Wisconsin Public Television

Transcript: In Wisconsin

Original Air Date: November 9, 2006

Patty Loew:

Hello, everyone, and welcome to "In Wisconsin." I'm Patty Loew. This week fall into step with these teenagers whose lives are about to change forever due to this last chance program. Share the memories of three Wisconsin veterans who lived through what some call the "forgotten war." And take a step back in history to the last time Wisconsin enacted the death penalty. Discover why it was as controversial then as it is now. We'll also take you to a natural area that hasn't changed much since it was first surveyed back in the early 1800s. It's "In Wisconsin."

Loew:

In less than six months, they will change your teenager. That's what the Wisconsin National Guard says about its Challenge Academy program. It whips high school dropouts into ship shape. It's tough training designed to get lost teens back on track. This week, reporter Frederica Freyberg takes us to Fort McCoy to immediate a handful of brand new recruits.

Frederica Freyberg:

The place is stark, washed out white, and cold on a winter day. And yet making these old Army barracks home for the next six months is the last best hope for the kids who land here. Kids like 16-year-old Randi Wetzel of Winneconne, expelled from high school for partying; 17-year-old DeShawn Jackson from Kenosha, a chronic truant living on his own; 18- year-old Danielle Smith and her younger brother, Joey, also from Winneconne, both of them failing in school in the midst of family trouble; and 18-year-old Justin Sikes from Racine. His mom says he's super bright, but doing nothing in school.

Woman:

We're going to go out and get in the van.

Man:

Move. Move. Make a difference. Let's go.

Woman:

Females get in, all the way to the back. Let's go.

Freyberg:

Everything is about to change for these kids and their new classmates.

Man:

It's time to step up, and you show me who you are.

Man:

Say it like you're proud to be here.

Man:

Honor.

Freyberg:

The shock and awe of the Challenge Academy begins by stripping away the old to make way for a new kind of life. Kids used to dismissing authority can't diss this.

All recruits:

Yes, sir!

Freyberg:

Trepidation shows in even the most hardened teenagers as order and discipline and obedience drill into their consciousness.

Man:

About face.

Freyberg:

The lessons of military-style precision and practice start in the first hours. Missteps are not allowed here. Strict adherence to strict rules is nonnegotiable. The first day offers a gut churning reality check that this place is either going to make them -- or break them. In fact, in the first weeks one in three of the 100 or so new recruits will drop out. One recent graduate remembers that first day.

Freyberg:

What are they going through right now?

Cody Whitman:

Fear. They don't know what's coming next.

Freyberg:

And yet, all the kids who come here do so voluntarily. They are not criminals. They are not court ordered, but mostly they are lost, either because of bad habits or bad home lives or both. And they have failed at regular high school.

When the time comes, brother and sister Joey and Danielle Smith are given exactly one minute to say their goodbyes to their grandmother. She said the kids have gotten a rotten deal in life, a broken home, and much worse. She said neither was on track to graduate from high school.

Sharon Williams:

All through their life they've never had parents or anything to give them the skills they needed to succeed in life, and I think this program is going to get them some of those skills.

Freyberg:

18-year-old Danielle Smith says a troubled home life left her and her younger brother hopeless.

Danielle Smith:

We didn't try anymore. We felt that life wasn't worth it anymore.

Freyberg:

Joey Smith is suddenly separated from the only constant in his life, his sister. But he joins her on a new course. He says this first day brings mixed emotions.

Joey Smith:

Excited, sad, all at the same time.

Freyberg:

Are you going to make it?

Joey Smith:

Yeah, I'm going to make it.

Man:

Follow me down here.

Freyberg:

That's what most candidates say the first day because they know that this may be the first and last time anyone pours this much into their success. Like Justin Sikes, and he has extra reason to make it.

Man:

Any physical limitations?

Freyberg:

This is his second try, dismissed last time for insubordination.

Janet Sikes:

I feel really good. I feel -- I hope he makes it this time. He thinks that he'll be one of the best cadets this time around, because he knows what to expect. My advice to him when we said our goodbyes was keep your mouth shut.

Justin Sikes:

I have a lot to prove to a lot of people now. I let a lot of people down the last time I was here, and I've got a lot to prove.

Freyberg:

And yet, in a display of bad judgment he arrives wearing a party monster T-shirt and blue hair.

Man:

All right, Sikes. You already started off on the wrong foot. Blue hair.

Freyberg:

Staff commanders are not amused.

Peter Blum:

They come from Racine, superior. They come from rural, urban. These kids are kids searching for hope.

