To whom this may concern,
My name is Kevin Stalker. I manage a hemp farm in Friday Harbor, Washington. Before I moved to San Juan Island, I worked for the Department of Corrections for roughly 15 years at the Monroe Correctional Complex. I spent roughly 12 of those years working in specialized units within M.C.C. I met N.S. around 8 years ago when he started to work regularly in the Intensive Management Unit which was the area of the prison I worked in. He was young, ambitious, and disciplined. This area of the prison was an environment where irrationality or impulse could get you or others hurt. It’s considered a “specialized” unit within the Department of Corrections. It was common to respond to and actively de-escalated individuals that were in crisis (both mentally and physically,) at some points numerous at a time. I witnessed N.S. not only act in a professional manner during these moments of crisis but excel in them, becoming an individual that others around sought for guidance and mentorship. To call it stressful, doesn’t do the job or the people that do it justice. The level of hysteria cannot be explained to someone who has not spent time inside of a prison.
He became a proud father, and driven husband, you could see it on his face and hear it in his voice, he loved being both. N.S. and I became close when he was separating from his wife. We would spend entire shifts at work discussing the complexity of managing the struggles that come with being a father and husband while trying to maintain a level of humanity in the inhuman world in which we chose to make a living. I don’t know the struggles that N.S. has been through as a Marine, what I do know is, I trusted him with my life. I could rely on him to remain calm and focused in times of chaos. He is kind, levelheaded, articulate, and passionate, all things that men and more specifically fathers whose duty it is to lead their family in times of turmoil need to have. His character and integrity are without question in the areas of life in which I know him.
Since leaving the Department of Corrections we have maintained a relationship, his want to cultivate and maintain relationships that help him grow both personally and professionally cannot be understated. Most men that are called to serve have a hard time expressing and processing the life they have chosen, seeking less productive ways to cope with the trauma they have witnessed, had done to them, or inflicted on others in the course of doing their job. N.S. is open and honest with his struggles, he works at being better at being the example for the men around him and most importantly for his children.
Thank you for your time and willingness to read my words free of judgment and assumptions regarding N.S. If there are any further questions or insights, I can provide for who N.S. is to me, please feel free to contact me.
