Oh, gather 'round, people //  A Story I'll tell

About David Honish //  A Man you should know well.

'Twas on June twenty-first, a late Thursday night

Officer Chris Carroll spotted a gleaming headlight.

A white pickup Ford, was parked on the roadside

And a silent dead body was slumped on the inside.

The engine was running // as if he was waiting

On that dark lonesome highway // his waiting was over.

It was one single gunshot //  Had ended his life

By his side was a letter //  Full of anger and strife.

This letter, an e-mail //  So strange and so dark

Seemed to point to the guilt //  Of his younger brother Mark.

Now some people say one thing //   And some say another

And some say that a Frame //   Was put 'round his brother.

Who was it who wanted //  To see David dead?

Who was it who held //  That black gun to his head?

There were plenty of people //  David's Peace work offended

There were powerful people //   Who wanted his life ended.

Now, David was a Veteran, a Man who knew War

And, knowing, he wanted to see no fighting any more.

Quite frequently seen // at a demonstration

David wanted to cleanse // the soul of this nation.

In streets and shopping malls //  He was brash and  outspoken

He felt called on to explain //  How the system was broken.

He'd unfurl his banners //  From a highway overpass

And shout his defiance //  Of the military brass.

But the Rich and the Pow'rful //  They're after Mid-East Oil

They don't care who gets hurt //  That made David's blood boil.

And the list of their War Crimes //  Makes all our  blood boil.

========================================

Let's not speak of his death now //  Let's speak of his Living

His Love and his Kindness //  His generous Giving.

His strong Courage in face of //  An imminent threat

And his salty Humor //  Sure sign of a Vet.

His Friends he made on-line

His Friends in the town;

His Name lives on after him

In annals of renown.

The Example he showed us 

Will live on forever:

David, for you we pledge

Our Highest Endeavor!

[Barbara T.   June 26th 2007]

 [ send green star]

Two brothers were fightin' //  As two brothers do:

"Yer a damn so-and-so!" "Well, yer one of those too!!"

Two brothers were fightin' //  The story is old;

About Cain and Abel //  The same story's told.

Two brothers were fightin' //  Some do it for fun;

But this was in Texas //  Where each man has a gun.

Two brothers were fightin' //  Things're not as they seem;

Each brother, tho different, had his particular dream.

One dreamt of a shootin' range // to bring him in Wealth;

One dreamt of World Peace // and a planet in Health.

Two brothers, so different, yet brothers at heart

Two brothers, whose dreams

both brought them together, and kept them apart.

But Someone was watchin' // and Someone said, "Hey!"

"We can use what these brothers are sayin', and cursin', today!"

For one had made enemies //  Pow'rful and strong;

They determined his days on this earth won't be long.

Two brothers, the youngest, well his name was Mark.

[The Plans of the Someones they kept in the dark.]

David was the oldest,  and he was a Vet.

And he had a feelin', his time was not yet.

[But soon.]

"David's too obnoxious, and yet people like him;

His message of No War, it gets out in spite of him."

"And nothing must stop //  The flow of our oil;

It is for this aim //  That the masses must toil

And Peace Veterans we must foil."

Murderers for hire

In Texas come cheap.

O David! Be Careful!

Here comes The Big Sleep.

Two brothers are fightin' //  As two brothers will

"Yer a damn so-and-so!" "Ya make me wanta kill!"

Two brothers are fightin'

And one ends up dead

Executioner-style

With a bullet to the head.

Two brothers were fightin'

And one gets arrested

The blood and the mud on his truck

Must get tested.

And what do you know, // but a furious message

From two weeks before, // seems the murder to presage.

Now Justice in Texas, its wheels do grind slow

Sometimes grind to a halt, with nothing to show.

The Killer gets paid off

They tell him, "Now GO!

It ain't healthy for you

Stayin' in Texas no mo'."

And how will this story

Be seen at its end?

Why that all depends

How we see it, my friend!

The Press has its answer

They publish the name

The case tried already

But can you spell F-R-A-M-E?

Two brothers were fightin' // as siblings often do;

Depends I guess on your politics

What you'll regard as True.

[Barbara T.  June 2007]

 [ send green star]

If I had a brother, and I wanted him dead...And suppose both of us are very well-trained in the use of firearms.  Hmmm.  It would be so easy to arrange for an accident, and I wouldn't even have to be present at the scene.

But suppose I'm not that bright, or that I wasn't planning on killing him, but it was an angry spur-of-the-moment thing. Well, those of us who are well-trained in firearms safety are trained to immediately report an accident; it would be almost instinctual.  Unlike a novice who might panic and run away.

But...it didn't happen that way.  No unfortunate accident with explosives.  No reporting of an accidental shooting.  Instead we have news reports of David's brother acting incredibly stupid.  Shooting David and then getting blood on running board and door. (And by the way, how likely is THAT? The body is inside the truck, one bullet wound to the head.  Lethal head wounds bleed very little; the only blood outside the truck would be from blood splatter.) And then, he shows no surprise at news of David's death, and mentions the incriminating email.

I suppose somebody really could be that stupid, but it seems unlikely.

I sure would like to know what Mark's statement is.

And David and his ex-wife were on good terms.  I wonder if she was quoted accurately, and what questions were asked of her.

   
AND FROM ANOTHER SOURCE:
I have one more possibility that you might not be aware of:

Back in the late 60s, some viet nam vets offered to execute for $200. I was a kid in Hawaii, where a lot of them passed through, and heard this first hand.
Once in 2000, so many years later, I was speaking of a rich guy who destroyed something many many people had worked for which was a good thing for humans. I was speaking to a vet of the 64-68 period, and he came out of the blue with this offer: that he could find someone to remove the guy for $500 (not too bad inflation, huh?)

Why I mention this, is that vets are a disparate group, and many who have killed, have no compunction about doing so for little reason.
A very good reason in the minds of some is that their lives had meaning through patriotism and the myth of America. They would certainly do such an execution out of rage at a "betrayer" of their beliefs.
Expect this possibility to be very likely.

 [ send green star]