Bradley at Bethel Boys Academy

Bethel Boys Academy was closed down by the authorities. Here is a testimony about daily life as it was before the closure

I found this site, by my girlfriend, we were discussing some of my painful past, and after reading testimonials I feel entitled to share my story…. (I give permission to Heal to publish my story)

I was forced to go to Bethel Baptist Boys Home (Academy) before it was called “Bethel Boys Academy” by my dead beat father. I was there in 1995-97’….

When I first arrived, I was given a bible verse to memorize if I didn’t memorize the verse I was beaten with a switch that I was forced to go out and pick myself. When I didn’t pick one they approved of, they used a axe handle instead. When I first arrived the food was better than what it is now. Mrs Fountain and her daughter actually cooked. However the working conditions were out right horrible. They called it ‘Nigger Crew,’ you had to dig a ditch up to your chest, that was over an 8th of a mile long, for a pipe that was never to go in. 3 days later My “Nigger Crew” and I were told to fill the ditch back in and make it look like there was never a ditch in, meaning we had to fill the grass in too. The house that the Fountains live in, was built by us, NOT a contracted crew. Also no one was ever paid for the labor on the house. Instead we were beaten, if something wasn’t to his (Mr. Fountain Sr. and Bubba) specifications.

I have witnessed some horrific things, but nothing compares to when Drill Instructor Knott Arrived. If I could I would sue the Marines for training him. The day DI KNOT got there, he made us all strip down to our boxers, and run 10 laps around the dorm, in the middle of MS summer. Whenever parents would send packages to the Home, DI KNOT would take apart the care packages, taking what he wanted and leaving only a letter, or cookies. Many kids never got the games, clothes or pictures that families would lovingly send to their children. The first week DI KNOT was there, we were forced to shave our head bald, (when I was there, there was a 10 yr old boy there, that DI KNOT treated as though he was an older teen…) first night we never got any sleep, the lights stayed on for 2 weeks straight. We only ate when DI KNOT told us to. KNOT also taught us how to make explosives. During his first 2 weeks, we had to change our uniforms from civilian clothes to camo pants and a white top, if we had any stains on the white top he would rip the shirt, not permitting you to change the shirt, you also didn’t get to eat for that day. We also had to throw away all the clothes that our families had given to us. He made us exercise to the point where no one could remain standing, he made us do “up-downs” and “monkey humpers”, he also loved to have us sit on a wall, with us holding our arms out straight, holding onto butter knives and as soon as the knives touched we had to start over, this went on for hours.

A few months later, KNOT decided to introduce to the “Academy”, that we would be doing ‘boxing’ and ‘pugle sticks’, I DO NOT LIKE FIGHTING. Before Bethel Boys Academy I wasn’t a violent person. During the boxing matches we would have, we would hold the matches inside the dorm. I broke my nose 3 times due to boxing, and never received medical attention to have my nose reset, I know live with a disfigured nose and a deviated ceptum. I have scares littering my legs, my arms and my face because of them and their forced activities (FIGHTING) I had personally watched a kid get knocked out and as he’s falling, he hit his head on a bunk bed, splitting his head open, to which he never received medical attention (stitches) and now lives with a horrible disfigurement on his head. I know 3 people that have tried to kill themselves because of KNOT’s torture (I will not name names, but you know who you are…) One guy jumped out of the second story floor, purposely landing on his head, trying to kill himself. When he was taken to the hospital, they lied to the hospital and said that he fell and hurt himself. Brought him back to the ‘Academy’ and beat and tortured him for 3 days and put him in a box out in the SUN… like a hotbox.

2 weeks later the kid ran away, he got caught, got beat again and then I never saw him again. Another kid drank bleach, went into convulsions, started to throw up blood. I never saw him again. Another kid slit his wrists in the ‘head’ or bathroom, never saw him again after that. I had done something stupid and as my punishment I had 3 days to do 10,000 pushups. I did pushups for 72hrs straight, I could not bend my arms for 3 weeks. I was forced to eat like a dog on the floor. After my arms healed, all the boys from the downstairs dorm thought it would be a good idea to throw me a “Blanket Party” – which consists of having a blanket being thrown over you, 4 people hold the blanket down so you can’t get up and then everyone came over and proceeded to beat me. I was hit in the spine with a trailer hitch so hard I felt my spine crack. I laid there screaming for 15 mins before DI KNOT came downstairs and decided to do his job.

