THE ASSAULTED--A Novel

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November 7, 2018...This is not a day of triumph, a day of success, a day of elation. there is only a feeling of what if...What if something had been done about the increase of mass shootings? On a local, State, or Federal level?  need What if there had been no AR-15s to purchase, no AK-47s to buy? What if there had been no need for a semi-automatic pistol? What if there had been no need for a website where mass shooting victims would go to grieve, to wonder out loud why nothing is being done. If that had been true, there would have been no need for the events of November 7th......

"Somehow this has become routine! The reporting is routine, my response, here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it, we've become numb to this. We talked about this after Columbine and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charlestown. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun."  President Obama, 10/01/2015, after Umpqua Community College shooting

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Part II. The training. The preparation, the meetings, the workouts, the coordination, The Plan reviewed from all angles. The Teams, The camaraderie. The friendship. The love. Culminating on November 6th; the best day at the farmhouse.

"Somehow this has become routine! The reporting is routine, my response, here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it, we've become numb to this. We talked about this after Columbine and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charlestown. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun."  President Obama, 10/01/2015, after Umpqua Community College shooting

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The preparations begin. The Plan over the next couple of months slowly turns from talk and notes into cold steel reality. A bus; 8 vehicles; expanded farmhouse, plus a NEW farmhouse on the property. Furniture, exercise equipment, $1,800 worth of tools for David Hetrick to keep the bus and autos purring. And...THE ARMORY. AK-47s, AR-15s, Barrettas. All with silencers and thousands of rounds of ammunitions. The last arrivals: The 30 Assaulted. Part 2 will cover the training.........

"Somehow this has become routine! The reporting is routine, my response, here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it, we've become numb to this. We talked about this after Columbine and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charlestown. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun."  President Obama, 10/01/2015, after Umpqua Community College shooting

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The best chapter. The toughest chapter. The most gut wrenching chapter. Told through the eyes of a children's entertainer, a slight man from the UK who loves everyone, children especially. He knew them; he's entertained them; he loved them. And they loved him too. A NOTE: I cry while reading this chapter; I have not removed it. Nor will I. Ever.

"Somehow this has become routine! The reporting is routine, my response, here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it, we've become numb to this. We talked about this after Columbine and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charlestown. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun."  President Obama, 10/01/2015, after Umpqua Community College shooting

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Joe and Deanna. Joe Fratelli and Deanna Satriale. This is a love story; a love story that began with "the thunderbolt," Il Fulmine, when they were 13. It's also a story about a mutual friend they made when they decided on a second career, a woman described as a "sister from another mother." And...a story of tragedy, and how it affected all 3.

"Somehow this has become routine! The reporting is routine, my response, here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it, we've become numb to this. We talked about this after Columbine and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charlestown. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun."  President Obama, 10/01/2015, after Umpqua Community College shooting

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Cyndy White and Larry Olson loved small town life. They'd gone to college and married in Eugene, Oregon; but it had been too "big city" for them. So, they'd moved back to Roseburg, a town of about 20,000. So what in the world would make them want to tear up roots, travel to the East Coast, live in the decidedly un-small townish environment of Washington, DC, and work for the NRA?  What indeed.......

"Somehow this has become routine! The reporting is routine, my response, here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it, we've become numb to this. We talked about this after Columbine and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charlestown. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun."  President Obama, 10/01/2015, after Umpqua Community College shooting

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Detective John Dulles Foster was a respected detective within the Rancho Tehama Sheriff's Dept, treating both good AND bad guys with respect. There was just one guy in his years on the force that bothered him, unsettled him, put him on edge. Unfortunately, it ended up being one guy too many.........

"Somehow this has become routine! The reporting is routine, my response, here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it, we've become numb to this. We talked about this after Columbine and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charlestown. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun."  President Obama, 10/01/2015, after Umpqua Community College shooting

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"Chuy" Hernandez was surrounded by the restaurant business. Both his maternal and paternal grandfather owned and operated one of the most popular Mexican places in the city; his parents worked for them as accountants. Then little Chuy was taught how to cook in the kitchen. Years later he owned a fleet of Mexican food trucks, helping his Dad by "volunteering" to provide food at various Democratic political events...Like a "Congress on Your Corner" event for newly re-elected Congresswoman Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords.......

"Somehow this has become routine! The reporting is routine, my response, here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it, we've become numb to this. We talked about this after Columbine and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charlestown. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun."  President Obama, 10/01/2015, after Umpqua Community College shooting

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Lia Copeland was named after comedy royalty; she ended up pursuing the same dream as her namesake. Very successful, with sold out venues and an HBO special under her belt, she travelled all over the country. The last place she was ever to perform was a club in Aurora, Colorado, where she was playing second fiddle to a Batman premiere. After her second show, she persuaded a couple to take her to the midnight showing.......

"Somehow this has become routine! The reporting is routine, my response, here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it, we've become numb to this. We talked about this after Columbine and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charlestown. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun."  President Obama, 10/01/2015, after Umpqua Community College shooting

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Some people are lucky; they get a do-over. They are able to make themselves into a better version of what they had been. So was the case with Henry Oliver Johnson. After a traumatic 40th birthday alone, Henry turned his life around, becoming a better employee, a better friend, a better man. And, because of this re-birth, setting in motion a chain of events that would lead to tragedy for his fellow co-workers.

"Somehow this has become routine! The reporting is routine, my response, here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it, we've become numb to this. We talked about this after Columbine and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charlestown. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun."  President Obama, 10/01/2015, after Umpqua Community College shooting