1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,199 Speaker 1: Camp Hell. Anawaki is a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: The views and opinions expressing this podcast are solely those 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:09,800 Speaker 1: of the author and participants and do not necessarily represent 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: those of I Heart Media or its employees. Due to 5 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: discussion of traumatic, sexual and violent content, listener discretion is advised. 6 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: In the outskirts of Atlanta, just twenty miles west is 7 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: the town of Douglasville. It is here that lies what 8 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: was once the largest medical facility in the state of Georgia, 9 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: and all but forgotten organization that you've probably never heard of, 10 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: the Anaweki Treatment Center for emotionally disturbed Youth. At its core, 11 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: it was meant to help children with emotional behavior issues. 12 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: He says, he enjoys it. They've got a football team 13 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: and they sponsored. He says. A counseling helps him a lot. 14 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: He is making almost all a he's now. He's very 15 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:05,199 Speaker 1: productive in school, very productive at home. It helped our 16 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: whole family pretty much brought us all back together. For 17 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: some this is a place where they grew up and 18 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: learned how to work and live off of the land. 19 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,040 Speaker 1: It taught me a lot for the future. It taught 20 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: me a lot. I think you learned responsibilit Yeah, I 21 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: think you learned how to be an adult. For others, 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 1: it represents some of the darkest times of their lives. 23 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 1: I still when I drive Interstate twenty and I get 24 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: around Chapel Hill Road or Highway five or ninety two 25 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 1: or anything there, my anxiety still goes up. This organization 26 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: would help its founder, Lewis Petter, become one of the 27 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: most wealthy and powerful people in the region, with a 28 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: reach that would go far beyond the state of Georgia. 29 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: If you've got the church, and you've got the bureaucrats, 30 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: and you've got the cops, you know, you can pretty 31 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: much get things done for decades. This facility would exploit 32 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: its patients, literally building its massive infrastructure off its patients 33 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: backs and leaving a trail of shattered lives behind. It 34 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,800 Speaker 1: was kind of like a kind of like an outdoor 35 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: summer camp where you would, you know, live in some 36 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: cabins and uh, you know, do outdoor things and tike 37 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: and go through the woods and all that kind of stuff. 38 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: That's really how it is explained. They always seemed to 39 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: leave out the building of the buildings and the slave 40 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: labor board as they called it. Vocational therapy. They would 41 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: have us bend over and they would put a bag 42 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:51,799 Speaker 1: of cement on our back, which weighed four pounds, and 43 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,799 Speaker 1: we were to hold that position and carry that bag 44 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: bent over up a mountain in order to make the 45 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: footings for the cabins. I would just like to know 46 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: why we had to go through what we went through, 47 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,920 Speaker 1: why everything was so covered up, Why I was lied to, 48 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: why I was cheated. Those are questions that still pop 49 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: up in my head all the time. Annawaki was able 50 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:26,399 Speaker 1: to expand continuously over two decades, all the while funneling 51 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: millions of dollars to the upper management of its organization. 52 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: This can only be attributed to its many ties to 53 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: people in power, some of which would extend all the 54 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: way to the White House. He was a player who's 55 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: a political player, and he'd made sure that he maintained 56 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: those kinds of contacts that would benefit him later. You 57 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: would see the names of the board members and there 58 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: was a lot of ex Georgia State politicians. He said, well, 59 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: I don't think you realize how powerful Petter is. A 60 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: lot of powerful people were involved with kind Awaking. What 61 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: you are about to hear is a largely unknown and 62 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: dark chapter in Georgia's history, one in which thousands of 63 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: children experienced and many never recovered from. This is a 64 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:24,359 Speaker 1: story a systemic abuse in the most literal sense, with 65 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: an empire, real estate built upon the backs of its patients, 66 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:33,040 Speaker 1: and a system that, instead of helping children, exposed them 67 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:37,840 Speaker 1: to some of the worst horrors imaginable. Before Jeffrey Epstein, 68 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 1: there was Lewis Petter and the network of people that 69 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: allowed his exploitive actions. This is the story of an 70 00:04:46,560 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: awaking I'm gonna passed several weeks. We have received number 71 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: of very serious allegations concerning both the facility out there 72 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: in a number of individuals involved with him. It was 73 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,160 Speaker 1: just a form of their therapy. They were told to 74 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:13,280 Speaker 1: do it, and at the time he was fourteen and 75 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:15,719 Speaker 1: a half fifteen years old, they didn't know any better. 