Dear Supporters:
This is another important occasion to take a moment and remember one of our own. Jack, would now, January 12th, be turning a respectable seventy-seven and considering the stamina and energy he displayed during his law enforcement careers in the LAPD and FBI, he would most likely be an active, productive, even enviable, septuagenarian. Jack was many things beyond a loyal husband, devoted father, and beloved son and brother. For those who had the pleasure and honor to know and work with him, he was a consummate dedicated and courageous professional. These were just some personal traits that come to mind when we remember Jack Coler. Others are partner, friend and the unquestionable character qualities of Fidelity, Bravery and Integrity. Jack left behind a loving wife, and two young sons who may have only a faint memory of their devoted, caring and courageous father.
At this point there is no way of knowing what these last many years may have brought. Those who knew him could easily imagine a life rich in accomplishments with strong family ties. Long retired from a productive Bureau career and with Jack’s commitment and dedication to law enforcement, he may have pursued another career as a Chief of Police. These intervening years would certainly include his love of Nature and the outdoors, exploring new and exciting places with his sons and grandchildren.
All the potential enjoyment, happiness, successes and challenges conquered, could have been of a life that was stolen from him by the cowards of Jumping Bull on that agonizing and tragic day in 1975.
To see Jack as he was then, and to imagine meeting him today, please see the remarkable video produced by the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, available on YouTube. There, you will learn about the incredible Jack Coler and his equally brave and courageous partner, Ron Williams. [i]
“In the Spirit of Coler and Williams”
Ed Woods
PELTIER UPDATE
There will come a time as Peltier soon turns eighty, that at one point, likely sooner than later, he will meet his Creator. He will then, for the first time ever, be compelled to finally tell the truth and separate himself from a lifetime of falsehoods. Although the Christian belief in Heaven and Hell are not entirely accepted in Native American culture, perhaps there is a Hell and also a Hell on Earth, that for these past years Peltier has rightly experienced when he aptly told us, “There’s an ever-present background chorus of shouts and yells and calls, demented babblings, crazed screaming, ghostlike laughter. Maybe one day you realize one of those voices is your own, and then you really begin to worry.”
Native culture accepts the belief that after death, life continues, regardless if in their Earthly life they were a good or bad person. There certainly may have been many times that Leonard Peltier looked back and wished he had taken different actions and made other decisions that fateful day. If the ‘unprovoked attack’ on the Agents had ended there, and Peltier was later arrested and convicted for assault or attempted murder and aiding and abetting, his sentence may have been already served and over. [ii] He could have been free a long time ago.
Nonetheless, he was compelled to take that final step and brutally murder two wounded and defenseless human beings. That assumes, of course, that as Peltier and the other cowards fled, aid would have reached the Agents in time. Jack’s nearly fatal and massive wound likely left him unconscious. But Agent Williams was alive and faced his killer; a defensive hand raised against the barrel of Peltier’s AR-15. The fake warrior had figured out one thing for certain, dead men make poor witnesses. Moreover, adding to the depravity of his actions, in an unrelated murder trial, sworn testimony revealed that Peltier described Agent Williams’ final moments; “The M-F was begging for his life, but I shot him anyway.”
The result, had Jack succumbed to his devasting wound, would have ultimately ended as it did anyway for Peltier. Murder has no Statute of Limitations and life-sentences are the result.
Today, on Peltier’s somewhat dated website homepage, an oversized banner recognizes his past birthday, last September. Scattered amongst many unrelated commercial advertisings are the same tired rhetoric and falsehoods. The website, and perhaps Peltier’s “committee” is getting a bit stale, not unlike it has a number of times in the past.
Aside from hearing his own voice echoing from concrete walls, perhaps among those voices Peltier may hear those of his victims. He may also faintly hear the phantom Mr. X. No, wait, that can’t happen; Peltier’s only alibi is a proven lie. [iii]
[i] The incredible video dedicated to Jack and Ron: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozhEumzwgKA
[ii] Response to Peltier attorney’s public misstatement regarding an ‘unprovoked attack’
[iii] The years-long lie of Mr. X: https://www.noparolepeltier.com/lie.html
