Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [92]
Interest and application:... Very lazy and avoids work
Ability as worker:... Poor
Attitude:... Resistant / Obstructive
Disposition:... Defiant / Agitator
In May of 1946, the bloodiest and most significant escape attempt ever to occur on Alcatraz left five men dead and several others severely injured. In the course of this explosive event, Stroud would further etch his name in the history of the island prison, as he negotiated with Lieutenant Philip Bergen (who was barricaded in the West Gun Gallery) to help bring an end to the cellhouse barrage of grenades and gunfire. Stroud also would donate several hundred dollars to the defense of the inmates who stood trial for the murder of a correctional officer during the escape attempt. Many believed that this was yet another way in which Stroud communicated his rebellious attitude toward the administration.
In August of 1948, Stroud helped to instigate a hunger strike with fellow D-Block inmates which didn’t sit well with prison officials. As a result, Warden Swope, who had the reputation of being a tough disciplinarian, ordered Stroud to be moved into a permanent deep lockdown status inside the prison hospital. Once again, without receiving any notice or explanation, Stroud was walked through the cellblock and up the stairs leading from the mess hall to a new cell.
Stroud’s wardroom cell in the Alcatraz Hospital Wing. Initially Stroud was forced to use a bedpan to relieve himself, until his attorneys successfully lobbied the Bureau of Prisons to install a toilet. Stroud spent eleven years locked down in this cell with only one visit to the recreation yard per week, usually by himself.
Stroud’s cell as it appears today. Little has changed from the days when he occupied this cell.
His new cell was spacious, as it had originally been designed as a hospital wardroom to accommodate up to four patients. The room was painted a hospital style green, typical of the 30’s and 40’s. It contained little more than a sink, two beds, a steel utility cabinet for storage and a hard metal-framed chair. For the first eight years there was no toilet, and Stroud was forced to use a bedpan designed for non-ambulatory patients, except on the occasions when he was permitted to leave his cell under escort to use neighboring facilities. The only benefit in these new accommodations was that the room had a window facing the Golden Gate Bridge and it was also the only single-inmate cell with running hot water.
Stroud would spend his years there in strict isolation, with only an occasional opportunity to speak with an inmate when his outer door was left open during sick call. His primary link to the outside world was from a sometimes-yielding officer who would consent to a game of chess or checkers and would endure his longwinded stories and perverse opinions. Former correctional officer George DeVincenzi, who served at Alcatraz from 1950 until 1959, was assigned to the hospital ward for several years. George recalled that playing board games and interacting with inmates on a recreational level was firmly prohibited by the administration.
“I could only play a game of checkers with Stroud if the West Gun Gallery Officer was a friend of mine. The gallery officer frequently peered through the port window located at the end of the hallway in the Hospital Ward to ensure I was okay. If the officer was a friend, I could sit at the front of Stroud’s cell and play through the bars. It helped pass the time for both of us...”
Stroud spent his time in isolation absorbed in his manuscript, and in later years he began exhibiting signs of unusual behavior. During his weekly bathing periods, Stroud would shave all of his body hair, including his face, hands and fingers. He was still considered dangerous by the correctional staff and no one let down their guard with him. Lieutenant Bergen would later comment during an interview, “I can’t say I wasn’t afraid of Stroud... We all used caution; knowing his