76 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,280 Speaker 1: I asked him, why are you letting this happen? Why 77 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: are you covering up for Louis Batter. He had no 78 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: answer to that question. Involved having a insitution paid its 79 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:34,720 Speaker 1: little could be that shock destrick place and did do 80 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: absolutely the contrary of what they should have done. I'm 81 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: disturbable the fact of something I can still going on 82 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: it Ana Wicky. I'm Josh Stein and this is camp 83 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:53,479 Speaker 1: Hell in Awaki. I've often been asked while conducting interviews 84 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: for this podcast, how did you find out about in Awaki? 85 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: My name is Josh Stein. I'm in podcast producer. Much 86 00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: of what I work on are many true crime documentary 87 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: style podcasts, some of which you may have heard. In 88 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: the summer of two nineteen, I was on a vacation 89 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: for my wife's birthday, visiting Disney World and staying in 90 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: neighboring Clearwater, Florida. During one of our drives, my wife's 91 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,359 Speaker 1: friend Julia, knowing I had been working in true crime lately, 92 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: suggested something I'll never forget. You should do a podcast 93 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: on Anawaki. Anawaki? What does that even mean? What language 94 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:37,160 Speaker 1: is it? Initially I found very little regarding an Awaki. 95 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: There is currently only a two paragraph article on the 96 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: Wikipedia page for it. I continued digging and eventually found 97 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:48,920 Speaker 1: a rabbit hole of information, one that will continue to 98 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: surprise me with the depths of its scandal and those involved. 99 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: So how is my friend aware of this seemingly forgotten 100 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:03,799 Speaker 1: dar piece of history. Well, it starts with the story 101 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:09,159 Speaker 1: of a donkey George was quite a character. He lived 102 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: with my parents on the horse farm that we had 103 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: in Douglas County. He was a very interesting donkey. This 104 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: is Julia's friend, Georgia. She's a close family friend and 105 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: has known Julia mostly all her life. I grew up 106 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 1: in Douglasville. Moved to Douglasville when I was approximately six 107 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: years old with my parents from Tennessee, and grew up 108 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: there my whole life. I'm from Douglasville all the way 109 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: through in n one when we moved there, I twenty 110 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: westbound ended at Highway five in Douglasville. It did not 111 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: go any farther than that. It was kind of a sleepy, 112 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: sleepy little town and you know, close enough to Atlanta, 113 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: but get far enough. White, kind of a little bedroom community. 114 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: I guess that's George's mother. I'm Pat Kirkland. I currently 115 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: live in Grace and Georgia. When Georgia was a child, 116 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 1: the Kirklands adopted a donkey from Anna Waki. He came 117 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: to be a bit of a local celebrity. He did 118 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: palm Sunday at Sacred Heart Church. The Sacred Heart Church 119 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: is a massive Catholic church in Atlanta, it's towering steeple 120 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: can be seen off of alter. Boys would lead him 121 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 1: around and palm leaves on his back. After the first year, 122 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 1: it went over so big. I mean, the media was 123 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,559 Speaker 1: there and everything. I mean, George was on TV on 124 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,440 Speaker 1: the evening news, on Palm Sunday services for a long 125 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,319 Speaker 1: long time. There was one Sunday he got loose and 126 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: he's running down Peachtree Street and I guess the news 127 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 1: did an article on it, and you know, loose donkey 128 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: in the street. He was a character who he definitely was. 129 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: How a donkey would come to be involved in this 130 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:01,719 Speaker 1: story was a mystery to me. Georgia explain means. My 131 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:04,839 Speaker 1: father was an Atlanta police officer for the mount of 132 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: Patrol and he had a good friend named Tony Morris, 133 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: who was a priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Tony 134 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: used to visit the boys home to basically talk to 135 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: the boys see how things were going with them, and 136 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 1: while he was there, he noticed some abuse to this 137 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:26,199 Speaker 1: little donkey that they had. So he came back to 138 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: my father and he said, I think that the church 139 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: might need a donkey. And my father said, Okay, where 140 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:37,079 Speaker 1: are you going to keep it? And he said, look, 141 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: where's at your place? So long story short, George the 142 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,959 Speaker 1: donkey came to live with us, and he came from 143 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 1: the Annawiki Boys Home. Georgia was still just a child 144 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: while all of this was happening. She remembers seeing George 145 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,839 Speaker 1: for the first time. He said, they don't have a 146 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:59,679 Speaker 1: place for him anymore, so we're going to keep him 147 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 1: here at our place. And I thought it was cool, thought, oh, great, 148 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 1: you know, a little donkey's gonna be so cute and stuff. 