birthday, or the Fourth of July, remember that Matt isn’t. Every time that you wake up in that prison cell, remember that you had the opportunity and the ability to stop your actions that night. Every time that you see your cell mate, remember that you had a choice, and now you are living that choice. You robbed me of something very precious, and I will never forgive you for that. Mr. McKinney, I give you life in the memory of one who no longer lives. May you have a long life, and may you thank Matthew every day for it.

Full Excerpt after the Break.

Scarecrow via Melissa Etheridge

Showers of your crimson blood
Seep into a nation calling up a flood
Of narrow minds who legislate
Thinly veiled intolerance
Bigotry and hate

But they tortured and burned you
They beat you and they tied you
They left you cold and breathing
For love they crucified you

I can’t forget hard as I try
This silhouette against the sky

Scarecrow crying
Waiting to die wondering why
Scarecrow trying
Angels will hold carry your soul away

This was our brother
This was our son
This shepherd young and mild
This unassuming one
We all gasp this can’t happen here
We’re all much too civilized
Where can these monsters hide

But they are knocking on our front door
They’re rocking in our cradles
They’re preaching in our churches
And eating at our tables

I search my soul
My heart and in my mind
To try and find forgiveness
This is someone child
With pain unreconciled
Filled up with father’s hate
Mother’s neglect
I can forgive But I will not forget

Scarecrow crying
Waiting to die wondering why
Scarecrow trying
Rising above all in the name of love

The rest of the story...

Posted by fiercepoet at 02:26 AM on the 12th of October, 2008.
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Thursday the 11th of September, 2008

Remembering Kenneth Tietjen

About the Kenneth F. Tietjen Memorial Foundation

The Foundation was created in November 2001 as a non-profit organization to honor the memory of Port Authority Police Officer Kenny Tietjen, who sacrificed his life at the World Trade Center on Septemebr 11th.The main goal of the Foundation is to provide bicycles and/or other aid to underpriveledged children throughout New Jersey.

The idea for the Foundation came about because each year during the Christmas season, the Tietjen’s would “adopt” a needy family and provide all the food, clothes, and toys to help make the family’s Christmas a happy one. It was always Kenny’s job to provide the bikes for the children - it was something he looked forward to doing.

With the holidays approaching less than three months after Kenny was killed, his family and friends wanted to find a positive way to keep his memory alive and lessen the huge hole that they would feel by spending Christmas without Kenny.

Through generous donations from friends, family, fellow Port Authority police officers, and wonderful strangers, the Foundation was able to purchase and deliver 11 bicycles to needy children that very first year. With continued support, the Foundation donated 37 bicycles, 3 computers, and many other toys to families throughout New Jersey during 2002. With your continued support, Kenny’s Foundation is looking foward to expanding its “Acts of Hope” in the years to come.

For additional information or to make a contribution, please contact .

Thank you for helping us to keep Kenny’s wonderful spirit alive!

He Claimed the Respirator

As a boy, the two things that scared Ken Tietjen most were fire trucks and police cars. So he took some ribbing from his family when, as an adult, he chose a job that required him to ride in both.

Mr. Tietjen, a Port Authority police officer, was at the 33rd Street PATH station when he heard about the terrorist attack, said Laurie Quinn, his sister. Mr. Tietjen commandeered a taxi, banished the driver to the back seat, and drove to ground zero. He rushed into the north tower and helped people down, but when he emerged to get a new respirator, only one remained, his partner recalled. Smiling, Mr. Tietjen said, “Seniority rules,” took the respirator and ran into the south tower. Moments later, the building fell.

Typical, said Ms. Quinn, noting his commendation for bravery this year, received for tackling a man who had stabbed the sergeant he worked with. As a firefighter several years back, he returned to a burning building to rescue an unconscious colleague.

One of those Mr. Tietjen rescued on Sept. 11 attended his memorial Mass. But he did not stay because he became overwhelmed.

Ms. Quinn said: “My brother had a choice whether to go back and he chose to go back in. I wouldn’t expect anything less from him.”

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 1, 2001.

