THE OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE BOYS ORGANIZATION
Letters From WHBz
LETTERS FROM THE PRESIDENT & ACTING PRESIDENT
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LETTER FROM JERRY COOPER TO ALL WHBs
In this house, the State of Florida beat and scarred our bodies, wounded our souls, and dampened our spirits. But now… united…we rise up…and join together to ensure that this history is never, ever repeated! (Marti Somnitz)
The Official White House Boys Organization
P. O. Box 152 · 1616-102 West Cape Coral Parkway
Cape Coral, FL 33914
Officers & Board Members
President Emeritus - Dick Colon / President - Jerry Cooper / Vice President - Nate Dowling / Treasurer - Peggy Marx / Secretary - Babbs Cooper /
Sargeant at Arms - James M DeNykke
1-6-12
Guys,
I'm trying to keep you posted on items discussed when I met with our lawyers yesterday in St. Pete and to fill you in on what is going on at present.
Bob Martinez, the ex Governor of Florida, after a staggering record of 40 years on the political scene, is Head Councilman for Holland and Knight Law Firm. He has been appointed as our head lobbyist for the claims bill!!!! You can not get any better than this!!!
As you know, the senate will be meeting in the next couple of weeks, and arguments will once again be heard from both sides. Ben Montgomery will be meeting with the lawyers to do a story on our claims bill real soon and this should help considerately on the issue. I stand on what I have said since day one "Any Man Who Has Been Takien Into The White House And Beaten" should be compensated for such inhumane acts!!!!!!
As you know, I found the cemetery that the FDLE has been in and admitted to me on several phone calls that they had went there to investigate it. For a long time I was told that this was no more than an old cemetery with graves dating to the 1800"s. I have already seen graves with dates from the 1950s. When I was told that a former employee told them where this site was, red flags went up immediately with me. I do not have this ex-employees name yet, but I will!!!
This site is 1 acre in size and was fenced years ago. We found out it is privately owned, thanks to Andrew Puel, who drove to Marianna and got information that was needed in the land records office. Thanks Andrew!!
This Grave yard was deeded in 1968 to a woman that still lives in Marianna today. I contacted her by phone and she was very leary of me!!!! She said she did not know when she purchased it, does not know how many are buried there, does not know who is buried there, and does not know when people were buried there!!!!
I asked if we could come in the cemetery to clean it up at our expense and she said she would talk to her children about it. Nate Dowling and I have since tried to make contact back to her, and she will not talk to us again!!!
I will figure something out with this. It is a must thatt we find out who is buried there,and why did a former employee tell the FDLE the location of this site, and why has the FDLE been in this cemetery? We will find out!!! This is the cemetery that 3 boys (now men) were running through when they were attempting to escape and one ran into a headstone injuring his leg -- wearing, you guessed it, "PAJAMA"S". At that time, there was no fence.
Just bear with me guys and we will prevail.
I have an appointment with House Representative Gary Aubuchon this Monday at 10:00 A.M. He is a very good man to ask for help in approaching the Justice Department's Criminal Division -- not the civil rights division, which will not be any use to us in this matter. I will ask Robert Straley to attend this meeting with me.
Keep the faith, we will win in the end!!
Jerry A, Cooper
Dear Dick,
I am more then grateful you have ask me to fill your shoe’s as acting President for the White House Boy’s Organization.
And will do my best to assist in all matter’s pertaining to the issue’s past and present concerning our goal’s that seem to be leaning in our favor at this time.
I will keep in close contact with you on current issues and future one’s..
I am grateful to all the men and their r families for accepting me for the position.
Dick, with out you, Roger Kiser, Robert Straley and Michael O’ McCarthy past and present effort’s we would not be celebrating all the good that is now taking place for the vast improvement that has occurred for the children that are now in care of the state of Florida.
I promise to do to the best of my ability to maintain a good standing for all “ White House Boy’s “ and continue on with my search for absolute Justice from over 50 year’s ago when none of us stood no chance of bucking the system!!!!
