My Letter to Gen. Clarke October 29, 2014 Brigadier General Richard D. Clarke Commander 82nd Airborne Division U.S. Army Ft. Bragg, North Carolina 306672 Dear General Clarke, I don’t know from a protocol standpoint if I am allowed to write to you or not, but I am a citizen and a concerned one at that, so I hope it will be okay and you will spare a few minutes to read my letter. As a former mid-level manager for the telephone company, I know what it is like to hold a person’s future in my hands, as far as hiring, firing, and promotions went. But the gravity of having an individual’s freedom within one’s power is a daunting responsibility, to say the least. You hold the future of a very special person in your hands. I pray every night that He will grant you the wisdom and the courage to do the right thing in the case of Clint Lorance. I have never met Clint or his mother Anna in person, but over the last year, I have come to know them both as two of the best people God ever put on this earth. Clint is everything I would have ever wanted in a son, had God ever granted me that privilege. He is loving, kind, considerate, selfless, courageous, noble, loyal, and brave. I was not there in Afghanistan when the incident in question occurred, nor have I had the opportunity to read the trial transcript. But if you were to ask me to stake my life on Clint’s innocence, I would do in in an instant without a moment’s hesitation. Were you to ask me if I would approve of him marrying my one and only granddaughter whom I raised, I would have to say, “She should be so lucky!” Please allow me to tell you a few things I have learned about this fine young man over the past months, not from Clint (he never blows his own horn, nor does he ever ask for a thing), but from others, whose lives he has touched. 1. When Clint went in the Army, he had allotments cut from his paycheck to be sent to his grandmother. When she asked him about it, he told her it was a new program the Army offered and wasn’t costing him a thing, keeping that ruse up for as long as she would buy it. The payments continued until the military stopped his pay. 2. While stationed in Korea, Clint learned that his sister’s husband was ill and would be unable to work for a few months. In spite of her assurances that they would be fine financially, Clint sent her money on a regular basis until after her husband returned to work. The payments to his grandmother did not stop during this time. 3. When he was 17, Clint had to drop out of school because working 3 jobs to help his family financially and keeping up with his classwork got to be more than he could handle. But Clint was unwilling to remain a high school dropout, subsequently completing his high school education and enrolling in college to study law. 4. Clint watched the events of 9/11 unfold on television, with a consoling arm around his mother. On his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the Army because he felt it was his duty. He had wanted to enlist at age 17, but his parents made him wait until he was 18. He has told me that he had wanted to become an Assistant District Attorney and also wanted to do a stint in the Peace Corps. But he fell in love with the Army and intended to make it his career. 5. While an enlisted man, Clint used the G.I. Bill to obtain his college degree, the first person in his family to go to college. Then he re-enlisted to get his commission. 6. After Clint’s conviction, his mother wanted to start a website in support of him, but he insisted that it be not just for him, but for all men in his situation. Only when he realized that it was too much work for his mother, did he relent. But before he gave up, he had organized the family to provide them the structure they had requested he help them with, gotten a company to donate the website design, and gotten a legal firm to donate the organizational documents. Although it remains his dream to revive his foundation upon his release, he told me he regrets having put his family through the strain of the effort to establish the foundation. He feels he failed to recognize the limitations on their time due to their other obligations. He also told me he was working with an attorney to make sure the 501c was properly closed down for the time being because he did not want to trouble his mother with it and he could not bear the thought of his mom or any of his family experiencing any problems due to loose ends not being tied up. 7. Getting an advanced degree from a prison where no internet access is allowed is almost an impossibility. Although many universities offer correspondence course, they all require internet access. That did not stop Clint. He kept searching until he found a way to do it and is now enrolled at the University of California at Sacramento for the Spring semester in their Master’s Program. 8. While he was in the process of getting into a Master’s Program, he told me he was planning to re-take the 5 undergrad courses in which he had not obtained an A, and of course, being Clint, asked my advice. 9. I wrote to him the other day telling him that I thought he should approach the prison authorities to allow him to start a mentoring program whereby men like him could mentor some of the other guys who needed some guidance. I also mentioned that when he started his foundation, perhaps that could be one of the services offered by it. That same day I got a letter from him telling me about helping a guy who had hit a stumbling block on a paper he was writing, commenting that he was ‘a good kid’ and just needed a little help. So Clint was already doing mentoring, albeit, unofficially. He is a natural caretaker and a natural leader. 10. The first letter he ever sent me ended with the remark, “I know God is working his will in all this”. 11. He has on more than one occasion, told me how ‘blessed’ he is. How many people in his position do you think would describe themselves that way? 12. He decided that because he was so very blessed with so much support, he should take on a project of helping someone else. So he decided to help another young man he has made friends with at the prison. So far, he has been relentless in his efforts to support his friend. Should Clint be the first to be released, you can bet, he will not forget his friend or what he sees as his obligation to help him when he leaves. 