Kenneth Tietjen, 31, rushed to the scene

Kenneth Tietjen, a police officer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, always wanted to be a firefighter.

In junior high school, as a member of the Middletown Fire Explorers, he rode his mo-ped to local fires. When he turned 18, his dream became a reality when he became a volunteer for the Belford Engine Company. His mother remembers how proud he was after fighting his first fire.

“He came home and said, ‘We had a great fire today. It was a propane tank,’ “ said Janice Tietjen of Belford. “He was right at the front of the hose and I said, ‘Why were you there?’ He said, ‘That’s where the excitement is.’ “

Mr. Tietjen, 31, of Matawan, died while rescuing people trapped in the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attack. He led workers, some of them badly burned, from Tower One before grabbing the last air pack in sight and entering Tower Two.

“He waved to his partner and went in,” his mother said.

Mr. Tietjen, who was engaged to be married later this month, died when Tower Two collapsed.

Mr. Tietjen, who had been a Port Authority police officer for nine years, was working his job on the PATH trains when he heard of the attack. He immediately rushed into Manhattan to help, first commandeering a cab, then hopping an emergency vehicle.

“Wherever he could be, that’s where he was,” his mother said.

At the time of his death, Tietjen was training to be a member of the Port Authority Emergency Services Unit. All he needed was to complete a scuba diving course to fulfill his dream, his mother said.

Mr. Tietjen received several awards for his work with the Port Authority, including a special commendation in 1996 for subduing a man who rammed a patrol car in the Holland Tunnel and then stabbed a police officer.

Off the job, Tietjen, who moved to Matawan two years ago, liked action, too.

He was an avid hockey player and enjoyed riding dirtbikes with his fiancée’s 13-year-old son. He was a reliable handyman, always ready to help others with a home improvement project, his mother said.

“He loved Home Depot,” she said. “He loved everything—life, sports, people, his job. Every day was another project for him. He was a lovable person with many, many friends. And I know it sounds corny, but he was a really good kid . . . He was born on the Fourth of July. He was a hero.”

Tietjen was a parishioner of St. Joseph’s Church in Keyport and a member of Fraternal Order of Police No. 110 and the New Jersey State PBA Lodge 116.

In addition to his mother, Mr. Tietjen is survived by his father, Kenneth Tietjen; his fiancée, Karen Dalla Valle of Matawan; and two sisters, Cindy Tietjen of Belford and Laurie Quinn of Hazlet.

A memorial Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Joseph’s Church. Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the John E. Day Funeral Home, 85 Riverside Ave., Red Bank.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Kenneth F. Tietjen Foundation, which provides bicycles to poor children at Christmas. The address is 27 Gregory St., Hazlet, N.J., 07730.

Profile by Carrie Stetler published in THE STAR-LEDGER.

The rest of the story...

Posted by fiercepoet at 02:18 AM on the 11th of September, 2008.
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Wednesday the 19th of March, 2008

Change the Message!

Posted by fiercepoet at 12:08 AM on the 19th of March, 2008.
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Sunday the 16th of March, 2008

A Public Statement to Mr. Obama

This letter was previously printed from a Livejournal usergroup supporting Hillary Clinton. I concur strongly with this group.

Dear Mr. Obama,

As the candidate who was running on the premise of change, and hope, and restoring trust back in Washington with a new kind of leader, you presented yourself as a uniter. A person who would “Rise Up” and “Change” Washington.

At first, I kept an open ear to your statements, much like I listened to John Edwards. And then, the initial Rezko scandal hit. And I didn’t honestly think it hurt you too bad. And then, you released your economic plan, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like how you wanted to raise taxes by 1.3 trillion dollars. I didn’t like how you didn’t support immediate foreclosure relief. I didn’t like how you wanted to keep borrowing $300 billion dollars from foreign governments to support your new spending proposals. But I still listened.

I listened mostly because I heard the rest of the country praising your name, and it’s not always fun going against what your friends are doing. I listened because I wanted to feel that “gotcha” moment that had fallen over the rest of my co-workers and the online communities that I read. I was still listening.