Jerry A. Cooper
“White house Boy”
AN IMPORTANT LETTER FROM DICK COLON
The Official White House Boys Organization
P. O. Box 152 · 1616-102 West Cape Coral Parkway
Cape Coral, FL 33914
Email: mailto:theofficialwhitehouseboys@gmail.com
Website: http://www.officialwhitehouseboys.org
Officers & Board Members
President Emeritus - Dick Colon / President - Jerry Cooper / Vice President - Nate Dowling / Treasurer - Peggy Marx / Secretary - Babbs Cooper
Sergeant At Arms James M DeNyke
1 January 2012
To All White House Boys and their Families :
First I want to thank all of you who had the confidence to vote me back in as your President for a second term .
But as you all know my primary interest is in what is best for the entire group.... In 4 -5 years we were able to do what no one else could do in 105 years. We closed them down. That will always be the most rewarding achievement I have ever participated in in my life -- to my grave with me it will go!
Having said that, after speaking with several members, I have made a decision to ask Jerry Cooper to step up and help me as Assistant President for various reasons. One is my health, and I'm 2000 miles away from everybody. More important than that is the fact that our effort has started moving at such a fast, even a bit complex pace, that I feel now what we need is someone on the front lines all of the time. I have discussed this with the board and they were all 100%.
My reasons for this choice are many. As our legal liaison, he is on top of everything, everyday, and has a great repoiree with both law firms and he also has been asked to do two interviews, with others in the works. He lives in Florida, where access for him is much more accommodating than for me at 2000 miles away.
Since Jerry is retired, he, like Roger Kiser, Robert Straley, and so many others, have devoted much of their time daily for our struggle. He, like some others, is constantly researching information, converses with other members daily, and communicates with others -- especially our counsels.
Jerry, like many others, has been at every single reunion, picnic, award ceremony, and all of our donations to both Beacon house and the Eckerd Youth Camp, as have many of you.
He has done numerous interviews just recently, and to the best of my knowledge, is well liked by all of us WHB's and their families. As your elected president, I feel we need someone with Jerry's knowledge, flexibility and, most of all his loyalty to the WHB's, in Florida, in a position to move forward in our best interest. I am giving Jerry full rein to act on my behalf and will be in constant contact with him. We have finally gotten the recognition we have so greatly fought for and deserve, by keeping ourselves in the face of the public, which is extremely important at this critical time.
I want to thank every one for their faith and trust in me and their continued help and cooperation in the future as we look forward to seeing each other at the next reunion; though I don't think we'll all be whistling Dixie that soon.
Thank you, Cordially
President
Dick Colon
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING LETTERS POSTED BY MR. JERRY COOPER ON 12-5-11 AND 12-6-11
The 1st is to St. Pete Times
the 2nd to Attorneys' Masterson & Hoag
Mr. Chairman and C.E.O.
We, a group of men now known as "The White House Boy"s" want to thank you and your staff for the time and effort you have put forth in seeking the truth of what has been really been going on in the state of Florida concerning the treatment and welfare of children that have been abused in probably the worst way that can even be imagined by the average person!!! Please excuse my format and writing ability as I continue for I am not very proficient at this!!" Mr. Truth" Ben Montgomery is a true writer in the sense of the truth and only the truth!!! Ask him to show you his tattoo!!! a hardcore professional!!! I"m afraid he will end up running into his self on the road coming from the other direction!!!
Paul, I would like you to know that I feel the men of our group deserve to be compensated for what treatment they received at the Florida School For Boy"s many years ago. Some of these men have never recovered and never will from that experience. Many of them ended up back in that place,and many ended up in state prison after leaving that school!!! Many of the men are now destitute, and have nothing!!! Many including myself have been under meds and treatments for many years and have had to pay out of pocket for this!!! My doctor say"s I suffer severely from post trauma stress dating back to that school!!! I'm under treatment for life!!! I had to go to Anger Management class at the age of 63 !!!! Yup, I was the oldest in class by far!!
