Vandalism. Desecration. Cowardice. Coddling. Enough is enough.
Update 9/13 10:30am. Just received an email from reader Dave…
On Saturday, September 15, the Nam Knights of America Motorcycle Club, a U.S. military veteran and law enforcement MC, will provide security at the Vietnam Memorial and the Vietnam Nurses Memorial in Washington, D.C. as part of the larger counter demonstation to that of ANSWER. (www.freestate-nk.org) or (www.namknights.org)
If you are interested in learning more about us, I invite you to come to visit us on Saturday. The bulk of the activity, as you know, will take place between the White House and the Capitol building at the other end of the Mall, but we and the Gather of Eagles organization, feel that we need to cover this flank.
Bravo.
Update 9/13 10:15am. I have been asking you to be in Washington on Saturday to answer the ANSWER mob. I have been reporting on their disruptive plans and die-ins. I’ve reported before on the vandalism at military recruiting centers. They are going to do it again:
A week of events meant to crank up a national demonstration against the war in Iraq is set to begin Saturday, with a 1,000-person “die-in” at the U.S. Capitol led by current and former American troops and accompanied by taps and a mock 21-gun salute. The die-in will be the culmination of a march and rally. Organizers hope the event will spur people in the antiwar movement to move from protesting to performing acts of civil disobedience that “get in the way of the war machine,” said Brian Becker, national coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition, at a news conference yesterday at the National Press Club. The group’s permit with the U.S. Park Police is for 10,000 people, a source said, but ANSWER, which stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, expects tens of thousands, Becker said. More than 1,000 people had signed up on the group’s Web site as of yesterday to lie down at the die-in, he said, which is meant to represent Americans, Iraqis and others who have died in the war. Organizers expect the number to double or triple by Saturday. Daily antiwar events are planned from Saturday through Friday. War opponents are scheduled to go to Washington area military recruitment centers Monday to try to shut them down. War opponents are scheduled to go to Washington area military recruitment centers Monday to try to shut them down…
Enough is enough.
Update 9/13 9:50am Eastern. More war memorials damaged and defaced. (hat tip – Murdoc)
Enough is enough.
***
Bryan Preston and I went down to Washington to document the recent damage at the Vietnam War Memorial, first reported by Free Republic members. Photos do not do it justice. Here’s our video:
Transcript of our report:
Over the weekend, something happened here at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. Something destructive. Something dishonorable. Along the foot of the wall, covering a stretch almost two-thirds of the entire monument, an oily substance was spilled on the panels and paving stones that were built to pay tribute to those who gave their lives on the battlefield.
The National Park Service is investigating. Whatever the substance was, it was potent and corrosive. Huge swaths of the wall have been defaced. This is despicable desecration.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Founder and President Jan C. Scruggs said “While it is unclear what transpired, we are heartened by the response of the veterans’ community and the general public. After 25 years, their connection to The Wall remains as strong as ever, and we appreciate that.”
This vandalism comes on the eve of a massive anti-war protest by radicals who have threatened our national monuments before. Those threats motivated veterans, Rolling Thunder members, and military supporters to organize the first Gathering of Eagles. On Saturday, they’ll be back…to protect the honor of the troops and the sacred monuments and war memorials in the nation’s capital.
We’ll be there. Will you? Go to gatheringofeagles.org for more information.
What the hell is wrong with people in this country? If this is intentional vandalism, the culprit(s) deserve to be named, punished, and shamed before the nation. In so many other similar instances, we have reaped the rotten fruits of tolerance for thugs who have gotten away with substituting harassment, intimidation, and violence for civil debate and political expression.
There were some initial, unofficial explanations that a “cleaning accident” caused the damage. But that information is unreliable. As we noted in our report, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund says an investigation is ongoing:
On Friday, September 7, National Park Service staff and volunteers discovered a light, oily and unidentified substance that was spilled over portions of some of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial’s panels and paving stones, with National Park Service (NPS) preservation and maintenance staff beginning the removal process immediately.
The United States Park Police has begun an investigation into the matter, and that investigation is ongoing. Until this investigation is completed, it is premature to speculate whether any intentional act was committed.
