I was court-martialled in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When I came back to Dublin I was courtmartialed in my absence and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.
I was in prison for a charge in Texas, murder one. Back in the '70s in Texas, I was there. I heard the shot. I was in the car.
I've been shot at on numerous occasions.
Judicious absence is a weapon.
They're not shooting me for deserting the United Stated Army - thousands of guys have done that. They're shooting me for bread I stole when I was 12 years old.
At one point, when I was 20 and living in Kentucky, I got shot - it was a land dispute over six inches of property that ran a hundred yards through my grandfather's land. It was really over the honor of my family and that of another family.
The other thing that happened was my last military assignment - this was in the air force; I had enlisted in order to avoid being drafted as a private, and of course I only practiced medicine or psychiatry in the air force so I was never in any kind of violent combat.
So I departed and was free from imprisonment.
I have not killed anyone. They will not let me.
I would, without any hesitation, shoot a violent criminal again.