149 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:08,839 Speaker 1: And then when they unloading him from the trailer, I 150 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: remember seeing his ears and I said, Dad, what's wrong 151 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: with his ears? Why aren't they so burnt? Well? I mean, what, 152 00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: what are all those marks on him? And why is 153 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: he so skittish? And he's so well, that's that's a 154 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:27,400 Speaker 1: story for another day. He had been abused, He had 155 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: cigarette burns on him, He had been sexually abused. I 156 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 1: didn't understand it at the time. This was in nineteen 157 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:42,080 Speaker 1: seventy eight. He went through a lot while he was there, 158 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 1: so I can understand why he was like he was 159 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: poor George. Oh, poor George had cigarette burns in his ears, 160 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 1: on his back. It was very, very apparent that that 161 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: animal had been abused. I mean, I just can't even 162 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 1: amad Witchen, even with her parents trying to protect her 163 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:07,679 Speaker 1: from what they knew was about situation. Georgia remembers how 164 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: she viewed an awake as a child, especially in the summertimes. 165 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: I was home with my sister and we would just 166 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: get on our horses. It was our way of entertainment, 167 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 1: and we would get out and stay gone all day, 168 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:24,320 Speaker 1: and we would go past an awake, you know, riding 169 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:25,959 Speaker 1: up but it was less than, you know, maybe five 170 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:29,719 Speaker 1: miles from where we lived. I didn't even want to 171 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 1: ride the horse past there because it almost seemed like 172 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 1: just a cold dungeon. It seemed almost Pollyanna, everything's happy 173 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 1: on the outside, but it seemed to me on the 174 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:47,280 Speaker 1: inside it was there was a lot of darkness in there. 175 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:54,319 Speaker 1: I heard rumors that the boys were being abused sexually, physically, 176 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 1: and to hear. Even at my young age at the time, 177 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,199 Speaker 1: and I was probably the age of some of the 178 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: boys there, I just remember feeling a lot of sadness 179 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: for them. People were pretty quiet about it. As the 180 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:15,079 Speaker 1: years progressed, it it came out more and more. There 181 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: was just you know a lot of talk about it, 182 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:21,320 Speaker 1: and it wasn't good. And I've heard this said many 183 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:25,920 Speaker 1: many times. Those poor boys are much worse off there 184 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 1: than they would have been had they, you know, state 185 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,599 Speaker 1: in the situation that they were in. It was a 186 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:37,760 Speaker 1: place where they could be abused physically, sexually, mentally abused, 187 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: and nobody said anything about it. You know, nobody really 188 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: cared who is in charge of this place that would 189 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:48,079 Speaker 1: let something like that go on? And I heard that 190 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: more than once. I mean, I don't know why wasn't 191 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: the law involved in it. I think that there was 192 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 1: a lot of money in that place, and I think 193 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: people just didn't want to rock the boat. I remember thinking, Wow, 194 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,320 Speaker 1: how sad that must be for these people that ended 195 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: up there. They're there with people that should care about 196 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 1: them and care about their well being. It was almost 197 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 1: if you were there, you never came out, or if 198 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:27,959 Speaker 1: you came out, they came out a different person. And 199 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,440 Speaker 1: then it started to all make sense why this little 200 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: donkey was how he was, and that story for another 201 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 1: time that my father talked about, it all started to 202 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: make sense. I began to understand maybe it was offset 203 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,880 Speaker 1: or displaced aggression that they took out on this little donkey. 204 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: I do believe animals remember, they remember good times, they 205 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: remember pain. It's my opinion that those boys were doing 206 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:00,040 Speaker 1: to George what had been done to them, or it 207 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 1: was being done to them. And if that's the case, 208 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 1: that is awful. Makes me sick to my stomach. How 209 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 1: many people's lives, not only the boys that were there, 210 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: but the parents and everyone else. How many lives were 211 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,480 Speaker 1: totally destroyed because of that. My thought when I closed 212 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: my eyes and everything is that I see that poor animal. 213 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: That that's what I see. And yes, human life is 214 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 1: certainly much more worthy than animal life is. But you know, 215 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: if it had that kind of effect on an animal, 216 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 1: what kind of effect did it have on those children? 217 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: You know, an animal is a living, breathing being that 218 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 1: was created by God, just like I was. And if 219 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:55,320 Speaker 1: he could remember those things that stayed with those boys 220 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 1: all of their life. Even some of them may not 221 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: even still be living now, but if they are, I 222 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 1: can assure you that that still has an impact on 223 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:11,800 Speaker 1: their life, their relationship with others and trust issues. You 224 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: can't ever erase that. How can you look yourself in 225 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: the mirror know and that you had a part of 226 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 1: that that you had a part of destroying and I'm 227 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:27,240 Speaker 1: talking about totally destroying another human being. How can you 228 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 1: look yourself in the mirror. I don't get it. And 229 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: after hearing George's story, I had to find out more 230 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 1: about in Awaki. I started coming through newspaper articles from 231 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: through the nineties and couldn't believe how many stories there were. 232 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: It seemed at one point that Anna Waki was in 233 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: the paper almost every day. I kept finding the same 234 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: name covering this story. I'm Albert Auchen. I am a 235 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: producer now for CBS News in Washington. I was a 236 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: newspaper reporter for about fifteen years and began in my 237 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 1: hometown of Savannah, Georgia, went to Richmond, and finally to Tallahassee, Florida. 