Damien Echols, August 19th, 2011

To all my friends and family, my attorneys and advocates, and to those of you from every corner of this earth who have stood beside us these long years, please know that I will forever be indebted to all of you for helping me to become a free man. Each and every day I was the beneficiary of acts of kindness and humanity from people of all walks of life, of all ages, nationalities, religions and political persuasions. The enormity of the support Lorri and I received throughout this struggle is humbling.

I have now spent half my life on death row. It is a torturous environment that no human being should have to endure, and it needed to end. I am innocent, as are Jason and Jessie, but I made this decision because I did not want to spend another day of my life behind those bars. I want to live and to continue to fight for our innocence. Sometimes justice is neither pretty nor is it perfect, but it was important to take this opportunity to be free.

I am not alone as there are tens of thousand of men and woman in this country who have been wrongfully convicted, forced into a false confession, sentenced to death or a lifetime in prison. I am hopeful that one day they too will be able stand with their friends and family to declare their innocence.

This whole experience has taught me much about life, human nature, American justice, survival and transcendence.

I will hopefully take those lessons with me as I embark on the next chapter in my journey and along the way look forward to enjoying some of those simple things in life like spending Christmastime, Halloween and my birthday with those I love.

From Jason Baldwin

Good morning, everybody! I want to say that this is the most joyous experience: learning to live, to love, and to soar higher than any past expectations. We live in a world where sometimes living is not about loving. However, all of you have shown me that the parts of the world you inhabit are about loving.

What happened to me happened without my consent. What all of you have done, you chose to do. You chose to step in and eliminate some of the darkness in this world. I find you all to be heroes, and I am glad to call you all my friends.

These new days have been a blur, full of hard-won and much-deserved fun, revelry and just getting to know one another and ourselves. I've probably said this countless times these past few days, but I've felt like a dandelion seed in the wind--pulled from one friend's arms to the next, to dance to the sweet tune of freedom. It's a beautiful sound.

Love and libre!
Jason Baldwin

From Holly Ballard

As this new reality starts to sink in, I have been thinking often and much about how to express my gratitude. For the extraordinary outpouring of love and support over these last couple of days; for all the kind thoughts, offers and gifts that have come our way; for the 18 years of unwavering belief in these men's innocence...there are no words.

After all I have seen and experienced this week, I am convinced that the entire universe has conspired to make 8/19/11 possible, and that includes each and every one of you. I wish that I had the capacity to respond to each and every one of your sweet messages, but the truth is I am as overwhelmed as I am overjoyed. (On a practical note, I have temporarily disabled my Facebook account because I just can't keep up!)

This journey is far from over, and I assure you that we can all feel your positive energy radiating wherever we are. So until we meet again, friends, be kind to one another and cling to the goodness that surrounds you. Be here now.

Love,
Holly Ballard