When in fact there were camera’s filming everything, he just watched. (I found this out later, when I went into his room and found the tape of my beating) 6 months after that we did these things called “war games” where you dress up in fatigues and you do drills in the rain and mud, water and sand. War Games consisted of two teams similar to capture the flag. But instead of weapons, you had to use a stick. That day 8 kids got poison oak, one person had a broken arm, 2 more kids had busted lips, 2 more kids had broken hands. While I was told by my squad leader to hide in the pond, under the dock. And as a result, I now have chronic Bronchitis, I was sick for 3 weeks, coughing up blood and even pooped blood from the beatings. I was taken to the doctor, and as I was in the doctors office ‘Bubba” aka John Fountain was sitting in the exam room the whole time, so I never got to tell the doctor about how I really received my injuries. Many many injuries have occurred there, I have personally witnessed DI KNOT, making a 14 yr old boy with Asthma run 10 mile laps around the property with no inhaler, the kid had an Asthma attack and nearly died from the experience. When it came down to our Drills, (Marching in formation) some kids were told to smack other kids in the head if they were out of step. DI KNOT used his “cadets” as his fucked up little minions. For the people that did run away, they sent out a posse of ADULTS: (Hermann Fountain, Bubba, DI KNOT, and Frank Dispino) 99% of the time when the kids got caught, you wouldn’t see them for a week. I hadn’t thought about it before, but I can now understand why he kept his septic tank above ground.

One day DI KNOT decided it would be a good idea for him to introduce to the ‘Academy’ two fighting pit bulls named “Tiny” (female) and “Polo” (male) He had me train Polo for fighting. Everyday I was to kick the dog, yell at it and feed it three 7.62 mm bullet shells full of gun powder mixed in with the dogs food at every meal so the dog would purposely go insane. 3 months after that, DI KNOT had taken Polo out for a night of dog fighting. When I saw Polo later that night, he was covered from his head to his stomach in blood, including deep gashes on his neck and hind quarters. I was told to give him a bath and care for his wounds. (It seems like he cared more for his dogs than actual people) The next day, DI KNOT bragged to the entire dorm during breakfast that his dog had KILLED a full grown Rottweiler by the school that we went to. Later that day, I walked over by the school, and found a huge pile of dried blood, some hair and a skull fragment. After that I told DI KNOT personally that if I ever saw him do this again, I would cut his balls off and feed his dogs and make him watch. From that day forward he never fought a dog again, that I’m aware of. As far as showers and bathrooms were concerned you had to ask, “DI KNOT may this cadet use the head?” 40% of the time the answer was yes, the other 60% of the time the answer was to ‘hold it’ or ‘no’. I saw kids who had crapped themselves and peed themselves from being unable to follow the command. Shower time consisted of 3 mins, the 3 mins started the minute you touched the shower. If you weren’t naked by the time you got to the shower, the time spent undressing was part of your shower time. Some kids didn’t get to take showers for 3 or more days because they couldn’t get their boots off fast enough. For the kids that didn’t shower they were beat or forced to exercise to the point of exhaustion. I can remember one incident in particular. We were woken up at 2:30am and forced to get out of our bed in the middle of winter, get down on the floor and start exercising until noon.

Part of the punishment DI KNOT insued would be to fill up the mop bucket full of water and dump it out on the floor and make you soak it up with your clothing as you were exercising… they were called “duck walks,” you had to crouch down into almost a sitting position but your feet were still flat on the floor and you had to scoot forward slowly mopping up the water. Every time we filled the bucket up, he would dump the water back out and make us start again. No one ate anything that day until dinner. Kids were pushed past their physical limits to the point of exhaustion and tears. (I cant remember what anyone did to deserve this punishment, when one kid got in trouble, we all suffered the consequences of the actions of one) (Now I can see why the United States Marine Corps DISHONORABLY DISCHARGED DI KNOT FOR HIS INHUMAN TREATMENT OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS) Bradley Glanzner A Bethel Baptist Boys Home Survivor 1995-1997 PS – If you were in this with me, please write to me… We need to sue these people bad.

My life has never been the same since this experience and I’m sure your’s is just like mine. yppikserohw@yahoo.com (my email address)