238 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: And from Tallahassee, after doing a lot of stories about 239 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 1: the Annawaki situation, I was hired as a consultant for 240 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:37,800 Speaker 1: sixty minutes. Annawaki would come to be the story that 241 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: launched Albert's career into the mainstream. It was the main 242 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: focus of my journalism from late nine until mid n 243 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: It was the main story I was working on. There 244 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: were weeks and weeks where it was all I did. 245 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,400 Speaker 1: I would spend a lot of overtime. I lived near 246 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 1: the newspaper and was back and forth, you know, at night, 247 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:02,640 Speaker 1: keeping up with things. And of course I had to 248 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: pick up the Atlanta paper every day and see what 249 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,399 Speaker 1: they had, and that could change my agenda for the day. 250 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 1: So it was a lot of time. Originally, the story 251 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: involved a small investigation that was taking place in Carabelle, 252 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: Florida at the time, one of three locations in a 253 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 1: week he would come to have. It would soon take 254 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 1: on a life of its own and become a bigger 255 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:25,960 Speaker 1: story than they ever expected. We had a stringer, a 256 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: part timer who was covering Franklin County, anything that went 257 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 1: on in Franklin County, which is in the circulation area 258 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:37,440 Speaker 1: of Tallahassee. It's west of Tallahassee in the Panhandle of Florida. 259 00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:41,159 Speaker 1: And he was a part timer and a very good journalist, 260 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 1: and he came across the story first and did a 261 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: few pieces about the situation in Carrabelle, Florida. And then 262 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:52,159 Speaker 1: we began watching that just curiously in the newsroom, and 263 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: it was exploding at the same time up in the 264 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 1: Atlanta papers. So we learned about the Douglasville Facility, and 265 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: at a certain point the story grew enough where the 266 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:04,680 Speaker 1: managing editor asked me to keep an eye on it 267 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:08,120 Speaker 1: and to start doing the fundamental reporting because he wanted 268 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:10,440 Speaker 1: a regular staff never doing it. It became a bigger 269 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: story for us than just an occasional piece from the stringer. 270 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,239 Speaker 1: But after a while it became important to understand how 271 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:21,200 Speaker 1: the system was being manipulated. So in order to understand that, 272 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: we needed to understand more about what the system was. 273 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:29,639 Speaker 1: It's important here to note how in Awake he was 274 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: perceived by many of the parents who sent their children there. 275 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: Learning disabilities like a d h D and others are 276 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: now well known ailments with understood treatments of how to 277 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:43,440 Speaker 1: deal with them. However, in the nineties sixties, parents and 278 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: teachers alike were in the dark on how to address 279 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 1: these issues. Enter and Awaki. It is a place where 280 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 1: the upper middle class of Atlanta sends their troubled kids. Initially, 281 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: it was supposed to be the kinds of children that 282 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:04,640 Speaker 1: went there were very, very troubled people who had severe 283 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 1: debilitating not necessarily mental illness in the sense of you know, 284 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 1: severe pathologies, severe psychological problems that could be diagnosed medically, 285 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:23,680 Speaker 1: but emotional issues which caused behavioral problems, and the behavioral 286 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,359 Speaker 1: problems that they were dealing with were the kinds of 287 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:30,360 Speaker 1: things that in those days in the sixties, conventional institutions 288 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:35,359 Speaker 1: like schools and churches were not capable of dealing with. 289 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: When the place was established in the early sixties, they 290 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,680 Speaker 1: may have only been taking very troubled kids, but it 291 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: seemed to me that by the time I knew anything 292 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:49,119 Speaker 1: about it, that it had partly devolved into this place 293 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:53,720 Speaker 1: where if you had a kid who was obstreprous and 294 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:58,480 Speaker 1: you were financially in good shape, you could send kids 295 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 1: there and they would take care of them for you. 296 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 1: The Aniwaki program was based on what is called wilderness therapy. 297 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: Since the nineteen forties, wilderness therapy has proven to be 298 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: truly helpful, with many programs still practicing it today and 299 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 1: Awake he managed to take that and twisted into something 300 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,719 Speaker 1: that would allow counselors and others to run wild with abuse. 301 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 1: Fundamental idea behind it was not unlike the fundamental idea 302 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: behind the Marine Corps. You take somebody, in this case 303 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: troubled children, and for lack of a better term, you 304 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,359 Speaker 1: break them down. The goal is to make them, in 305 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:40,680 Speaker 1: this case, self reliant. It's not like the Marines. It's 306 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: not to make them do what you tell them to do. 307 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:46,200 Speaker 1: It's to make them learn to do what they think 308 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,160 Speaker 1: they should be doing, to learn a set of values 309 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:51,960 Speaker 1: and to learn a way to be self reliant. It 310 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:57,640 Speaker 1: was innovative, but it was also subject for severe abuse. 