The Weeping Angel of Amiens (Photo Credit: Wikipedia)
Otto Warmbier
The North Koreans did not free Otto Warmbier, they sent home a dying young man. Whatever brutality they inflicted caused his death. When he returned to the United States, nothing could be done for him.
Despite the irreversibility of his fate, I am very thankful to President Trump for securing Otto’s release. He ensured that a dying young man would pass away home, in the United States, and surrounded by his loved ones, his parents in particular, Fred and Cindy Warmbier. Otto’s mother said that her son’s facial expression changed during the last days of his life. He arrived in the United States looking anguished, but died looking serene, at peace.
He will also be given a proper funeral, which will help his parents, his siblings, his friends, and all of us. We were all touched and our thoughts are with his family. Otto Warmbier was the quintessential victim of man’s inhumanity to man.
I would like to offer my deepest condolences to his grieving family and I hope that an angel will be by their side for the rest of their life. They have suffered. They saw videos of their son crying when he was condemned to 15 years of hard labour and looking dejected as guards took him away to serve an unjust sentence.
I have placed above the image of the “Weeping Angel of Amiens,” once again. It is so powerful an image. The soul is immortal. So, no one could take his soul away from Otto.
May you rest in peace.
RELATED ARTICLE
- The Weeping Angel of Amiens (11 December 2014)
La Cathédrale d’Amiens
« Un Bal », La Symphonie fantastique, Hector Berlioz
Charles Munch, conductor
© Micheline Walker
20 June 2017
WordPress
Micheline's Blog 
so sad
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It’s unbelievable. What cruelty. His poor parents.
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Dear Micheline, your witness for young Otto Warmbier is touching, dignified, and supports both justice and healing.
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JoAnn, would that I could do more. Nothing is more painful than the tragic loss of a child. None of this should have happened. There are many ways of inducing cardiac arrest. They drove Otto to despair. I feel so sad for Otto and for his parents.
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Tragic. Cruel. A crazed overreaction to an imagined threat.
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JoAnn,
They are insane and “imagined threats” are costing humanity huge losses. Ten million Syrians walked away from devastated cities hoping to find a refuge but countries put up walls. Islamophobia is a scourge. Innocent people are being refused a new home, because they might be terrorists. That’s an imagined threat, but lives are broken. So many people are still walking, but they have died. Realistic expectations have been crushed. They’re not mere “dreamers.” Governments and prejudices have crushed them. Help comes mostly from organizations such as Amnesty International. Nothing will be done by the United States to free the other Americans who are still held in North Korea’s prisons. Canada is about to deport a family of refugees from Guatemala. Are they going to destroy Edmonton? Imagined fears! I so admire Angela Merkel. Otto Warmbier could no longer talk when he was returned to the United States. He was brain dead. Dear friend, I thank you for writing.
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I too admire Angela Merkel, and for the way German people acknowledged the horror of the Holocaust and their own complicity. They aim to never let it happen again on their soil. This is something the US should do regarding Black slavery and racism and for the genocide of Native Americans. Reality and responsibility lead to healing and strength. But like you say, insanity is far and wide, and none want to undergo therapy.
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JoAnn, There are terrible moments one has to leave in the past. Hitler was a catastrophe, but we have this marvellous woman who at one point was handling the Migrant Crisis by herself. There was Brexit and there could have been a Frexit. Donald Trump was elected to the Presidency. But Angela Merkel kept managing the Migrant Crisis. One has to have the strength to break with the past. It has to be a decision. The North Koreans should do themselves a service and free their prisoners from the West. One chooses love, not hate. Take care.
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So true, Micheline. Take care.
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And the North Koreans should also free their own prisoners and avoid a revolution. Best.
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Sick! / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Warmbier
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It’s so very sad. How could they?
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Thank you.
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A wonderful heartfelt post for this young man and his family. A very sad story indeed.
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I feel so sad for his family. What a cruel thing to do to a young man. I hope you are well.
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I am well, but disgusted with how this world treats each other.
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We are going from one tragedy to another. It cannot continue. Terrorism is the worst of our afflictions. Take care.
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Really sad. …. and this insane NK regime. …. and the docs in US looking for evidence of physical abuse as the (only) cause of his condition. Like they have never heard that psychological abuse can be equally devastating to human health. What else could be called a 15 years hard labor imprisonment sentence for a 20 year old for “stealing” a stupid poster, if he did it at all.
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For “stealing” a stupid poster, if he did it.
We will never know what was the cause of his cardiac arrest. Fear and hopelessness can induce illness and death. Shame on the NK régime. This was gratuitous cruel punishment. They killed him as if life was not sacred. It is so sad.
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It is so sad… thank you for this tribute to him here xx
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Christy,
What a nightmare for Otto and for his family. It lasted 17 months and his death was a crime. He did nothing wrong.
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Such a sad situation.
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No one has the right to inflict pain on another human being and to do so willingly. It is heartbreaking.
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Would it be OK if I cross-posted this article to WriterBeat.com? I’ll be sure to give you complete credit as the author. There is no fee, I’m sim5ply trying to add more content diversity for our community and I liked what you wrote. If “OK” please let me know via email.
Autumn
AutumnCote@WriterBeat.com
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Yes, you may. Such a sad story!
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Hi dear Micheline,
What has happened with Otto Warmbier is awful.
The fact that originated the whole issue was just the fact that he allegedly took a propaganda poster from his hotel room, while he was doing a tour.
His trial reportedly lasted less than an hour. After 17 months as a prisoner in North Korea. His parents said that his death was the result of “the awful torturous mistreatment their son received at the hands of the North Koreans”.
I just found it “unbelievable”. Who do you think should have acted to avoid this?… Is that a president faculty?… Or the American consulate?.
Being an american citizen, as he was, and given how powerful US is when it comes to this issues and possible interventions I wonder why did anyone help him and bring him back to the States before it was too late…
Thank you for sharing this post. May he rest in peace.
Sending love ⭐
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If ever there was a victim, Otto Warmbier was just that. It could be that the US tried to help. We may never know. The United States does not have an embassy in Pyongyang. Sweden acts on behalf of the United States. In such cases, Amnesty International is one’s best resource, but it can be a very long process.
He fell into a coma a month or so after his so-called trial, a travesty of justice. Grief can kill.
May he rest in peace.
Take care Aquileana,
Micheline 🙂
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time.
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