The Author

David Butler spent his boyhood days in Cooperstown, New York, an American icon of small towns and the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. After his family moved to Florida when he was a teenager, he joined the Navy and later fought with Army and Navy forces in the rivers of Vietnam. He was seriously wounded and awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. Later, after a medical discharge, he became a policeman and moved back to Cooperstown. With his wife, Mary, a nurse, he raised three boys, all of whom also became policemen. When employed as a police chief for a regional railroad, David refused to lie in a double-fatal accident and was fired. Now, at 60 years old, he continues a 20 year battle to have the truth known and justice served. With the railroad putting up constant legal blockades, the story has never been told, and it is David's wish that this book will finally serve that purpose.

This book is a chronicle of a proud and honorable man, who was railroaded in Cooperstown. It is a frightening story that actually happened, and continues to happen, in a town very close to our hearts. The villains in the story still live in and around Cooperstown, seemingly immune to the forces of right and justice. They continue to thrive as David, his family, and the victims of the crash continue to suffer. David had simply done the right thing. He had served the system and his country well. When he and his family needed it, the judicial system had collapsed beneath them, like the floor of a burning building.

The Butlers are good people. They love and support each other and carefully raised three fine sons. They sacrificed mightily for their family's well-being, and they served their community with enthusiasm and dedication. In short, they are decent human beings. They truly live the family values to which so many politicians pay lip service. They deserved better than what they'd been dealt.