311 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:02,280 Speaker 1: At the top of the hierarchy was Lewis Petter, or 312 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: Doc Petter as he was known, the founder and president 313 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,640 Speaker 1: of an Awake. Not a doctor in any actual degree, 314 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: he and his family would rule over an Awake and 315 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: its profits, taking whatever they wanted along the way. He 316 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: had innovative thoughts about child treatment and that was revolutionary 317 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: in Georgia. That was very, very commendable and got him 318 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: a lot of attention and a lot of respect. But 319 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:33,000 Speaker 1: he had his own personal troubles in his own fundamental 320 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: corruption that went across the whole myriad of things. To 321 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,080 Speaker 1: truly understand and Awake, I had to go back to 322 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,680 Speaker 1: the beginning to see how this treatment center devolved into 323 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:52,639 Speaker 1: what it became. The land of the friendly People. That 324 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:54,440 Speaker 1: is said to be what the word and awake he 325 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: means in Cherokee, one of many Native American names which 326 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: would be used on its grounds. The irony is not lost. 327 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: The beginning of the Nawaki School for Troubled Boys is 328 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: a mysterious one. What we do know is that a 329 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,679 Speaker 1: plot of land was bought in nineteen sixty two by 330 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:13,639 Speaker 1: Lewis Petter and his wife Mabel, along with a co 331 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:18,399 Speaker 1: worker from Petter's Jason Savannah, Georgia, named Brett Baxley or 332 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: Mr B. I spoke with one of the very first 333 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,879 Speaker 1: patients who attended. Hey, I'm Dale Strickland. I grew up 334 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 1: here in Atlanta, been here since I was knee how 335 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: to goat? Grew up here a seminar euclid. Haven't you hear? 336 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: A little? Five points? And raising raised myself over on Cleveland? 337 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:37,600 Speaker 1: Have you after that? And then went on out into 338 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:41,120 Speaker 1: the world and started digging in. Every patient who attended 339 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,520 Speaker 1: an awake was given a number upon entry. This was 340 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 1: referred to as their laundry number, as it was written 341 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,359 Speaker 1: on every piece of clothing or personal item they owned. 342 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 1: These numbers were given chronologically, corresponding to when the patient 343 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:58,480 Speaker 1: attended an awake. Over the course of this podcast, I 344 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,359 Speaker 1: spoke with people who had numbers in the fifties into 345 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:06,200 Speaker 1: the thousands. My number was seventy four. One of the 346 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,200 Speaker 1: first times to years I was in the testing phase 347 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: the years in an awaken. I'm a little bit fuzzy 348 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:14,360 Speaker 1: on sometime back in the early sixties, I was young. 349 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: I'm gonna stay around twic over thirteen somewhere, maybe eleven. 350 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,879 Speaker 1: You know, it was before I started high school. I 351 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:22,880 Speaker 1: know that because I started high school while I was there. 352 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,680 Speaker 1: Dale says he, like many other survivors of an Awaki, 353 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:29,560 Speaker 1: was sent for acting up in school arts Ley, in 354 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: part to his A d h D. Yeah, I was 355 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: way out of control. I was never diagnosed with the 356 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: A d D and a d h D because they 357 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:38,679 Speaker 1: didn't know anything about it at the time. When they 358 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:40,959 Speaker 1: did learn about it, I was long out of an Awaki, 359 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 1: but I went there for a d D and a 360 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 1: d h D. A lot a lot of lines, stealing, 361 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,440 Speaker 1: you know, talking back and getting in a lot of 362 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:50,200 Speaker 1: trouble and just you know, pretty much normal kids stuff. 363 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: But you know, hearing it too extremes, mostly because of 364 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,120 Speaker 1: my A d D and D. Dale remembers first meeting 365 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 1: Louis Petder before attending in Awaki. At this point in time, 366 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: pet Or did not yet have an office on campus 367 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:04,960 Speaker 1: and was using a professional building in downtown Atlanta to 368 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,240 Speaker 1: conduct his business. We were taking down to the King 369 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 1: Professional Building. I was and my parents walked in Dr 370 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:15,119 Speaker 1: Petter's office and I was allowed to meet Dr Petter 371 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 1: and he, you know, shook hands with me, and we 372 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 1: talked for a long time there, and then my parents 373 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:23,640 Speaker 1: left the room, and then I spoke with Doc by myself. 374 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 1: And after that, and I would say about three months later, 375 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:31,560 Speaker 1: I was in an Awaken. When first entering in Awaki, 376 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:36,520 Speaker 1: residents were cut off from any contact with their family. Well, 377 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 1: you first have to go out there, and you've got 378 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:40,960 Speaker 1: three months that you can't visit with your parents anything. 