In Memorium:
Andy Robert Baltzell

November 18, 1964 - November 1, 1992

Andy Robert, age 27, was released from this life on November 1, 1992, to return to God. He was born on November 18, 1964 into an Army officer's family at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

He is remembered for his quick humor, his music and drums, playing Yukon football, Hacky Sack, and his steady stream of friends.

He will be greatly missed by his family who has unconditional, Agape love for him.

A quote that fits our beloved Andy reads,"The only degree that matters is a degree in caring."

We must end the drug war.

Judy Chancellor of Yukon, Oklahoma, Andy's mother

This rare picture is Andy in his maximum security prison cell in McAlester, Oklahoma, where he spent 2 years locked down 23/24 hours a day, suicidal because of rape and violence.

Immediately upon hearing her brother Andy took his life, his 12-year-old sister Tiffany made an appointment with the DARE officer at her Yukon School. Her message follows:

"Nonviolent drug offenders are not bad people, they need love, understanding and counseling, not cold shoulders, not prison."

Andy's $90 offense of speed (much like diet pills) brought him a 15-year prison sentence and he became suicidal. He sat alone in a chain link dog run on the prison yard in McAlester. His mind was tortured from sitting in an isolation cell for two years in that maximum security prison. He saw prisoners die around him. His Bible sustained him.

When he came home, he was never the same. Memories of overcrowded prisons, prison punishment and the slow death of being separated from his loved ones haunted him. There was a 6 to 10 month waiting list for counseling. Treatment centers were kind to those who had money. Many of the free treatment centers for the poor were dysfunctional."

Tiffany closed her meeting with the DARE officer by proclaiming that drugs did not kill her brother, it was the lack of treatment, excess of judgment, and the brutal punishments of prison.

We must end this insane warehousing of nonviolent people. We must end this drug war, with its entrapment and punishment of our citizens. We must put treatment and counseling on our lips.

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