As you can see from our video, the damage is extensive. Could a “cleaning accident” cause this? What did they use? Murphy’s Cleaning Oil? Would something like that eat through the granite etchings? Because that’s what happened to several panels, not just a few. If it is a “cleaning accident,” we need to hear exactly how such a bone-headed thing could happen after 25 years.
Also: If you look here, past volunteers are shown cleaning the wall from top to bottom.
There is no damage on the top of the panels. Strange. The damage we videotaped has the appearance of a substance being thrown and splashed. One panel had distinctive splash marks in an arc at roughly elbow-level…it looked like it was tossed, not dripped or sponged.
If anyone out there has experience working with granite and cleaning substances, please chime in.
*10:03pm Eastern update:* A reader e-mails:
My husband & I own a natural stone fabrication business in Houston.
I have been to the Vietnam War Memorial and if memory serves me it is constructed of black basalt aka black granite. The description of a “light oily” substance and the appearance of the damage might indicate the memorial was defaced using common penetrating oil (think WD-40).
Very few substances will damage granite(s), but thin penetrating oils would do considerable staining. I am confident those responsible for maintenance of the memorial would not have used such a substance. The granite would simply not need “routine” cleaning. At most it might be hosed down with water and possibly scrubbed with mild cleansers every few years but I would hope that this is done by a professional stone restoration company.
Human Events reports:
Anyone who has seen photos or video of the trail of gunk on the black glossy walls would definitely not see it as an accident — but it is true that the circumstances of the spraying are still unknown.
If a particularly twisted individual or group of individuals decided they wanted to deface a national monument that represents some 58,000 fallen warriors, why would they chose a wimpy “light, oily” substance? Wouldn’t you choice a flaming red can of paint? But how this could possibly be an accident?
Col. Harry G. Riley (US Army, Ret.) who is heading up the “Eagles” group — one of the veterans groups coming to Washington to protect the monuments this weekend said “When you see there is some type of a substance on the wall down and on the base for 50 to 60 feet, its pretty hard for me to rationalize how that could be anything other than purposeful…”
“Who ever did this, if they were trying to enrage the Vietnam Veterans, they did,” said Riley. “We have been stomped on and ridiculed and spit on simply because we went when our nation called. It wasn’t that we are pro war — when the nation called we went.”
Vandalism of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial has not occurred since 1989 said Jan Scruggs, who conceived the idea of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall and raised the money to have it built 25 years ago.
“Someone put some lighter fluid on one of the directories on Constitution Avenue, lit a fire, and burned a few pages off,” said Scruggs.
Scruggs who is also founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund said that there is a belief that the recent vandalism was motivated by “MoveOn.org type of people” but he hopes that no one is accusing them at this point.
“I just can’t image that this was an organized activity or a conspiracy involving more than one deranged person, or that anyone would have done this to score political points for their cause — it would have just the opposite effect.”
Well, we are talking about the same kinds of idiots who thought calling Gen. Petraeus a traitor was a brilliant political strategy and disrupting Congressional hearings was persuasive.
This brief Washington Post article states falsely that the substance has been removed. The WashTimes has a photo of cleaners trying to get it off the wall. They were, as you can see, unsuccessful.
If this doesn’t motivate you to come out on Saturday and join the Eagles, I don’t know what will.
On the opposite coast, in San Francisco, look at this evil deed:
The only local monument to a heroic flight attendant from San Francisco killed in the Sept. 11 attacks six years ago is a North Beach mural that vandals have defaced almost beyond recognition.
Betty Ong, 45, who grew up in Chinatown and North Beach, was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane hijacked by the terrorists. Just minutes before the plane smashed into the World Trade Center, she quietly contacted authorities and gave a detailed description of the hijackers.
Ong is one of several Chinatown natives depicted in a 200-foot-long, 7-foot-tall mural dedicated to Chinese contributions to American history. Titled “Gold Mountain,” the mural also includes educators and nurses, Edsel Ford Fong, a waiter made famous by the late Chronicle columnist Herb Caen, and Larry Ching, the “Chinese Frank Sinatra,” who was a longtime entertainer at Forbidden City.