Man:

You're a brand new person now.

Blum:

The typical child on day one here is very undisciplined, appears confident but they aren't. They really question themselves. They know that they're struggling with life.

Freyberg:

One of the first things that happens is a drug screen. All incoming students must be tested, and they must be clean on arrival.

Man:

What's your name?

Recruit:

Jackson, sir.

Freyberg:

DeShawn Jackson arrived from Kenosha, not with parents, but teachers.

DeShawn Jackson:

I've been in foster homes for most of my life.

Freyberg:

Teachers say Jackson was okay at school when he had the structure of a sports team.

Kevin Aronin:

And when the sports season ended, you know, we noticed a pattern of him dropping off behaviorally, and not having the sense of, you know, family or a team.

Freyberg:

The Challenge Academy is now Jackson's team. As for structure, not a problem.

Man:

Get your stuff and move out.

Blum:

Part of what we're doing here with these kids is to teach them that they are much tougher than they believe they are. So part of this program, there is a mental and physical toughening.

Freyberg:

For these parents of an only child, this tough love is frightening, but a relief.

Julie Wetzel:

She's not making her own choices. There's no chance of her getting killed in a car accident or experimenting with drugs or having sex. She's here and she's going to be in good hands.

Freyberg:

16-year-old Randi Wetzel was kicked out of high school for drinking and smoking pot. She says she chose to get her life back on track by coming here. State funds pay 40% of the $3.3 million program. Federal dollars pick up the other 60%. To date, nearly 1,200 teenagers have graduated from the program, nearly all of those earning their high school degree. Those that don't are well on their way. A small number of the graduates will go on to join the military, but Challenge Academy is by law not allowed to be used to recruit for the military. In fact, its directors don't favor that career choice for most graduates.

Blum:

I get a little fearful of kids who think that they must be in a structured environment to be successful, because I feel if we're doing our job here, we're going to teach them to go on to school, to go on to employment, whatever it might be, and still be successful.

Freyberg:

But to have a meaningful shot at success, the teenagers here must first graduate from the rigorous life-changing program.

Man:

You seem a little nervous to me, Sikes.

Freyberg:

And it apparently wasn't positive nervous energy. Exactly two weeks into his second stint, Justin Sikes, the boy with the blue hair, was once again dismissed from the Challenge Academy. This was his last shot at this last-chance program. As for Randi Wetzel, DeShawn Jackson, and Danielle and Joey Smith, according to Challenge Academy staff they are so far hanging in there.

Randy Wetzel:

I can't give this up. This is my last chance to make something of myself.

Man:

Discipline.

Man:

Integrity.

Man:

Honor.

Man:

Commitment.

Loew:

Return to the Challenge Academy next week to see how the cadets are coping at the halfway point of their program. Here's an excerpt.

Freyberg:

What was going through your head when you laid it on your pillow that first night?

Recruit:

How am I going to pass this? It was rough.

Recruit:

When we first came here we had 23 girls, and now we only have 13.

Loew:

You can see the whole report next week, and each Thursday through this month, we'll check back in to see if the teens are able to rise to the challenge of the Challenge Academy. For more information on our series, visit our website at wpt.org/inwisconsin

Veteran's day on November 11 is a time to remember the sacrifices made by our service men and women, sacrifices being made now in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, and sacrifices made in years past. More than 50 years ago, the U.S. sent a peacetime Army into Korea to stop what the government called the Communist aggression. That peacetime Army soon found itself in an all-out war. A new Wisconsin Public Television documentary called "Wisconsin Korean War Stories" brings us a glimpse into that war through memories shared by those veterans. This excerpt features three Wisconsin vets who found themselves embroiled in the battle of Taejon.

John Valder:

I joined in 1948. I finished my training and wanted to go overseas. I was too young, so I had to come home and get my parents' permission to go. They signed the paper and I went to Japan, the occupation duty there. A good duty, I liked it.

Darrell Krenz:

That's it, I'm 17-years-old, and I'm going into the service. They wanted me to go to advanced training in the states here. And I said no, I'll join the Army. I want to go overseas. So, I had a choice, actually, Japan or Germany. So, I said I'll go to Japan. I was there 14 months when the Korean War broke out. We went on alert immediately on the 25th of June, 1950. On the fourth of July, we were shipped to Korea.

Stewart Sizemore:

We were on maneuvers when the Korean War broke out, platoon training. It wasn't that intense, to be really qualified to go into combat at that time. Our weapons were Second World War weapons. A lot of them were not very good. A lot of the barrels were worn out. But when the war broke out, we were saying, well, wait till they see the Americans and we'll be back in Japan in three days and continue what we were doing. Unfortunately, that wasn't true. Never happened.