Sir, The group as you know at this point are being represented by The Masterson Group attorney"s and are working now also with Holland and Knight attorney"s on a claims bill situation like the one that the Holland group won in The Rosewood claims action a few years ago. Paul, after our group celebrated the great story you did on the fed"s investigation it was shattered by news given to us by our attorney"s just yesterday!!!!!! The senate master is" DEMANDING" we over 300 hundred of us go through a separate law suit aimed at the state!!!!!! Sir, There is no way we will survive this type of action by the state because of our ages and the state is well aware of this!!!! I'm sure this is our payback for what we have done over the past 3 years in our efforts against them. We and our lawyers know that a separate action will only be shot down by the statue of limitations laws. This action was not required in the Rosewood case but it is for us!!!! By the time, which would take many years to do over 300 law suits there will be no one alive to turn around and refile a claims bill period!!! Mr. Tash, We hate to ask for any favors after you have done so much for so long, but could you ask Ben Montgomery to talk to our attorney Mr. Gregory Hoag about this issue??? 813-227-8500 Again with your newspaper and the efforts of Ben and Mr. Masterson, the improvements of child care have improved and will continue in the future!!!
In closing Sir, the state closed Dozier they said because of budget problems. Why did they turn around and give the property to the Jackson County School Board instead of not sell it and put funds back into the state Budget???????? I don"t think Ben knows about this or the people in this state!!! This is Millions Of Dollars worth of property to be giving away!!!!!!!! Why does the state of Florida rank so high in bad news instead of good??? Once again we thank you for everything you and your staff has done in the past
Jerry Cooper and "The White House Boy"s"
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To Mr. Tom Masterson And Mr. Gregory Hoag:
We as the men now known as the" White House Boy"s" want you to know that we really appreciate every thing you have done for us and all the children that are still under the so called care of the state of Florida.
You as a law firm were the only group that would take on such a task seeking justice from a half a century ago, and we know this.!!!! With your efforts in seeking justice for us,you have brought attention to the public as well as the" FEDERAL GOVERNMENT" to the truth of what has happened in this state for over 100 years!!!!
Tom, over 2 years ago you said to me that your primary goal was to make sure that the things that happened to us did not continue to go on and that justice will be had!!! I will never forget that conversation. We now know through your efforts that the Justice Dept. has intervened and a lot of Physical and Mental abuse should improve for all the children in coming times!!!
We think that the state closed Dozier after knowing they were under investigation from Dept. Of Justice!!! and not from so called budget cuts, and if that were true, Why did they turn it over to Jackson County and not sell it and put funds back into state budget???? They knew the Justice Dept. would probably come in and close Dozier!!!!
Tom and Greg, we know you have endured a lot of extra baggage in this process that you took on, and that it has not been easy for you by far dealing with us!!!! But please realize that so many are so angry of what happened to us and reliving it again after so many years!!!! including myself!!!! WE KNOW WE ARE SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT!!!
Tom, you even went on to seek additional help by a partnership with Holland and Knight knowing of the resources that were available to them and not to you. You and Greg are our hero"s!!!!!
"Thank you from the bottom of our hearts"
Jerry A. Cooper and the" White House Boys" " God Bless You"
P.S. A letter will be sent to Mr. Ben Montgomery and the St, Petersburg Times for their efforts in bringing out the truth!!!!!
