View Art By Tracy Petrocelli

         Death Row, Nevada

A Plea to the People of the World for Help...

My name is Tracy Petrocelli. I am on Death Row in Nevada, USA. My case is near the end of the Appeals process and I urgently need the help of people who oppose the atrocity of capital punishment so that I can obtain an Attorney experienced in this late phase of the death penalty to give me a chance to live.

Confined to a small cell for 22 hours each day, it is not the first time in my life that I have faced death. As a baby, I was abused and abandoned and left to die; and, as a Marine in the Vietnam War, I was wounded in action while my buddy next to me was killed.

My early childhood years were spent in an orphanage. This was a very lonely and uncertain time as I waited for a family. I remember always having my suitcase packed ready for the next move. I have a memory one Christmas of over-hearing my adoptive family discuss whether they should return me to the orphanage. I can recall the teasing I endured as a child because I was an orphan and the deep pain that this caused. I was, and remain, acutely aware and embarrassed by the fact that I do not have a family.

Despite the harshness of my early years, I think that I proved that children can be very resilient. I developed a love of reading and took delight in investigating how mechanical things worked; moreover, I found an enduring refuge in the wonders of the natural world. As a child, I was an avid watcher of wildlife programs on television which, in turn, led me as a young teenager to work in a zoo helping to care for small animals and birds. This is how I became devoted to caring for the environment.

The Vietnam War had a huge effect on my life, as was true for so many of my generation who went to fight for their country. I joined the Marines and went off to war before I was out of my teens. Whereas, I believed that at last I would find inclusion and acceptance in serving my country, life in the Services proved to be a lonely experience. I was younger than many with whom I served and I missed the support of family - especially when on leave and when I returned wounded from Vietnam. I also keenly felt the rejection that the Vietnam Veterans witnessed at home-coming and this had a devastating effect on my life, as was true for many others.

It has been a saving grace in the pattern of my life that sunshine has invariably followed the rain. During my 20s through much hard work and discipline, I was able to establish a productive life so as to be able to extend help to many people in need in different parts of the world. I planned on this being my life's work. And it was through this avenue that I at last found the acceptance and a sense of family that had been missing in my life. For this reason, I am now turning back to the nurturing source I experienced many years ago for the help I now need. 

Under circumstances of extreme hardship, I have retained the hope and the will to survive. But I know that I am at a point where, unless help is forth-coming, I will be put to death - and so I most earnestly ask for your support to help me live.

I sincerely thank you for reading my story. I hope that I hear from you.
While I would greatly appreciate any financial assistance, there are other ways to help...

                       PLEASE WRITE:

                             
               Tracy Petrocelli 17493,
                   PO Box 1989,
             Ely, NV  89301  USA

                        "The Eyes Of The World Are Watching Now"

This page was last updated February 20, 2003         Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty
This page is maintained and updated by Dave Parkinson and Tracy Lamourie in Toronto, Canada