November 7
Hi everyone,
Next week at this time we will be in Tacoma for Andy’s Article 32. It is hard to believe that it is final here. It seems like we have been waiting forever for Andy to have his day in court. Wendy was able to get Qwest to remove the block that the military put on our phone. So, we were able to talk with Andy this morning. We were able to tell him that he has a new lawyer, for some reason the Army has seen fit to allow Andy to have two military attorneys. Captain Joy Primo is on Andy’s defense team now. She is on the ground at Fort Lewis, so that will be nice for Andy.
Andy was able to have a second MRI on Friday, but the results have not been
released yet, at least not to us. Andy seemed upbeat today, he is excited to see the family and to have his day in court. He seemed upbeat this morning, and ready for next week to get here.
I have had some time lately to do some thinking, which is not always a good
thing. Before all of this happened, I would have never believed that the
greatest country in the world would incarcerated American POW’s. I guess it
wasn’t something that I spent anytime thinking about. Don’t get me wrong, I
knew they had military prisons, but never in my wildest dreams did I think my
son would end up in one. My son volunteered to serve his county. No one made him, in fact most tried to talk him out of it. But even today, he is proud of his decision to serve. Don’t get me wrong, I support our troops, no matter what. But sending our child off to a war, is something no parent should have to face. When We put Andy on that plane having him to return in shackles was not something that I envisioned. There have been several things that I have envisioned.
I guess one of the biggest is the financial part of having your child
incarcerated. I am not talking about the cost of Andy’s private attorney, but the day to day things. The collect phone calls, the trips to Washington, the time away from work, it is just amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are a lot of parents whose children are not coming home from that hell hole, and I know that they would give everything they have just for one more hug from their son or daughter. What price do you put on your child’s life? A million dollars. I don’t know, as a parent, I would give my life for children. And, I have told Andy, I would give anything to trade places with him.
The other thing that I never expected was other’s comments. I am not
talking about the people who know Andy, I am talking about the people who have never met him. I never excepted to have the press camped outside our door, looking for an interview. I never expected neighbors who had never met Andy, looking for their 15 minutes of fame. The cruelest comments have come from people, who in my opinion haven’t even heard Andy’s side of things. The
question that most people ask me is; how do you know Andy is innocent of murder. I guess I know that in two different ways 1) Andy told us that he is innocent, and we have no reason to not believe him 2) I know my son, and I know he is not capable of killing an innocent person.
As we prepare to travel I would ask for prayers for safe travel as we have a lot of family and friends going to support Andy, prayers for Andy’s attorneys they they have the strength and conviction to get the truth out there, and for Andy to be strong and face his accusers with the confidence and faith that he will once again walk as a free man.
Dana Holmes
by Stjepan G. Mestrovic 
by Stjepan G. Mestrovic
by Stjepan G. Mestrovic