December, 2011
LETTER FROM JERRY COOPER TO WHBz AND FAMILIES:
Dear Brothers, I am writing you to say I think of you on a daily basis and hope some peace will be with you in our final time we have left in our twilight years that are on us as I write!!! As you know the school has been shut down, which gave me some peace of mind knowing that the staff and all involved will have to seek other means of compensation than profiteering off of kids with serious but treatable problems,that was never done in any means for over a hundred years !!!!! As you know the abuse started on the day it was opened,right up to the day it was closed!!!!! Like it or not, the state of Florida from the beginning of this school allowed staff to work there that had no training or ideal how to deal with troubled boy"s problems!!! They felt that the strap was the way to deal with us!!!! This school was located in the worst area in the state that could be allowed!!!! This area is well known as a rural area from early years as "THE GOOD OLD BOY"S" capital!!! Most were lacking a simple education, and a lot of them were heavily in Klux Klan operations in the 50" and 60"s !!!! which included some of the perpetrators we had for staff!!!!!!!! The state as far as I'm concerned is responsible for allowing the school to operate in this fashion for a hundred years plus!!!! A good example of a good old boy is Troy Tidwell, an uneducated barely human" Not Man" who spread his terror on children for over 40 years, Why???????? This man attended church on Sundays but "LIED" under oath about the beatings he gave to hundreds of children for 40 years. The reason is simple!!! If he had admitted to these beatings he could have put himself in a position to be brought up on much more serious charges such as sex abuse, manslaughter, or even murder!!! He refused to be interviewed by F.D.L.E. during the investigation, and that should tell you he has lots to hide. Just so you know, we could not have a better law firm to represent us than Masterson, Tom is clearly focused on doing the right thing and making the correct moves for the benefit of all of us. Just remember this, without them taking on this case we would have no one, so please have patience with them at all cost!!!!!!!!!! Tom is a man that wants justice in this case!!!!!!!!!!!! Any boy who suffered at the hands of the staff of that school needs to be compensated for their sufferings that has lasted a life time for many of us!!!!! The mental and physical abuse that went with the stay at this school is to me almost indescribable to other people. I can"t even do it and I was there!!!!!!!! In the last few years I want you to know I praise your friendship and care for all of you very much!!!! I miss the guy"s who have left us in this time frame more than I can express, they went down fighting for us all till the very end!!!!!!!!! I miss my dear friend "FRANK MARX" the most!!!!!!!!!! Please find it in your heart to attend the reunion this year on Oct.14th. We need to see each other again!!!! After all we are starting to fade out like it or not!!!!! Don"t be ashamed of what happened to you at that place it's not your fault, After getting beat at 2:00 A.M. in the morning there, I hardly could get to sleep for months, and would awake crying and bad sweats all the time so don"t feel you were alone!!!! This was still going on at times while in the army. Just remember, we are a part of some history that should be noted by every one!!!!!!! Your Brother, Jerry A. Cooper
P. S. WHEN WE DIE WE WILL ALL GO TO HEAVEN, BECAUSE WE HAVE ALREADY SERVED OUR TIME IN HELL!!!!!! AT THE FLORIDA SCHOOL FOR BOY"S
LETTERS FROM WHBz AND THEIR FAMILIES
Hello Everyone
I know it has been a while since anyone has heard from me. Things have been moving at a pretty hectic pace since I moved back to the farm there is so much to do. But part of my New Years Promises to myself and the Lord are to move forward not only with my life but with my commitment to the WHBS
Last month several of us visited the Eckerd Youth Camp with a few Christmas presents for the boys there. They joy on their faces was a gift you cannot buy!
Thank you to all of you who donated your time and money to make this such a great success.....
Reunion was hectic this past year but as always GREAT I was happy to see everyone and missed the ones who could not attend
Hope to see you all this year.
Thanks (I Think) to all of you who voted me in for another term. Thank you to all who contributed to the auction. And paid your dues,
As most of you know we lost another GREAT brother John Brodnax to the Lord last year and as always welcome Mary to stand in his stead. She as we all know has always been a great supporter of the group and we look forward to seeing her at all of the functions in the future.
Congraulations on your on going battle against the state . We will prevail I promised Frank I would never give up his fight......
And somewhere along the way in supporting him it became my fight.
I want to thank all of you for allowing me the honor of serveing as a board member even after Franks passing if I would have had to lose you guys to it would have been unbearable for you are my family each and everyone of you.
