Three Young Lives Destroyed

January 25, 1971 – Charles Manson and three of his followers, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkle, and Leslie van Houton , are found guilty of all 27 separate counts against them, including 7 counts of murder.  The trial had begun on June 15, 1970 and captivated America as prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi systematically laid out the case that was too bizarre to have been imagined.  Manson, an aspiring songwriter and petty criminal, who had spent half of his life in prison, formed his “family” of misfits first in San Francisco, and then Los Angeles.  He somehow managed to exert amazing control over his followers, especially the young women who idolized him and obeyed his every whim.  Manson creates a vision of race warfare that he must initiate through a series of murders and, in the end, seven innocent people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate, died at his biding.  The trial drug on for months and was chaotic and often interrupted by Manson.  Members of his family not on trial, held vigil outside and maintained that “Charlie” was innocent and the victim of conspiracy and persecution.  Meanwhile, those on trial seemed as though they could have been the girl next door with their innocent demeanor made all the more fascinating by their unquestioned loyalty to Manson.  The details of the murders demonstrated a cold-blooded and callous attitude the many could not even begin to understand in a young woman.  Their behavior was appalling, laughing at the hideous details of savage murder, unfeeling except for their devotion to Manson.   Finally the jury returned guilty verdicts.  Eventually they would be sentenced to death, but this was later commuted to life in prison when California’s death penalty was ruled unconstitutional.  Manson survives to this day, unrepentant and seemingly insane, and hopefully destined for Hell itself.

Susan Atkins died in prison in 2009.  She had become a born again Christian and wrote her autobiography Child of Satan, Child of God.  She allegedly developed brain cancer and eventually lost a leg and was paralyzed on one side.  Her appeal for a compassionate release request was denied.  During her  parole hearing in 2000, Sharon Tate’s sister read a statement written by their father  “….Thirty one years ago I sat in a courtroom with a jury and watched with others. I saw a young woman who giggled, snickered and shouted out insults, even while testifying about my daughter’s last breath, she laughed. My family was ripped apart. If Susan Atkins is released to rejoin her family, where is the justice?….” When she did die, her last words were “Amen”.

Patricia Krenwinkel has been denied parole thirteen times despite model behavior, earning a bachelor degree, and being active in numerous prison programs attempting to help others.  In a 1994 television interview she said “I wake up every day knowing that I’m a destroyer of the most precious thing, which is life; and I do that because that’s what I deserve, is to wake up every morning and know that.”  She writes poetry, plays guitar and teaches illiterate prisoners to read.  In 2004 she was asked at her parole hearing who she had hurt the most, she answered “Myself”.  She remains the longest incarcerated woman in the California prison system.  Her next parole hearing is scheduled for 2018.

Leslie Van Houton was the youngest defendant and not present at Tate murders though she was involved in the later murder of the LaBiancas. She successfully won a retrial in 1977 which ended in a hung jury.  She was briefly free on bond, but she was found guilty in her third trial and again sentenced to life in prison.  Her prison life has been uneventful but she has been involved in a number of prison programs and is considered a model prisoner.  In 2010 she was denied parole for the 19th time.  Afterward Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Patrick Sequoia said “The crime itself was absolutely horrendous — the brutal slaughter of two individuals in their home, in a cruel and very horrifying manner.  It is our position that she never really has fully accepted responsibility for her crimes.”  She will be eligible for another parole hearing in 2013.

I Hear the Train A Comin’

January 13, 1968 – Johnny Cash, The Man In Black, performs and records at Folsom Prison.  Born J.R. Cash (his parents couldn’t think of a name) Cash took the name John R. Cash when he enlisted in the Air Force and they would not accept initials as a name.  Later he changed his name to Johnny Cash in 1954 when he began to perform in public and enjoyed considerable success on the country charts.  At about the same time he began abusing prescription drugs, particularly amphetamines, and was arrested several times but never served a prison term, technically spending only one night in jail each time.  He somehow felt a connection with prisoners, perhaps because he walked out of jail in the morning and others did not, and gave his first prison concert at San Quentin in 1958 and he began to cultivate his outlaw image.  His drug use would continue to plague him throughout his life, going straight for years at a time, only to again submit to his demons, finally kicking his habit in 1992.  His first brush was sobriety occurred in 1968 and shortly thereafter he performs at Folsom.  Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison would reach #1 on the country charts and #15 nationally.

The Quagmire of Vietnam – When We Thought We Would Win

January 12, 1966 – One year after describing his Great Society (see January 4), Lyndon Johnson delivers another State of the Union Address where he outlines American involvement in this tiny Asian nation:

“For tonight, as so many nights before, young Americans struggle and young Americans die in a distant land.

Tonight, as so many nights before, the American Nation is asked to sacrifice the blood of its children and the fruits of its labor for the love of its freedom……

Not too many years ago Vietnam was a peaceful, if troubled, land. In the North was an independent Communist government. In the South a people struggled to build a nation, with the friendly help of the United States……

As the assault mounted, our choice gradually became clear. We could leave, abandoning South Vietnam to its attackers and to certain conquest, or we could stay and fight beside the people of South Vietnam. We stayed.

And we will stay until aggression has stopped.

We will stay because a just nation cannot leave to the cruelties of its enemies a people who have staked their lives and independence on America’s solemn pledge–a pledge which has grown through the commitments of three American Presidents.

We will stay because in Asia and around the world are countries whose independence rests, in large measure, on confidence in America’s word and in America’s protection. To yield to force in Vietnam would weaken that confidence, would undermine the independence of many lands, and would whet the appetite of aggression. We would have to fight in one land, and then we would have to fight in another–or abandon much of Asia to the domination of Communists.

And we do not intend to abandon Asia to conquest.

Last year the nature of the war in Vietnam changed again. Swiftly increasing numbers of armed men from the North crossed the borders to join forces that were already in the South. Attack and terror increased, spurred and encouraged by the belief that the United States lacked the will to continue and that their victory was near.

Despite our desire to limit conflict, it was necessary to act: to hold back the mounting aggression, to give courage to the people of the South, and to make our firmness clear to the North. Thus. we began limited air action against military targets in North Vietnam. We increased our fighting force to its present strength tonight of 190,000 men…..”

By the end of the year over 389,000 U.S. troops served in Vietnam.

The Great Society would never materialize.  It too was a victim of Vietnam.

Second March to Montgomery

March 9, 1965

Kennedy Sends More ‘Advisors’ to Vietnam

May 11, 1961 In what would help lay the groundwork for American involvement in Southeast Asia, President Kennedy orders 400 Special Forces to Vietnam in addition to 100 Advisors.  He also orders the start of clandestine warfare against North Vietnam to be conducted by South Vietnamese agents under the direction and training of the CIA and U.S. Special Forces troops. Kennedy’s orders also called for South Vietnamese forces to infiltrate Laos to locate and disrupt communist bases and supply lines there.  By the end of 1961 there would be over 3,000 Americans in Vietnam.