Texas Postal Workers Applaud Delivery of Peace House Mail

Fri Aug 19th, 2005 at 12:47:30 PDT

Apparently, Crawford postal employees had been stamping Return To Sender on mail items addressed to the Peace House in Crawford, a known address, with or without street number. This would be a federal violation, I believe; misdirection of mail.

A few days ago, one of the two mail carriers that deliver mail in town whispered to our Parking Queen, Barbara (from San Diego), that any mail that only had "Crawford Peace House" without the actual numbered address, was being `returned to sender.' Apparently, the Crawford Post Office was in the habit of holding on to the mail and then every now and then, sending them back to the people who had written either Cindy or CPH. Barbara, a retired postal worker, informed me that while that was technically possible, to do so was a real indication of their attitude towards what was happening here. After a few well placed phone calls to various Congressional reps, Postal Inspectors from Dallas and regional offices paid a visit to the post office here in town. It's true many pieces of mail were returned to people, but we found out that a large amount had also just gone back to the main Dallas-Ft Worth Post Office. It was just sitting there.

Johnny Wolfe, one of the co-founders of the Peace House went to the DFW office to pick the lot that had been sent back. When he walked into the place, he noticed that AirAmerica was cranked up in the front receiving area of the office. After he introduced himself at the counter and informed them that he was there to pick up the mail, the entire facility, including the processing center in the back, stopped and came to the front. They cheered and roared their approval in the loudest Texas fashion for everyone in Crawford who was there to take it to Bush. News of this brought tears to a few of us back at the House. I can't begin to adequately describe what it's meant to get that kind of support. When I think of how difficult it's been, I just think of those moments that I couldn't even begin to imagine reading in a story.