Dear FAMMily,
This Veterans Day, we’re thinking about Native Hawaiian Van Keoki Kahumolu. For Van, simply sitting in the sun is a not-so-small pleasure. Now 76, Van is happy to be outside in freedom, rain or sun: For 24 years, this Vietnam veteran lived behind bars in the Hawai’i state corrections system, serving a life sentence.
“I accepted that I would die in prison,” Van says now, recalling how gravely ill he was while incarcerated, suffering from kidney and liver disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Also, he continued to experience the severe PTSD that had plagued him since Vietnam, after he witnessed an aircraft blow up and an entire platoon perish.
Eventually, as he grew increasingly debilitated, Van began the arduous process of applying for medical release. Just over two years have passed since he walked free after it was granted in September 2023.
Hawai’i is one of the states in which FAMM is working hard to support medical release for the sickest incarcerated individuals — those who have debilitating health conditions or are nearing the end of life. Included are people who are too impaired to be able to engage in prison-based rehabilitation or even register that they are being punished. These people often require complex and costly treatment that the prison system simply cannot provide. They are both the lowest risk to the public and the most burdensome and costly to care for—like Van. Many of them are veterans.
Van’s release came after ceaseless strong support from the activist group Ohana Ho’opakele. The community-based organization counts several veterans and formerly incarcerated people among its members, and over the years they rallied to support him. “We were overjoyed when he won medical release,” says Rev. Ron Fujiyoshi, one of the leaders of Ohana Ho’opakele. Ron has supported incarcerated men, particularly Native Hawaiian veterans, for many years. “Some of us didn’t quite believe that it would happen. For us, it was such a blessing.”
This Veterans Day, we hope you’ll read and share Van’s story and join us in honoring our country’s incarcerated veterans and activist veterans like the members of Ohana Ho’opakele, working so hard for people like Van and for compassionate release.
Sincerely,
The FAMM Staff