Painted by artist Ann Sherry in 1994 on the side of an apartment building on Romolo Place, the mural has been damaged by taggers numerous times. Each time, Sherry, the building’s owners and community volunteers have stepped up to perform touchups – and twice to restore the mural completely.
A section for Ong was added in 2003, when the mural was restored the second time. Graffiti-resistant varnish was added, too. But almost immediately, the mural was tagged again. Sherry patched up the mural, but since January, taggers have struck several more times. Sherry kept returning to make repairs but recently found the damage to be worse than ever before.
“This time, the taggers used paint (mixed) with epoxy that we can’t just wash out or remove. We have to completely redo the mural,” Sherry said. “We started fixing it … but the taggers get angry if you remove their graffiti and they just tried to ruin it.”
I embedded the audio of Betty Ong’s phone call from AA Flight 11 in my 9/11 post yesterday. Listen to it again as you look at the photos of Ong’s desecrated memorial:
Here’s one last example from Billings, Montana, if you’re not angry enough:
Vandals cut down and burned a U.S. flag in front of a Billings retirement home sometime during the night Monday.
On Tuesday morning, the cover of the book of matches used to start the fire was still attached to the partially burned flag in front of Prairie Tower Apartments.
Dave Kessler and his wife, Judy, arrive at the independent retirement home at 725 N. 25th St. each morning about 7, he said Tuesday.
About 8 a.m., some of the residents alerted Judy that the flag was missing, and she found it in the yard, Dave Kessler said.
The apartment building is home to 119 people.
Resident Joe Jonutis took a flag of his own and hung it in the entrance of the building Tuesday afternoon to replace the damaged flag. Jonutis, 87, is a World War II veteran.
Kessler said he thought the vandalism was a political statement.
“I mean, why now? There has been no similar experience from before,” said Kessler, who has handled the maintenance at Prairie Tower for 13 years. He is a Vietnam War veteran.
The flag is flown 24 hours a day and is lighted, he said.
Vandalism. Desecration. Cowardice. Coddling.
Enough is enough.
***
Flashback: Indianapolis military memorial defaced with “peace” graffiti and anti-Bush profanities.
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- Brutally Honest
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- Vietnam War Memorial Vandalized By Unknown Sick Freaks | The Pungo Picayune
- Right Voices » Blog Archive » Vietnam Memorial Defaced By Anti War Protestors
- Pal2pal
- Sierra Faith
- Old War Dogs
- Renew their Honor. « Diplomatic Proposal
- Vietnam War Memorial Vandalized at Forward Deployed
- Vietnam War Memorial Defaced By Anti-War Cowards « PA Pundits . . . “the relentless pursuit of common sense”
- THE MIDNIGHT SUN » Blog Archive » Civil War Brewing In America Over The World War
- Patriots and Liberty » Blog Archive » Vandalism, Desecration, Cowardice, Coddling: Enough is Enough!
- "7.62mm Justice" ™
- Stop The ACLU » Blog Archive » Vandalism At The Vietnam Memorial
- Murdoc Online
- Lump on a Blog » Blog Archive » Vandalism at the Vietnam War Memorial
- Chickenhawk Express
- Who are the people who desecrate war memorials, memorial murals and American flags. at DPGI v.3
- Wake up America-war protester hacks up student
- appletree » Blog Archive » Vietnam Memorial Vandalized
- Burkean Reflections
- Pandagon :: How not to protest unjust wars :: September :: 2007
- Nauseating - Defacing “The Wall” and Burning Flags at Retirement Homes | Parrothead Jeff
- JABbering Stooge :: Shorter Michelle MalKKKin: :: September :: 2007
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- The Marshian Chronicles»Blog Archive » Short Rounds #62
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- JABbering Stooge :: Well, there’s your answer. :: September :: 2007
- Globalization and its Discontents
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- Military Coins
- We OWE Them Remembrance « Civilian Irregular Information Defense Group
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- JABbering Stooge :: When Radio Rwanda comes home… :: August :: 2008
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Just imagine the Pandemonium which would have ensued had this vandalism been done to a holy relic of Islam or perhaps the Clinton Library…..