379 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,359 Speaker 1: I said, that's probably about the worst part of it, 380 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: you know, waiting those three months. You're trying to adjust, 381 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:50,080 Speaker 1: you know, and and get everything together. I mean you 382 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: can write letters and stuff and and send them mail 383 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 1: on everything, but you weren't allowed to view them for 384 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:59,160 Speaker 1: ninety days. Being one of the first attendees of an Awaki, 385 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: Dell was the first to be subjected to what was 386 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 1: referred to at the time as the quiet Room. This 387 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 1: room would serve as the equivalent of solitary confinement, and 388 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: would go on to be an essential part of the 389 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: entry process to anawaki. This would later be called and 390 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: oh or evaluation and observation. I'm the only one that 391 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:21,680 Speaker 1: went there at this time. I was the only one 392 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 1: in there. I had gotten a fight with somebody, can't 393 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: remember who it was, and they just snatched my butt 394 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:29,520 Speaker 1: up and put me in what we called the quiet room. 395 00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 1: It was a stainless steel mesh with hard edges around it, 396 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,960 Speaker 1: like a channel line, you know. And I was in there, 397 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: I want to say, for maybe about three or four week. 398 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, like a month. I really have nobody to 399 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,639 Speaker 1: talk to you about yourself. Nobody come by and visit you. 400 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,479 Speaker 1: They're bringing your food when it's time to have that now. 401 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:53,160 Speaker 1: And other than that, that was it like a regular 402 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 1: jail cell. It was solite confoment. I got my first 403 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:17,440 Speaker 1: taste at thirteen. Yeah. Dale remembers what the day to 404 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 1: day schedule was like for the first patience of an awake. 405 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:23,320 Speaker 1: You start out in the morning and you get up 406 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:25,520 Speaker 1: and you had to bake your beds up. Okay, you're 407 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: responsible for waking yourself up, and then somebody run around 408 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: the campit and say all right, let's go, come on 409 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:32,639 Speaker 1: when I got five minutes. If you don't get up 410 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: like you're supposed to, the first place you go to 411 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:39,200 Speaker 1: is the reality Partner. That's for you buddies. I'll pick 412 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:40,960 Speaker 1: you up on your blanket and walk you down to 413 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: the creek and didn't chuck you. But an't it. That's 414 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,080 Speaker 1: called the reality part Okay, one time that happened to me. 415 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:49,000 Speaker 1: That's only one time. Everybody would all meet down by 416 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: the Reality upon it and then we leave from there 417 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:53,800 Speaker 1: and you walk around the lake and go over to 418 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:56,920 Speaker 1: the lodge and you would sit out there. Your group 419 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,440 Speaker 1: goes in and certain time, and then after you have 420 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,240 Speaker 1: your meal, you'd come back out and you would go 421 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: down by the toolship, which is the ways down. And 422 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,200 Speaker 1: when you get down by the toolshed, you stop down 423 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,840 Speaker 1: there and you check out the tools that you plan 424 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 1: to work on whatever project for that day, and you 425 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 1: check them out, and you've been go overy and go 426 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:17,320 Speaker 1: to work. If it was cutting down a tree, you 427 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,439 Speaker 1: cut down a tree. If it was putting moaning up 428 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,440 Speaker 1: in the cabin, you was put moaning up in a cabin. 429 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,440 Speaker 1: Whatever project deemed necessary, to be done that week is 430 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:28,200 Speaker 1: what she was working on. It's hard to imagine groups 431 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 1: of children no older than ten or eleven being able 432 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 1: to handle some of the work which Dale describes. This 433 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 1: would be hard physical labor for a grown man, much 434 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:41,040 Speaker 1: less an untrained child. One common thing I would continue 435 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,680 Speaker 1: to see in my interviews is the long term effects 436 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:46,199 Speaker 1: this work would have on the bodies of the survivors. 437 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:50,720 Speaker 1: We does a porter potty. We've cut down trees and 438 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 1: split logs and shaved them all down where they were 439 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,359 Speaker 1: smoothed enough to sit on. We put moating up in 440 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,040 Speaker 1: the cabins. We fixed wiring in the cabins then and 441 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 1: people were put up their pants or build a frame 442 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: cabins over there, and build a buildings and once the 443 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:08,440 Speaker 1: block was up, we're going in, said all the trust is, 444 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: and run the roof out on it and everything. And 445 00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:13,880 Speaker 1: then we did all of it. I learned the first 446 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: patients of an Awaki were actually helping build the campus 447 00:28:17,359 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: for the place which they were supposed to be attending, 448 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,840 Speaker 1: including Doc's office, clear up to the time that that 449 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 1: we built the a building out there on the campus, 450 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:28,840 Speaker 1: and then that's when he moved his office out there. 451 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,119 Speaker 1: And the layout for the building out there for him 452 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 1: to be in was party laid out land that we 453 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 1: just had to build it. This construction done by the 454 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,920 Speaker 1: early patients would become the inner structure from which all 455 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,280 Speaker 1: other in Awaki business would be done over the years. 