One last piece of information I have not used MARXSARASOTA @aol for over 2years this site was stolen over 2 years ago please send anything from this e-mail address to your spam folder Please know you can call me anytime and e-mail me at
awvgirl1950@yahoo.com
Best regards
Peggy Marx
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Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 6:30 PM
Subject: Questionable Expenditure
With Florida's debt being so far in the red and the out of control spending by past administrations having caused this problem; how can the present Governors office and DJJ justify the added expense of allowing state employees to search for other employment, during state work hours, using state phones, state computers and other state resources? Additionally, how can the state and the Governors office permit these job searches while these employees are being paid by Florida tax payers to conduct state business, not job searches? This outlandish expenditure of tax payer funds is exactly what is being proposed by state Representatives of Jackson county and particularly Marianna. There is a set date of June 30th 2011 for the closure of the North Florida Youth Detention Center, annual budget of 14.3 million, yet the state Representatives are requesting an extension. This requested extension is so the NFYDC state employees, on state time, using state computers, phones and while drawing full pay and benefits, can search for other jobs. This gross expenditure seems to be an end run around the Governors budget cuts and promise to reduce state debt.
The Governor office is recommending cutting teachers pay, reducing Veterans benefits, reducing state staff, cutting back on law enforcement, all the while permitting current employees at NFYDC the luxury of job searching on state time, while drawing full pay from the state payroll? Something just doesn't seem above board with this and quite frankly smells of under the table and back door business as usual in Tallahassee and Marianna, at tax payers expense. How can this expenditure be justified when others are paying so dearly within the state of Florida? Are state employees at NFYDC not subject to the same rules as other Floridians? Are they being granted special favors and bonuses simply because they are state employees? Where are the so called budget reductions promised by the Governor, across the board, to include state employees at NFYDC?
Bryant E. Middleton
Fort Walton Beach, Fl 32547
Last night, I read the JCFloridan web site and it indicated one of the local Marianna Senators has requested an extension of the closure date for FSB. The Senator feels the employees deserve, at a minimum, an additional thirty days to look for new employment and the school should remain open until they find new employment. Never mind that the employees are entitled to draw full unemployment and have 24 hours a day for interviews and preparation time for job searches, without having to work. Apparently the Marianna solution is to retain the employees on the state payroll while they use state time and funds to search for jobs, at the taxpayers expense.
It's my personal belief, if this extension is granted, it will be beginning of an additional request for another extension and another and another. The final outcome will alternately be, the school will remain open indefinitely, that is until the local politicians can find a way to overturn the decision to close NFYDC.
The corruption at FSB continues and the people of Jackson county and especially Marianna, will go down fighting to protect their annual 14.3 million dollar golden cash cow. It's difficult to close a 112 year old corrupt system when they have become so deeply entrenched with the day to day feeling of entitlement and belief the state owes them. I'm sure the justifications they have are, they did so much for the state in warehousing bad boys, that the least the state can do is keep them on the dole. Of course keeping the school open until the closure is overturned and DJJ comes to their senses, that "DOZIER" is needed in order to protect us from those criminal children, regardless of the cost to taxpayers is even better, in their minds. It's quite apparent you can't trust the powers to be in Tallahassee, especially when their loyalty has a price.
Bryant E. Middleton
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR AT JCFLORIDIAN
An Open Letter to the Town of Marianna
Written by Roger Kiser on Gather.com
May 30, 2011 12:56 PM EDT
This is not a letter about whom or what is right or wrong. This is a letter about what we have allowed to happen to ourselves (as Americans) in the last three years.
No matter the reason for the closing of the former Dozier School for Boys…it is closed. At this point, neither boy(s) nor employee(s) will benefit. Now, both Marianna residents and former boys from the school exist with hard feelings towards one another. As relatives of White House Boys pass through your town they are refused service at the local McDonalds and word is out that we are not welcome in your town. Why have we allowed this to happen? The White House Boys know that 99.9% of the residents living in Marianna are good, kind, and caring individuals. They are people who had absolutely nothing to do with what happened many years ago. Today they would immediately, without hesitation, stand up and stop the abuse of any child, whether at the school or living next door to them.
............... READ MORE HERE.
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A Note from Bryant Middleton to all:
I've returned home from Marianna none the worse for wear. The school is closed and the grounds are empty, all the children have been sent to better places within the state. I spoke with our attorneys this morning and the moment I have some free time I'll provide more information about the school and what the attorney's are doing.