Krenz:

We figured that when they saw the United States soldiers that they'd run like hell, but they didn't. They run, all right, right over us.

Valder:

We were told, you know, there wasn't going to be many fighting forces, their fighting force wasn't that strong. They were farmers who weren't armed with nothing but pitchforks. The next thing you know, we were surrounded by them, thousands and thousands. They looked like ants coming over a hill, just come down. They started attacking us, and we didn't have nothing much to hold them back with then, as far as big guns, or anything like that. So, we just had to retreat.

Krenz:

It was chaos. Nobody knew what they was doing there. We found rifles and stuff just laying there where GIs had left them lay and run, I guess, I don't know. I found a 60mm mortar, a whole bunch of white phosphorous rounds. You could see the North Koreans coming. I propped it up against a railroad track, and we started shoving them in there. I was just going like this. So, we got a lot of them with that white phosphorous.

Sizemore:

We found out after that battle, we weren't there to win the war, we were there to try to delay until we got more forces there. We were buying time with blood, basically, is what it amounted to. And all we do is fight and walk, fight and walk. When we came up to our main line of resistance, and we had a battle, then we'd fall back again. Because that was the only option until we hit Taejon. And Taejon was our downfall.

Valder:

The day we walked in there, we didn't know it, but we were already surrounded. We got word back from the Commanding General saying that we were going to be there at Taejon, that we were going to hold it at all costs. No retreating, this is it. We were going to fight till the last man.

Krenz:

We were on an outpost. There was, you know, hundreds of them coming at you. There was only like ten or 12 of us. So, we jumped on the truck. We went back into town not knowing the town was surrounded already. We drove right into them.

Valder:

There weren't very many of us left. So, we were going to try to break out. I don't know how many vehicles I got on, and then knocked off, the driver shot. They were just machine gunning everybody. I got hit. A big truck, they had about 60 of them on there. And they'd restart and grabbed my hand as they went by, and I pulled up on it. They got the driver and we smashed into a building. They were just slaughtered. All those guys on the truck, were just slaughtered.

Krenz:

There was four of us left in the back of the truck at that time that were alive. We jumped out. And we run into this big ditch. We crawled away and we got into the heavy grass. We could hear them talking and hollering, screaming, but they never found us.

Valder:

I managed to fall into a rice patty. I just laid there. They were taking pot shots at me all afternoon, coming close. I guess whoever was doing that finally got tired or convinced that I was dead, so he stopped shooting.

Sizemore:

So, then it was getting dark. Myself and two other guys started up into the mountains. We could see down below, Taejon just burning, on fire.

Valder:

Everybody else was gone, so I started up the hill, toward the mountain. And I ran across another guy, he was wounded. And here we ran across the General and his staff. We couldn't keep up with them, so we stayed behind.

Krenz:

He got captured about a week later and held out in the weeds I guess, or something. That was a big thing, to have a General captured.

Valder:

The shrapnel hit us in the legs, my buddy in the foot. And we couldn't go any further. We couldn't run. They captured us. I thought they were going to kill us right there, but they didn't.

Krenz:

We had nowhere to go, 'cause my buddy says, "I don't have no ammo left. What are we going to do?" Well, I guess we gotta try if we see any GIs laying around, and all that. We put our hands up.

Sizemore:

Came out into an apple orchard. That's where our regiment, what was left of it, was forming up. At the time, I can remember our company had 12 men left, out of 206. So, we ended up on where they were trying to shove us off into the ocean. That, basically, was the last stand for us. We died or lived, because the fighting was so intense down there, and bloody, that you just kill or be killed all the time.

Krenz:

I guess I made a mistake. I had a South Korean flag in my pocket. And that really ticked the guard off, the North Korean guard. He put his burp gun to my head and was just about ready to pull the trigger, I could almost see it. And I said goodbye to my family, my little sister.

Valder:

They took us back into Taejon again. They put us in the jail. These little characters would come in there ten times a day, threatening to kill us, take their weapon and stick it to our head, and it was just-- I was ready to give up and say shoot me, you know, stop this crap.

Sizemore:

After a while, you see all these dead people, and you might not believe it, but after a while, you begin to envy these people. They've got eternal rest, and you're going to keep right on going until you get it. And you know the odds are going to catch up with you.