456 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 1: It would also serve as a template or how to 457 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: further expand. In a week, He's reach, building the a 458 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 1: building was one of the biggest things that we've done. 459 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 1: Then they went and built the lodge. After that, the 460 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:58,760 Speaker 1: new lodge and some more campuses got built. Everything was 461 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:01,600 Speaker 1: still the same. You're still owning, you're still putting stuff up. 462 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,520 Speaker 1: When you got through, you could go, man, did you 463 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 1: see that? You know? We did. Look what we did, 464 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 1: you know, and we were proud to show it off, 465 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: you know, just like any normal person would be proud. 466 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: I asked Dale if he considers the work he was 467 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,000 Speaker 1: doing at such a young age as a form of 468 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,200 Speaker 1: child labor. No, because we were we were learning to 469 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: be responsible on adults. It taught me a lot for 470 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 1: the future. It taught me a lot. We learned how 471 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 1: to do stuff, We learned how to be the better 472 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,200 Speaker 1: or the best. I guess by knowing before we even 473 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: got to the project. You know, we knew what to do, 474 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:39,640 Speaker 1: what tools to use, uh, how to get it done, 475 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:43,920 Speaker 1: what you could and couldn't do. I think you learned responsibility. 476 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:47,080 Speaker 1: I think you learned how to be an adult. We 477 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 1: built that awaking. We were proud of what we've done. 478 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,800 Speaker 1: You know, not only was an awake he getting their 479 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 1: labor for free from its patients, it also came at 480 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:59,320 Speaker 1: a cost to the parents involved. Even in the seventies, 481 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 1: this was not cheap, and it only became more expensive. 482 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: My mother sold her three bedroom too bad at home 483 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:08,440 Speaker 1: my granddaddy Belcher up at Lately and Near and bade 484 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,640 Speaker 1: him over ninety thousand dollars. That's back in the seventies, 485 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,640 Speaker 1: so that's a lot of money. She shouldn't have lost 486 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: that on me then, but she'd made it. Dale remembers 487 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 1: Lewis Petter, the founder van Awak, fondly. The guy was very, 488 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 1: very likable, very likable. You know, I didn't think I 489 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 1: had to throw an old you know, I how you 490 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 1: throw you all night defenses up. Never like I had 491 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:33,960 Speaker 1: to do that. You know, I didn't never feel like 492 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:36,239 Speaker 1: I had to protect myself or hide anything from him. 493 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:38,520 Speaker 1: And he just pointed looking at you and asked you 494 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: a question, and you just answered it. I felt very comfortable. 495 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: Roundy Dale stands by his statement that he was never 496 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,320 Speaker 1: abused while at in awake and never saw any abuse happen. 497 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,160 Speaker 1: For him, it was a learning experience that he feels 498 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: helped him in life. I asked him if he thought 499 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:58,600 Speaker 1: there could have been an inappropriate behavior, even if he 500 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: himself did not see it. You know, you have to 501 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:08,400 Speaker 1: ask the question, okay, because these young guys would would 502 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: go on the weekends to spend the night with dock 503 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: docks house or whatever. Nobody ever really claimed him to 504 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: be homosexual things, but it was thought of that way 505 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: by a couple of people. But the ones that went 506 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,920 Speaker 1: were all very perfectly willing to go. I'm not saying 507 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:30,600 Speaker 1: it's not possible. I'm not even saying it's It's problem 508 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:33,680 Speaker 1: was that we don't know, because we really wasn't there. 509 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:38,080 Speaker 1: Dale claims that any time something inappropriate happened, it was 510 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 1: dealt with swiftly. In his time, it an'tawaki deal were calls. 511 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 1: One counselor that was removed from the staff. He's his 512 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:48,320 Speaker 1: name is George Lemmo. He lived down here somewhere I 513 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 1: don't know where now, but by now he's got to 514 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 1: be Will in his seventies or eighties is kind of 515 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,760 Speaker 1: be he just hitting up on time to get him 516 00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: to play with him at all, you know, And any 517 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:01,240 Speaker 1: time that was brought up, all we know is that 518 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:04,720 Speaker 1: come on missing the next day. It's just it's yeah, 519 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: it's disgusting. It shouldn't be going on. Deal was a 520 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 1: young child during his time at an Awaki, and his 521 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,000 Speaker 1: experiences stayed with him his whole life. When the inn 522 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,280 Speaker 1: Awaki scandal would later come to light, Deal visited Doc 523 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: himself to see if he believed Petter could be capable 524 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:23,160 Speaker 1: of what he had heard. I know it's hard for 525 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,760 Speaker 1: people to understand, but when you find somebody good in 526 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: your life that you feel like I did something for 527 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 1: you in your life, you're gonna protect him at all cost. 528 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,080 Speaker 1: It's what you do. I wanted to know the truth, 529 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 1: and I could look at him when he told me, 530 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 1: and he knew I knew it. So walked up to him, 531 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 1: hugged his neck and hug Mabel's neck and say, I'm 532 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:47,840 Speaker 1: the kitchen with him, and they started explaining to him, 533 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:51,320 Speaker 1: and I said, you know what, it don't matter to me. 534 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:56,360 Speaker 1: What you say. My time for you were this, okay, 535 00:32:57,320 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 1: you're two of the most special people in my life 536 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:02,040 Speaker 1: ever had being