And then you started flip flopping on the issues. On Gun Control. On Universal Heath Care. On taking money from people to water down Senate bills (hint: If it walks like a lobbyist, talks like a lobbyist, and acts like a lobbyist… it’s not a mongoose.) And Mr. Obama, I started tuning out a little. But I was still listening.

I listened to you talk about “Change” and say that our nation needed to “Rise Up”. It sort of sounded like a broken record from earlier, but I listened.

And then I heard about Jeremiah Wright. I heard about him in March of 2007. And you were not strong on him then, but you did disavow his statement, the one you were “told” about. I thought “Maybe” back then, if he’s able to disavow someone like his own Pastor, he may be the real deal. But then we learned you kept him on your campaign committee. That’s not action Mr. Obama, that isn’t change - that’s an old political stunt of “I say one thing, but I do another.”

But I kept listening, I wanted to hear how you would handle this crisis. This was your moment to shine. And then I heard you, your own words, say that you weren’t aware that your own Pastor had said ANY of these words in his sermons besides the one you were alerted to back in March 2007.

I’ve been to church many times Mr. Obama, but not a regular. And even being a casual lay person to the church, I KNEW what was going on, I heard about what the pastor’s last sermon was all about. Mr. Obama, I went maybe once a month on a good month, and I knew what happened over the past month. And that’s without my church having a website that sold the sermons or offered web replays of them on demand.

But what has happened now, with the countless speeches, given on many different days, that have been brought to light, and with your acknowledged church attendance since 1992 on today’s interviews, you expect us - not as political hacks, but as Americans - to believe you when you say that you didn’t know of ANY of the hate filled speech that was going on?

Mr. Obama, most of America doesn’t believe you. We believe you have lied to our faces to cover your butt. You probably would have gotten out of this with less damage if you would have admitted that you knew about some of the hate filled crap that your pastor was spewing, but then tried defending him on his positive points that I’ve heard about him, like being a U.S. Marine, or the work that he and your church tries to do in the Chicago community.

It is clear now Mr. Obama, that you could only keep this charade up for so long. Nearly all the comments on the news message boards are things along these lines:

“My feelings for Obama have definitely changed. I really think the people of United States have an obligation to research Senator Obama and what he believes before they give him an office to lead all the people in the country.”

“Obama must be the only church goer who does not know what his preacher preaches. With this sort of attention to main themes I dont think he should run for office any longer.”

“I found Mr. Obama’s responses to be questionable. My support for Obama is in jeopardy. It is very hard to belive that after 20 years Barack could be suprised by the Pastor’s comments.”

I could go on, but you can go on to ABC News, CNN, and MSNBC and read them for yourself. They are overwhelmingly distrustful of you and your statement. And this is from the internet community who traditionally is your best demographic; who has defended you to the end on past issues.

It is now clear Mr. Obama, that the jig is up, and you have let your candidacy be permanently damaged. You have provided overwhelming fodder for Republicans in the general election. This lie, Mr. Obama, has ended any chance of myself or most Americans being able to support you. It is not the racist statements of your supporter, Mr. Obama, it is this lie that you have told with self-conviction that you did not know your pastor said any of these statements.

Continuing to stay in the democratic contest will do nothing but hurt you and hurt our chances in the general election. It is now, Mr. Obama, time to exit with grace and support the only candidate who still has a chance of defeating John McCain: Hillary Clinton.

Do the right thing Mr. Obama, and drop out now.

Posted by fiercepoet at 03:04 PM on the 16th of March, 2008.
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Monday the 10th of March, 2008

Are you listening?

No, it’s people like this narrow minded person who is destroying our country. It’s not “us”.

Posted by fiercepoet at 01:02 PM on the 10th of March, 2008.
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Thursday the 12th of October, 2006

Into The Dark… Rememberance.

I’ve decided to “go dark” so to speak with the site and replace the normally random header photos with a single flame on a black background. A flame that should continue to burn bright as we remember those we’ve lost.... A flame not easily extinguished....

I’ll leave you with a few words from Dennis Shepard’s appearance before the court.