13. When I first wrote to him, I told him at the outset that I was a 69 year-old woman, because I wanted him to know I was someone he might have little interest in corresponding with. He wrote back to me with such enthusiasm for knowing more about me, His exact words were: “Rose, I’d love to hear more about you. Tell me all about you. I encourage you to write as often as you like. I always enjoy mail. Looking forward to hearing from you again. Thanks again. I keep all of Clint’s letters. You see, I see him as a blessing God has brought into my life, not the other way around. But there is no attempt to ‘charm’ me for his own benefit. He has never asked a single thing from me. In fact, he always tells me he is in good shape financially and support-wise, and that he needs nothing. 14. Clint loves learning, and always has the maximum number of books allowed (30) on hand, sending them to his Aunt to save for him as he finishes them. In the last letter I got from him, he told me he was re-reading an 861 page book and he felt he was getting a better grasp of it the second time around. I can’t imagine reading a book that size once, much less twice! He also sent me in that letter, a copy of an essay he was writing, asking for my thoughts on it, as I am an editor. 15. He is relentless in researching every decision before making it. He is consecutively subscribing to the local newspaper of towns he thinks he might like to move to upon his release, so that he can get a feel for the town and not make his decision solely on appearances. Given a while to think about it, I could fill pages on the things that have impressed me about this young man in the relatively short time I have had the honor of his acquaintance. But your time is limited, and I will try to respect that. I am attaching some of Clint’s many awards, achievements, and evaluations. They are in chronological order and I have highlighted pertinent comments, as well as dates. I suspect the two of you have many of these in common. It is my understanding that Clint had received nothing but glowing reviews from all of his superiors, had advanced quickly through the ranks, and had been recommended for promotion to Captain. Are we now to believe that every single officer who had occasion to supervise Clint was wrong in their assessment of this man? Why were all of the positive pieces of evidence (11 of them) excluded from the trial and the jury denied access to them? Was it feared someone would see the inconsistency in the character of the man as described by the prosecution and by his superiors? I do not know, and cannot imagine why the men who testified against Clint did what they did. If I were to speculate, it would be that they did it to keep out of trouble themselves. However, I have found a Facebook page called “Truth About Clint Lorance” administered by Sgt. Daniel Williams, the man who, according to his own words, was Clint’s main accuser. It was evidently previously called “Killer Clint Lorance”, as evidenced by the URL, but was subsequently changed due to the name being “a distraction”. I have attached pages from that page and his personal page. I urge you to look at them and even visit them, then talk to Clint, and see for yourself which man seems more honorable and trustworthy to you. I noticed that Sgt. Williams claims that the men who were killed were a completely innocent village elder and his nephew who were, in fact, aiding the U.S. military in their efforts. If that was the case, why did they test positive for explosives residue on their hands? I also noted that he accuses Clint of killing purely because of prejudice. I would call your attention, General, to the 7/26/2007 evaluation wherein Clint is commended for the excellent care provided 800 detainees and for the safe transport of over 200 detainees, and again to the evaluation of 6/30/2008, where he is praised for supervising the movement of over 1400 detainees flawlessly. If Clint were so extremely prejudiced, wouldn’t it stand to reason that he would have found a way to be less than flawless in caring for these people? It seems that simply sending a man to prison for 20 years is not enough for Mr. Williams. He must continue to besmirch his name and torment his family, going so far as to post taunting messages on their Facebook page, calling them liars and cheats, and to threaten to sue them. Sir, when I heard you would be the one with Clint’s fate in your hands, I researched you, hoping to find out what kind of man you are. Everything I saw pointed to a man of honor. I saw a photo of you hugging your young son at a promotion celebration. The tremendous love and pride you have for your boy was evident just by the way you held him. I tell you truthfully, Sir, Clint is the type of man you would want your son to grow up to be. Even though he currently sits in a prison cell, I have found him to be the most remarkable person I have ever known. And to give you an idea of the other people I admire, they are Mother Teresa, Gandhi, and the Dali Lama. It’s a short list! In conclusion, General Clarke, I would like to say that contrary to the assumption of the media, the American public is not made up entirely of a bunch of bumbling fools. One does not have to be a genius to see that something is wrong with this picture. When one combines the opinions of Clint Lorance’s senior officers throughout his career with the personal knowledge of his private character I have itemized in this letter, it is evident that there has been a gross miscarriage of justice in this case. Clint Lorance deserves an apology from the Army, restoration of his rank, benefits, and back pay. He should be offered the option of continuing to serve or an honorable discharge. Thank you for your attention, General Clarke. I will keep you in my prayers as you face this difficult decision. Sincerely, Rose Lipscomb
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 00:08:10 +0000
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