and what other people say, don't make 537 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,280 Speaker 1: this ship to me and it didn't, you know, as 538 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: you want to happen. That's what he's gonna say. He 539 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 1: didn't do it, and that's where it's at. He said 540 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 1: he didn't do it. He must not have done it. 541 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:22,479 Speaker 1: But once again, I'll read the bullshit real well, believed in. No. Now, 542 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:26,920 Speaker 1: I can't talk like that. That'd be bad. Dale's story 543 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 1: is one of many I've heard in the past year 544 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:33,560 Speaker 1: regarding people's experience at Aintawaki, each one different, many of 545 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:36,960 Speaker 1: them heartbreaking. When I first began looking into this story, 546 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:39,920 Speaker 1: I had no idea where it would take me. It 547 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:41,880 Speaker 1: seemed at each turn, when I thought I knew the 548 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:44,680 Speaker 1: whole story, another fact would emerge that would turn it 549 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,920 Speaker 1: on its head again. In the past year, I've interviewed 550 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: dozens of an AWAKEI survivors, government and state officials who 551 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 1: were involved, and even some former counselors. They all seem 552 00:33:56,280 --> 00:33:58,680 Speaker 1: to have one thing in common, and that was that 553 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 1: nobody truly knew with the whole story. This season on 554 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:14,239 Speaker 1: Camp Hell in a week, Think and awake he and 555 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,080 Speaker 1: you see Dr Lewis Petta. Dr Petta, who's not a 556 00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:20,160 Speaker 1: doctor and yet lorded over his youthful patients as though 557 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:22,880 Speaker 1: by a background in training he was properly prepared to 558 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 1: help them. It was a big deal. Nothing happened at 559 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:29,920 Speaker 1: the sheriff's office. We went to the stage child Welfare program. 560 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:32,360 Speaker 1: They didn't want to hear it. We went to the newspaper, 561 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:35,400 Speaker 1: to the Atlanta Journal. We went to an attorney all 562 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:37,839 Speaker 1: by ourselves, and we went in and he didn't want 563 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,120 Speaker 1: any part of it. We tried everything we could. Department 564 00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:46,479 Speaker 1: of Family and Children's Services actually placed boys in that camp, 565 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:49,920 Speaker 1: even though they knew about what he did in Savannah. 566 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:53,040 Speaker 1: I can't say that we dropped the ball, but I 567 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:55,440 Speaker 1: also can't tell you that we did not. If an 568 00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:59,840 Speaker 1: agency does not report any reports that they might have 569 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,719 Speaker 1: of alleged child abuse, it is very difficult for us 570 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:07,960 Speaker 1: to pick that up. It's certainly the biggest case I 571 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:11,320 Speaker 1: was involved in, from how many people were affected and 572 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:14,480 Speaker 1: many people were hurt, how much time was involved, how 573 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:18,360 Speaker 1: much resources were involved. The g b I is also 574 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:22,000 Speaker 1: considering sending agents to Mexico, where Mr Petter owns property 575 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:26,600 Speaker 1: as it broadens its investigation into the Anawaki operation. This 576 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 1: could be a good place, This could be a wonderful place, 577 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:34,000 Speaker 1: but it's not an awake he founder. Lewis Petter's bond 578 00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:38,439 Speaker 1: has not been set at one million dollars. Mr Petter, 579 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:41,960 Speaker 1: do you have any comment about the charges against except 580 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:47,400 Speaker 1: that he's innocently Up until recently, charges a sexual misconduct 581 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,359 Speaker 1: had nothing leveled against the Aniwaki Facility for girls here 582 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:53,120 Speaker 1: in rock Mark. Now it too has come under fire 583 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:57,400 Speaker 1: with former female patients alleging they were victims of sexual abuse. 584 00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:03,920 Speaker 1: Many of us are already deceased and we're only in 585 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:08,439 Speaker 1: our early to late diftease. And it hurts me real 586 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:12,040 Speaker 1: bad to hear people saying that my father cheated them. 587 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:15,400 Speaker 1: My father has cheated no one there dn't awake. You 588 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:21,560 Speaker 1: testify to that these like cons of things Louis Petter 589 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:29,520 Speaker 1: will do. Louis Petter cras islas to do go the 590 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:33,680 Speaker 1: tricks on people to try to help them. He thinks 591 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:37,200 Speaker 1: they're hurting him. And I spent three months in the 592 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 1: hospital remember the name out of wicked and the months 593 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:45,400 Speaker 1: years to come. It may stand for a story, the 594 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:59,680 Speaker 1: tragic half of which has yet to be told. Camp 595 00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:03,080 Speaker 1: how Anna Wake was created and hosted by Josh Thane, 596 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:07,200 Speaker 1: with producer Miranda Hawkins and executive producers Alex Williams and 597 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:10,919 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick. The soundtrack was written and performed by Josh 598 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:15,200 Speaker 1: Thane and Adrian Barry. Archival footage provided by ws B 599 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:19,799 Speaker 1: and CBS News. Find us on Instagram at camp hell Pod. 600 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:23,600 Speaker 1: That's c A M p h E L L p 601 00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:27,240 Speaker 1: O D. Educate yourself about the issue of child abuse 602 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:29,720 Speaker 1: and things that you should look for at the Darkness 603 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,040 Speaker 1: to Light website D two l dot org. That's d 604 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:38,040 Speaker 1: the number two l dot org. Camp hell Ana Wake 605 00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:41,160 Speaker 1: is a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts 606 00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:43,720 Speaker 1: from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 607 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:46,960 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.