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Veteran's mission: restore honor to brothers in prison

Retired Marine visits inmates, promotes
living with honor, aids return to society.

by Salatheia Bryant

http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/auto/epaper/editions/wednesday/metro_state_34a77e6ca20391b30013.html

HOUSTON
Marine Corps veteran Margarito "Gunny" Vasquez
keeps one rule when he goes behind prison walls to
help incarcerated veterans: Never ask a man what he
is in for.
He strictly abides by this rule out of respect for the
men he calls brothers. Vasquez knows how mistakes
can happen, that one bad decision can bring misfortune.
It happened to him in the spring of 1957.
Vasquez was a private first class in the Army when an
unintentional salty remark to a captain got him charged
with direct disobedience of an order. He was court
martialed, sentenced to six months' hard labor and
busted to private.
"I was really sorry for what I said. He took it as an offensive
remark. I had to pay a price," said Vasquez, who enlisted
in the Marines after a three-year stint in the Army. He
retired after 31 years in the military with nine good
conduct medals.
The 71-year-old Houston man looks beyond parades, ceremonies and dinners honoring
soldiers to the ordeals facing some veterans who are looking for their second chance
at honor.
His chance came in a one-man cell outside Munich, Germany. Under the steely gaze of
armed guards, and anchored by a 75-pound weight on his leg, Vasquez took a
sledgehammer to boulders from sunrise to sunset. The work calloused his hands but
built his resolve to become a better soldier.
He took on extra duties of cleaning toilets and picking up trash. His good behavior
got him out in 90 days. It is the story he tells veterans when they lament their
situations in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Vasquez, who retired from the Marines as a gunnery sergeant, believes it is his duty
to encourage veterans not to give up.
"I knew what the cost of freedom was," Vasquez said. "I can't change the past, but I
can do something about the future. I work with my incarcerated brothers because I've
been there. I want them to come out and be productive."
Vasquez works with a prison-based organization called Veterans Incarcerated. Once a
month for two hours, he ventures behind the razor wire and locked doors at the Ramsey
I Unit in Rosharon, south of Houston. He also makes visits to several other Texas
units.
The moment he walks into the unit, an inmate greets him with a salute. Vasquez gives
a stiff salute back.
Sometimes their talk centers on current events, such as the war in Iraq.
Most times they talk about how to get veteran benefits. Vasquez helps them navigate
the system.
"He helps remind incarcerated veterans that their whole life is not based on what
they did to get here," said inmate David Blaes, 42. "We can still live lives of
honor."
Attendance, as well as participation, at the monthly Veterans Incarcerated meetings
is mandatory.
Two unexcused absences means inmates have to reapply for membership. Three excuses
are allowed: a visit, work detail or illness.
When some inmates leave prison, Vasquez helps them find housing or puts in a good
word for them to get a job. The men see him as their advocate and their possibility
for a clean life on the outside.
"Gunny gives you a sense of who you are," said inmate Smokey Joseph Lee, 72. "He's
extremely defensive about his veteran brothers. He tries to help them all."
Vasquez projects the tough-as-nails Marine image when he directs incarcerated
veterans not to allow Dear John letters to derail their thinking. He warns inmates
not to allow their concern for a sick mother to take over their thoughts.
"You have to do the time and not let the time do you," he said.
But his demeanor turns soft as he holds a laminated color picture of the imprisoned
veterans' color guard. He boasts that the group could rival any Junior ROTC unit.
Vasquez estimates that 33,000 veterans are in custody at Texas prisons. A spokeswoman
for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said the agency does not keep that
statistic.
Though the men at the Ramsey I Unit did not get a parade on Veterans Day, they have
Vasquez the first Saturday of every month.
"He is their link to the free world," said Lt. Santana Villarreal, who works at the
Ramsey I Unit. "He plays a real significant role in making their time easier."
Vasquez would like to start counseling prisoners who are affiliated with gangs.
"It's too much suffering with the veterans," he said. "My hope is to die as an
honorable Marine, that I tried to do what I could for veterans. They haven't
forgotten what honor is. They are veterans."

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I intend to last long enough to put out of business all *****-suckers
and other beneficiaries of the institutionalized slavery and genocide.

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"The army that will defeat terrorism doesn't wear uniforms, or drive
Humvees, or calls in air-strikes. It doesn't have a high command, or
high security, or a high budget. The army that can defeat terrorism
does battle quietly, clearing minefields and vaccinating children. It
undermines military dictatorships and military lobbyists. It subverts
sweatshops and special interests.Where people feel powerless, it
helps them organize for change, and where people are powerful, it
reminds them of their responsibility." ~~~~ Author Unknown ~~~~
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