USA First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff

Dear First Lady Sharon Landry,
We are ambassadors for the Drug Epidemic Memorial Walls. You are likely aware of
our story in the Netflix docuseries “The Pharmacist”. We lost our son in a drug related
murder years ago and we remain devastated. We loved our son and we know he is
proud that his story has reached millions and has saved lives. We have been on a
mission for over 20 years to reduce the drug crisis that is taking so many lives in our
state and our nation. In the past few years, in addition to many overdose deaths, we
now also have many that die who are poisoned by Fentanyl. Many are novices without
addiction issues which adds to surprise of their loss.
So many families are devastated and want their loved ones recognized. I know you
have children and grandchildren. Would you assist in finding a permanent location for a
Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall, hopefully within our Capitol. We have created two virtual
Memorial Walls. One with photos and one with names. Danny’s frame is included
below. Our group is also sending a brochure of the virtual walls, albums and our
awareness campaign. Annie and I feel this will make a huge difference in humanizing
our losses and motivate actions to reduce the drug epidemic. Prayers for all families
that have suffered the loss of a loved one during this State and National Tragedy.
These digital walls and albums update automatically. We would also like the photos
displayed in hard copy format. The wall of names can be projected on a wall so parents
can touch their loved one’s names. We would like our loved one to be treated like
soldiers that died in our Nation’s Drug War. Many of our children could have died hero’s
if they had lived in a different era. If they would have been of age after the attack on
Pearl Harbor, I can assure you most of them would have gone to war to defend our
country. Instead, they came up at a time when drugs were pervasive, not enough effort
goes into awareness, education and treatment of addiction. Many drug companies with
Purdue Pharma as a leader and now Mexican Cartels and China’s labs contributed to
their demise. Perhaps their deaths and our suffering will lead our country to combat
this tragic situation. Perhaps “We the People” will become more compassionate and
address this crisis minus the stigma. Perhaps in the future Historians will view our
children as soldiers that lost their live and helped affect a positive change and reduced
this crisis. Our children were heroes to us, but perhaps they are heroes to everyone.
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