In Memory of
Kenneth (Duke) Monse’Broten
pen name: Edwin Allen Lee

"Thanks, Tom, for all you have done to help me over the years and for the honesty you have always shown me. God Bless you."
– Ken (Duke) Monse'Broten, inmate, Oregon

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

---

“In 2004, Ken (Duke) Monse’Broten asked me to post the following of his stories in order to help others. Kenny felt passionate about these two stories in particular.”
Tom Lagana -- www.TomLagana.com
Co-author: Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul, Chicken Soup for the Volunteer’s Soul, and Serving Time, Serving Others

---

Bright Orange Coveralls

by Edwin Allen Lee
a.k.a. Ken “Duke” Monse’Broten

Going to the funeral of someone you dearly love is a traumatic experience, no matter how you cut it. Going to a funeral as a prisoner is beyond traumatic.

The convict is taken in chains and stiff, bright orange coveralls, with no underwear, barefooted in rubber thongs, with a prison guard on each arm. Those bright orange coveralls seldom fit right. They tend to ride up in your crotch, being you have no underwear on, and they make you really stand out in the crowd. Your hands are chained securely to your waist by a belly chain with cuffs attached. But that's not the worst part.

Your feet can be moved only fourteen inches due to the leg irons on your ankles, so you will walk in short shuffling steps. Then your feet will sweat, causing them to slip in those rubber thongs. With your hands secured at your side these slipping thongs cause you to walk in a stumbling fashion, as the chains rattle. But that's not the worst part.

The chapel the funeral is held in is a quiet, reverent place. A place where people dress in dark mourning clothes and share their grief in silence. Entering that sanctum, in front of your friends and relatives, under armed guard, in rattling chains, shuffling in shame, is hard to do. But that's not the worst part.

The worst part comes when the prisoner is ushered to the front of the chapel, in front of everyone, to view the body of his loved one beside two uniformed prison guards. The prisoner can feel everyone staring at his shuffling form as he stands looking at the remains of his loved one. Then, when he turns to be led out of the chapel comes the worst part. The chains at the prisoner's waist stop his hands from even wiping the tears away. So he turns from the coffin, in tears, in front of everyone dear to him, and tries to hide his shame as he leaves.

Yes, that's the worst part of a visit to a funeral in bright orange coveralls.

by Edwin Allen Lee
aka Ken “Duke” Monse’Broten

Bright Orange Coveralls. Reprinted by permission of Edwin Allen Lee (aka Ken “Duke” Monse’Broten). Copyright ©1997 from the book “Messages from the Heart.”

Ken “Duke” Monse’Broten, pen name Edward Allen Lee, died on April 7, 2007. He was a grandfather and great grandfather originally from Park River, North Dakota. He had written numerous articles and short stories. Ken is author of “Messages from the Heart” and co-author of “Cissy's Magic,” and contributing author with five stories in Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul. He also has stories in Touched by Angels of Mercy and Serving Time, Serving Others.

---

Addiction Has a First Name

by Edwin Allen Lee
a.k.a. Ken “Duke” Monse’Broten

Over the years I've fought many tough men with my fists in prison yards. Two of those men were ranked heavyweights. The single toughest opponent I've ever faced, the most dangerous one—the one that truly hurt me the most and scares me yet today—is the one that beat me so badly that my entire family suffered from it. That opponent is called Addiction.

Addiction has a first name, several of them—and they’re all tough ones—Drug Addiction, Alcohol Addiction, Cocaine Addiction, Crack Addiction, and Heroine Addiction—to name a few. Addiction fights us all differently and is so slow and cunning you don't even know it's destroying you and your family. And worst of all, it will convince you that it's your friend, while getting you to drop your guard for a split second so it can kill you. Yes, that's the toughest opponent I've ever faced.

If that's the opponent some of you face, I want to ask you to do me a favor. Read this carefully. I ask you to never give Addiction the chance to beat you like it beat me. I would ask you to recognize and never doubt for a second the cunning of this murderous devil. I would ask you to stay close to others who fight Addiction daily. Fight it in GROUPS as AA and NA teach us—NEVER do it ALONE. Never ever give Addiction a chance. Beat it for me and a million other people who have suffered its sadistic wrath.

You see, if you can help me teach young people how to beat Addiction, at this time in their lives, at their young age, not only have you rescued their entire family from Addiction, but you paid for an insurance policy in full, which guarantees that they and their family will no longer suffer from the wrath of Addiction. I will have made a million people, just like me, winners through you, in a fight with the most dangerous opponent I've ever faced.

So do me this favor. Help me teach others how to win the fight against ADDICTION, and make us all winners.

by Edwin Allen Lee
aka Ken “Duke” Monse’Broten

Addiction Has a First Name. Reprinted by permission of Edwin Allen Lee (aka Ken “Duke” Monse’Broten). Copyright ©1997 based on an excerpt from the story “Addiction” from the book “Messages from the Heart.”

Ken “Duke” Monse’Broten, pen name Edward Allen Lee, died on April 7, 2007. He was a grandfather and great grandfather originally from Park River, North Dakota. He had written numerous articles and short stories. Ken is author of “Messages from the Heart” and co-author of “Cissy's Magic,” and contributing author with five stories in Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul. He also has stories in Touched by Angels of Mercy and Serving Time, Serving Others.