Part 78, page 176

Transcript

The scan is the source; the transcript is machine-generated from it.

Dear Fellow Americans:

I come to you for aid in a battle, not against the structure of the government, but against the injustice imposed by two individuals within the government structure. The two individuals have misused the power of their offices, granted to them by the federal government, in an attempt to destroy my means of support for my wife and four small children, one which is an invalid for life.

This is what happened. Long before my wife came into my life or my children were born, I was a convict. I served all of my time and thought that I had paid my debt to society.

During my time in Federal prison, I was directed to a rehabilitation program in aviation; in previous years as a private pilot I had logged 9,815 hours. The Federal Prison education system purchased the necessary books, brought in outside instructors to prepare me for the FAA written examinations for Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor. After I completed the studies, the FAA examiners came into the Federal prison and gave me the examinations, which I passed successfully.

I was released from federal prison 14 years ago and became a professional pilot, licensed by the FAA. While making my livelihood in flying and through much more study, I earned by Airline Transport Pilot Rating, the highest attainable license that a pilot can hold.

One year after I was released from federal prison, I won the Eastern U.S. aerobatic championship. Nine years after my release from federal prison, I flew solo around the world from east to west, following the route of Amelia Earhart.

On August 1, 1968, Dr. Dalton Hoffman, Assistant Flight Surgeon of the Ft. Worth FAA region, grounded me because of my police record, although I have not had an arrest in all of these years since I left prison. I had learned to fly in 1944, and in the following 26 years and 22,000 hours, I have never had an airman violation.

In my 2½ years of personal battle with Hoffman and Dr. Seigle, Federal Air Surgeon, a frightening thing has become apparent to me. Americans no longer are led by the pride of the federal government; rather, they are driven in fear of it.

For instance, I have a friend who owns a large trucking company. He is afraid to openly come to my rescue in my battle with the FAA because of reprisals against his Interstate Commerce Commission license. I have another friend who directs a large television station and for the same reason, he stands in fear of losing his Federal Communication license. Yet another friend owns a large casino in Las Vegas. Although he is honest with his taxes, is afraid because of the Internal Revenue Service. I also have many friends in aviation who are afraid to help because of their fear that the Federal Aviation Agency will take reprisal against their operators licenses.

What has happened to America when even large corporations operate in frozen fear of the Federal Government. It is true that the fears of these Americans are justified, and it is time that someone stood up to fight. I am not joining or forming any left or right or radical groups. I am standing up as a citizen and I hope to be heard and listened to.

While I was in the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, I was a school teacher, and one of the subjects that I taught was history. This is one reason that I can see what has happened to our nation.

The story of what has happened to our nation is similar to the story of a person who had a beautiful rich and green forest. This person decided to build a rail fence around the forest to protect it. After cutting trees and building the protective fence, the person looked about and there were no trees left to protect.

In my travels all over the world, again because of my history teaching background, I have looked at the other systems carefully. Let me assure you that our forefathers designed the best government system in existance on the face of the earth today.

I would compare our government, at this time, to a fine stone house: a house which has unwavering foundations, uncracked walls; but the doors, windows and roof are deteriorating through the lack of proper care. I am sure the eyes of every American has viewed such a house.

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APPENDIX I, Page 2

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DB Cooper-34035