Brain72..
Thank you for your kind words and for your support of our country and our military. I read each of your posts and enjoy hearing your opinions. I agree with your assesssment of General Pace. He is a great American who will be missed.
Thanks to all of you great Americans who post on this site. I love all of you, even those with whom I disagree. I only pray that we will be victorious in our fight to keep America free and strong.
For all of you veterans out there, from whatever conflict, we stand with you. We cannot allow this travesty to go unchallenged.
There are more Americans than ever who reject the neo-coms, as I’ve named them. They are nothing but recycled communist propaganda, not an original thought in their greasy heads. We will face them down, and they won’t be able to get enough of the people on their side to do to our country what they did in the Vietnam War. They will be shamed in front of the nation, and I know that Michelle will be on the front lines of the moonbat convention in DC coming up. I can’t be there in person, but I will be there through this site and others, cheering on those who want this country to WIN.
For all vets everywhere who fought for America, welcome home, thank you, and we will not forget.
The problem is that very little is done when such vandalism occurs. The liberal judges just dismiss it as a childish prank and the individuals involved pay a fine and do some silly community service. It these vandals actually spent real jail time – like a year in prison in the desert, then this type of stuff would stop.
There is no question that destructive elements that pretend to only hate Bush but actually hate the entire nation are at work. They are anarchists, communists, and terrorist sympathizers.
The anti American crowd continue to attempt to turn our children against the best country in the world..maggots.
http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_6879506
I really wish I could be in D.C., Michelle. Even though I live in the area, I’m in Tennessee for a bit and will have to miss it. Sigh. My thoughts and prayers are with all the people that will be there!
What is wrong with these people? Even if you hate some political party of or person, why would you desecrate a memorial to people that died so you could live free in this wonderful country? How bizarre, I’d like to meet these people…maybe let them know how a veteran feels about their actions, you know, a little debate.
They’re staging a “die-in”??
Can they maybe do it for real??
Anti-American indeed. But, it is not just illegal aliens. Look at WXYZ-TV Detroit. Really, look at the medical student.
#87 – you are welcome to come to SF anytime…they are not hard to spot here.
I have always believed you get the behavior that you tolerate and we have been tolerating way to much for way to long!
On September 13th, 2007 at 2:47 am, 2spothipshot
*************
EXCELLENT SONG!!! HEY HEY HEY!!!
On September 13th, 2007 at 5:51 pm, jferg49 said:
*******************
As the daughter of a man who had no son to fight, I’d genuinely love to join you and side you for THAT debate.
But I warn you, I have a little Indian blood, and you know what happens when the men of Indian tribes handed their enemies over to the women to take care of.
Let these Liberals get out in public and show us their faces! LET US SEE WHO THEY ARE!!!
I’d say at the rate we are getting out country to move against Treason AT ALL, that this is going to end up being the LEAST of our problems.
I say that as one vehemently opposed to vigilantism, suspecting all who rush to become leaders of vigilantism of attempting to install their own regime on the ashes with “Martial Law”.
What difference does it make if there is nothing left to defend, by the time the defenders at the home fires bother to wake up!
Alas, what does it matter, if they cannot be bothered to gather around their local courthouses and demand some trials for Treason! right where it is found!
Brian72…the most frightening thing is that they choose not to think for themselves…Because a professor said it then it must be true??? Because it was on the news then it’s true??? Some of these people are so much smarter than the thoughts they regurgitate…
Ladies and gentlemen, I have asserted that today’s leftists are nothing more than rehashed communist propaganda. Many consider such views to be “right wing nonsense”, but when you say something so dramatic, it should be backed up by credible sources. Well, here it is, folks. Straight from the horse’s mouth, or the Bear’s mouth, to be more accurate.
Ion Pacepa, the former head of communist Romania’s intelligence station in West Germany, is the highest ranking KGB officer to defect to the West. He explains quite clearly where all this undermining of the American President on the international stage came from. The USSR. Vladimir I. Lenin’s “useful idiots” doctrine proved more brilliant than anyone could have predicted. It has worked to near perfection, and continues to this day even though it’s source is now defunct. He has written an op-ed in the Opinion Journal dated Aug. 7, 2007.
