IN REMEMBRANCE OF EDWARD J. ALLEN--LAW OFFICER, POET, AND PRO-LIFE ACTIVIST -- (IT'S SUBSIDIARIES AND THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION AND DR. ALLRED) (Extension of Remarks - October 26, 1988)
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HON. ROBERT K. DORNAN
in the House of Representatives
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1990
- Mr. DORNAN of California. Mr. Speaker, on January 6, 1990, a heroic man, Edward J. Allen, died. He lived a long, productive and giving life.
- Edward Joseph Allen was born November 13, 1907, in Erie, PA. He grew up in that southwestern Pennsylvania city and, on May 26, 1937, he married his hometown sweetheart, Dorothy Mae Davenport. They were blessed with two children and six grandchildren. Ed began his career as a patrolman in Erie and later worked with the FBI during World War II to assist Federal agents on investigations concerning sabotage, espionage, and subversion. After the war, he attended the FBI National Academy and in 1948 became police chief of Youngstown, OH.
- In Youngstown, Eddie teamed with a reform-minded mayor to drive the Mafia influence from that city. His efforts won him national recognition and Youngstown the `All-American City' Award in 1950. Later, in 1963, he published a book, `The Merchants of Menace,' which analyzed Mafia activity in the United States.
- He went on to become chief of Ohio's Department of Liquor Control and in 1955 was selected from a nationwide field of candidates as chief of the Santa Ana Police Department. He served with distinction in this position until August, 1972 when at 65 he was forced into mandatory retirement. The chief was known as a competent, hard-nosed dedicated police officer. He was a critic of a lax judicial system and an advocate of local control and appropriate punishment. Over the years, Eddie was able to blend the old police traditions with new police methods. In doing so he never abandoned the tough, bedrock principles that have characterized his personal and professional life.
- He was active in the church. He served as a lector at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Santa Ana and also established a `jail ministry.' Twice each week Eddie, along with a parish priest, headed to the local jail to spread the word. He was past-vice president of the Holy Name Society for the diocese of Los Angeles. And, from 1985 until his death, he served as a member of my congressional advisory board on religious affairs.
- Edward J. Allen was also a hero within the Orange County pro-life movement. Long before the courageous men and women of Operation Rescue began to receive recognition for their work, Ed stood on the front lines. While peacefully picketing an abortion mill, run by the infamous Dr. Allred, he was arrested for trespassing when he entered the office in an attempt to get an appointment with the clinic manager. He refused to plea bargain and spend time in jail--reflecting and praying. He wrote many poems during his life-time, but his poetry of his later days reflects his dedication and devotion to the antiabortion movement.
- Mr. Speaker, Eddie Allen was truly a man worthy of emulation. He was an exemplary civil servant, a loving husband and father, a protector of the innocent preborn children and a humble servant of the Lord. I would like to share with you several of the poems, Mr. Allen wrote and urge you to ponder the words and the meaning they have for all of us:
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Edward J. Allen.
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(TO ALL IMPRISONED PRO-LIFE ACTIVISTS)
MY WASH-BOWL, MY BUNK-BED, MY TOILET, AND I,
THIS ELEGANT TRIO, AS TIME PASSES BY
ARE COMPEER COMPANIONS WHO SILENTLY STARS
AS BREAKFAST AND LUNCHTIME AND DINNER WE SHARE:
I CAN'T DO WITHOUT THEM, I NEED THEM, ALL THREE,
BUT THEY'D GET ALONG (BETTER STILL) WITHOUT ME!
FOR `THEY ALSO SERVE WHO JUST STAND AND WAIT'
FOR MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO SHARE MY OWN FATE:
US PRISONERS ALL, IN HIS SERVICE AGREE,
AS WASH-BOWL AND TOILET AND BUNK-BED SERVE ME!
MY WAN, WATCHFUL WALLS, MY CEILING, MY FLOOR,
ALL LIKEWISE COMMUNE BEHIND OUR LOCKED DOOR,
CONTENT AND SERENE, THEY SHALL STOICLY STAY,
'TIL ONE DAY, LIKE ME, THEY SHALL WITHER AWAY,
BACK TO THE DUST OF THE EARTH WHENCE WE CAME
'TIL THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND, AND HE CALLS US BY NAME!