Loew:

The documentary was produced by Mik Derks. You can tune in November 13 at 8:00 p.m. to watch the entire two-hour "Wisconsin Korean War Stories." Again, you can watch the entire two-hour documentary Monday night, November 13, at 8:00 right here on Wisconsin Public Television.

Loew:

This past election day, Wisconsin voters said yes, we should reinstate the death penalty. It's been a long time since anyone was put to death in Wisconsin for the crime of murder. The first and last execution happened in 1851 in Kenosha. As Frederica Freyberg reports, even then the death penalty was controversial.

Freyberg:

It's reported that thousands of people came to the site in downtown Kenosha on that August day in 1851 to see John McCaffary hanged for murdering his wife.

Cynthia Nelson:

What they did is they didn't break his neck. They asphyxiated him. So that's very controversial.

Freyberg:

The Kenosha History Center is the keeper of some of the original artifacts linked to the state's first, and to date, last execution.

Nelson:

So, we have John McCaffary age 30, male.

Freyberg:

Curator Cynthia Nelson points to the 1850 census reporting Kenosha's infamous resident.

Nelson:

We have the house here. Here's the front shot.

Freyberg:

There are old photos of the killer's house and a want ad showing he tried to sell it and a first rate cow just months before the crime. Instead, as documented in this paper, the house was signed over to a lawyer to pay for a death penalty defense case. This is the house today, a stop on the National Historical Registry because of its place in history. One night in the summer of 1850 the back yard of the house became a crime scene. That's where John McCaffary murdered his wife.

Nelson:

Apparently Bridget and her husband had fights regularly, is what the local stories are. Today it would be, you know, domestic abuse issues. This article depicts him as a bit of a womanizer. Apparently in a fit of anger he drowned her in a well, a cistern, a half-wooden barrel buried in their back yard for wash water, and he drowned her.

Freyberg:

Justice was swift. Despite his lawyer's efforts, evidence proved his guilt. John McCaffary was convicted by the jury and sentenced to death.

Nelson:

This is what they call the judgment role, so it's the words of him being sentenced and what was said at the trial.

Freyberg:

Upon order of the governor, a time was set for John McCaffary's execution. The sentencing paper reading, quote, "at that time you be hung by the neck until you be dead."

There had never been a murder in Kenosha. The sheriff had to have a blacksmith make these manacles to use to restrain McCaffary. In August of 1851, John McCaffary was led to a scaffold on a site that is now a vacant lot in Kenosha. According to records, just before his execution he confessed his guilt. Moments later, a counter weight hoisted him into the air, a rope around the neck.

Nelson:

The thing with the hanging is it was not a perfected type of execution in 1851, and he hung there a long time.

Freyberg:

Witnesses recount McCaffary hung by a noose for 20 minutes, his heart still beating.

Nelson:

Some people make it out as a botched hanging, which it wasn't a botched hanging. It was just a horrible way to hang people at the time.

Freyberg:

But a powerful man in Kenosha was horrified by the spectacle, and Christopher Latham Sholes had the means to spread the word about what he witnessed. Sholes was editor of the local paper, inventor of the typewriter, and state legislator. In his paper he wrote "The last agony is over. The crowd have been indulged in its insane passion for the sight of a judicially murdered man. We do not complain that the law has been enforced. We complain that the law exists. We hope that this will be the last execution that shall ever disgrace the mercy expecting citizens of the State of Wisconsin."

Freyberg:

Similar editorials across the state followed, and construction of Waupun state prison was well underway, which meant there would be a secure place to jail convicts for life. State representative Sholes introduced a repeal of the death penalty in the state legislature. It passed and was signed into law in 1853.

Loew:

The death penalty does not become law just because the advisory referendum passed. A few things need to happen first. Wisconsin does not have to amend the state constitution for the penalty to become law. Instead, legislators must draft a bill and get it passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor. How quickly this happens will depend upon how our state legislators vote, and if governor Jim Doyle vetoes the bill as is expected.

You can get post-election analysis on "Here and Now," Wisconsin Public Television's political talk show. "Here and Now" airs Friday nights at 7:00. And speaking of election coverage, we'd like to hear from you about how you think we did this election season. We brought you nine weeks of issue- based stories, leading up to the election in an attempt to help inform your vote. We'd like to know, did you find it helpful, complete? What issues would you have liked to have seen us cover? You can share your feedback by sending an email to "In Wisconsin" at wpt.org/inwisconsin or you can call 1-800-253-1158. That's our program for this week.

We leave you with a late fall walk through Avoca Prairie in Iowa County. For "In Wisconsin," I'm Patty Loew. See you next time.

Captioning provided by Riverside Captioning Company.