Please, read it all. Here is a taste:
This sounds very familiar, if you saw John F’n Kerry’s testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971.
Does this not enrage you? Does this not enlighten you as to the origin and purpose of today’s slander campaign by the leftist “useful idiots”?
Mark Levin is right. They are simply Stalinists in our midst, not just MoveOn, but the Democrat Party itself. Today’s Jackass party has taken up the mantle of the KGB to destroy America as we have known it, to rebuild it as the United Socialist States of America. They are coming to Washington, DC, to continue their traitor tradition.
Don’t let them win, not in ‘08, not ever.
Where was John Kerry the night it happened? No, I’m serious. The Vietnam memorial? Not what you would expect a young moron to target first.
I’m surprised no one saw. Even in the middle of the night there are often candlelight vigils.
As for SFO, taggers are stupid. Probably had no clue who she was.
Truly vile though. All of them heros, and like Ms. Ong, many had no choice. I suggest we send them to Iraq, and force them to scrub the blood off the floor of the field hospitals on their hands and knees.
I changed my mind, they aren’t worthy to clean up the blood wounded soldiers.
Latrines.
*******
I wonder if you are a certain person I’ve met before, from Texas.
Your material matches that which I’ve posted as often as possible, which was published in the Congressional Record on January 10, 1963 – a Joseph Stalin Agenda For The Destruction of America from the inside, extremely long piece, but was composed in the 1950’s and was immediately adopted as the Dim Party PLATFORM, and includes such items as these:
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
…
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
…
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
…
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”
[IN OTHER WORDS, REMOVE ALL REMINDERS OF OUR AMERICAN HEROES!]
…
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”
…
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.”
…
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture–education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
…
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
…
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.
“The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But, under the name of ‘liberalism’, they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.”
–Norman Thomas in 1969, former U.S. Socialist Party Presidential Candidate
Karl Marx – The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to Socialism.
Karl Marx- My object in life is to dethrone God and destroy capitalism.
Karl Marx – The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.
“The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjected people to carry arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subjected peoples to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the underdog is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty. So let’s not have any native militia or police.” — Adolph Hitler, Edict of March 18, 1938
ALL SO VERY DEMOCRAT AND RINO!!!
These people are unworthy of the freedom they have inherited from the Heroes they are desecrating. GRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!
- Bryan 72
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Boy! WHAT AN UNDERSTATEMENT!
There is a line over which those who cross are NOT entitled to be considered members in good standing in their communities. Most of our history, Americans knew about that line.
If folks don’t get a sudden stirring of memory, there is a more than strong probability there will be no community left to be a member of – in good standing, or otherwise!
Folks, I heartily adjure you – do not let these Socialists win by getting themselves a PROXY in the GOP Party, either.
I think particularly, BUT NOT SOLELY, today of Fred Thompson, former Watergate Prosecutor, who CHAIRED a committee in ‘97 to investigate the CHINESE FUNDS in the Clinton Campaign of ‘96, WHICH HSU is TIED TO – and he concluded we should not have ISSUES ADVOCACY ADS WITH CANDIDATES IMAGES IN THEM close to an Election! And he helped send John Glenn back into space for his work in deflecting the work of that committee.
Here we are, today, with Hillary doing the same thing FRED ENABLED BILL TO GET BY WITH, and Fred is scolding her!
This same Fred in ‘98 was one of 4 GOP Senators who voted NOT GUILTY for Bill’s PERJURY, and told Sean Hannity on June 5, 2007, that this perjury IS A “TRIVIAL MATTER” and not rising to the level of impeachment IN THE EYES OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS – leading directly to Bill giving a pardon to 16 Middle Eastern Terrorists on his last day in office!
I’ve really had it with GOP politicians who complain about DIM tactics BUT WHO ENABLE THEM to undermine our nation!
I won’t vote for a RINO, and go quietly into that good night telling myself I did all by NOT VOTING DIM!
WHAT A BARF!
I’m not a believer in this myself, but isn’t the saying “God helps those who help themselves”?
Helping ourselves by traitor-stomping. I can get behind that.