THUS OFTLY I MUSS AS I SIT HERE ALONE:
THEY ALL SERVE THEIR PURPOSE, BUT WHAT OF MY OWN?
HAVE I SERVED AS WELL AS MY CELL HAS SERVED ME?
--AH NO, TRIO MIO, 'TIS GRAVE MYSTERY:
THOU HAST NEVER SINNED AGAINST HIM WHO MADE THEE,
WHILE ALL OF US `HUMANS' HAVE SINNED GRIEVOUSLY!
THOU ART VOID OF REASON, YET SERVANTS OF LOVE,
HENCE SERVANTS OF LIFE, YOUR CREATOR ABOVE!
WHILE `INTELLIGENT' WOMEN AND MEN ON HIS EARTH,
ARE DENYING HIS CHILDREN THE RIGHT TO THEIR BIRTH!
DEAR GOD OF OUR FATHERS, HOWE'ER COULD THIS BE?
THAT `COURTS' WOULD CONSORT WITH THE POWERS-THAT-BE
IN THE DARK NETHER-WORLD, WITH SUCH DEVILTRY
THAT THEY SAVAGE THE WOMBS OF THY CHILDREN-TO-BE?!
FOR O, MY COMPANIONS, LOCKED IN HERE WITH ME,
THESE `LEAST' OF HIS IMAGE WOULD SERVE HIM LIKE THEE,
E'EN THOUGH VOID OF REASON UNTIL THEY MATURE
TO KNOW GOOD FROM EVIL, FOR AY TO ENDURE
BY MAKING THE `CHOICE' OF SERVING GOD'S WILL,
AS THOU HAST SERVED MINE, MY NEEDS TO FULFILL:
STALWARTLY! TRUE!--AND OBEDIENTLY,
MY LOWLY AND LOYAL AND LORN TRINITY!
MY WASH-BOWL, MY TOILET, MY BUNK-BED,-AND I?
STILL LOYAL TO LIFE AND TO LOVE 'TIL I DIE
BUT TO LIVE IN `THE NURSERIES OF HEAVEN ON HIGH!' 1
1 Francis Thompson: `My song I do but hold for you in trust, I ask you to but blossom from my dust: . . . Pass the crystalline sea, the Lampads seven: Look for me in the nurseries of Heaven!'
(I was born on the day Francis died: November 13, 1907)
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Man is the creature of God's Holy Breath: It ill becomes Justice to give birth to Death;
The lawyers 1
and the judges play their game:
1 Luke 11:46/53.
Just how you `phrase' the question, that's the thing!
To block the Truth both sides go laboring to quash the truth in toto, hence defame
The Name of Justice, and in winnowing
The blinging chaff of `legalese' they bring
The sacred oath they take to utter shame!
With Life or Death of Innocents at sake,
The Right to Life is our Creator's Cause!
Where lies the guilt when courts of `Justice' make A mockery of His Immortal Laws?
If not in Truth, then courts of Justice lie,
Whence `nothing but The Truth' they crucify!
Edward J. Allen.
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(IT'S SUBSIDIARIES AND THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION AND DR. ALLRED)
O ye, who spurn thy Maker's Sovereign Will,
To intercourse with Satan's Sinful Seed,
Begetting in thy dark of mind his Creed:
His salivating lust of flesh to fill:
That male and female have the right to kill
The images of God, in word and deed,
The Hinnon Valley's fetid flames to feed
The maw of Moloch: Mod Abortion Mill!
Ah, knowest not whose life thou dost abort?
Fall on thy knees, thy Maker to implore!
It is thine own that you are cutting short!
Confess thy Sins, then rise, and sin no more!
Attempts to save God's littlest one's a crime?
Thou dost give birth to Evil in our time! 1
1 Ezekiel 3:17/23 (The Prophet as Watchman).
Edward J. Allen.
From Orange County Jail, 7-23-1986.
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