Et tu, Colorado? [Archive] - Professional Soldiers ®

Sionnach

04-06-2007, 08:41

Littleton Parents Decry Statue of Marine With Gun

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,264342,00.html

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Parents in Littleton, Colo., the site of one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history, are outraged about the placement and image of a statue honoring a local fallen Marine.

Parents say that a statue made in honor of Navy SEAL Danny Dietz, which depicts the soldier with an automatic rifle in his hands, praises violence in a location near three schools and two playgrounds, according to the Denver Post.

"I don't think young children should be exposed to that in that way — unsupervised by their parents or any adults," said Emily Cassidy, one of the mothers, reported the Post.

Littleton city officials say the protests are too late, as the statue has already been cast.

Dietz, 25, and three other Navy SEALS were killed in Afghanistan in June 2005 after they were ambushed by Al Qaeda guerrillas. Dietz was proclaimed a hero after he reportedly fought off attackers while severely wounded so a fellow team member could escape.

Dietz’s family is surprised at the controversy.

"It broke our hearts. My son was fighting for her freedom to do exactly what she is doing," said his father, Dan Dietz, referring to those who are protesting the statue. "She put my son in the same category as Columbine. How does she have the audacity to do that?"

Two Columbine High School seniors went on a bloody shooting rampage on April 20, 1999, slaughtering 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves.

Original Article from the Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_5595985

I don't even know how to respond to this garbage.

1. A SEAL is the antithesis of the type of person who would shoot up a school.
2. The gun didn't get up on its own, and shoot up the school. Maximum Overdrive was a movie, not real life.
3. Our warriors deserve our honor and respect.
4. The 2nd Amendment and our Warriors are the guardians of our other freedoms.
5. Damned pod people are spreading.
6. I will pay for your plane ticket to the gun-free country of your choice, provided you agree to NEVER return, Ms. Cassidy.

The Reaper

04-06-2007, 08:55

I think that Ms. Cassidy should ask LEOs to stop carrying firearms, their appearance is probably too disturbing to her as well.:rolleyes:

She is not even a sheep, maybe a chicken would be more a more appropriate analogy.

Those who fail to recognize the difference between the sheepdogs who carry guns to protect them and the wolves who are out to get them are too stupid to live. They should definitely not be allowed to reproduce. Neuter Ms. Cassidy and her ilk and deport them ASAP, perhaps to somewhere where guns and self-defense are illegal, yet there is plenty of violence.

TR

82ndtrooper

04-06-2007, 09:07

I was still pretty much a kid when I first spotted Bronze Bruce at Ft. Bragg. I dont remember it telling me telepathically to go out and start shooting anyone with my M203. :cool:

As mentioned, the statue should stand for America's freedoms, and those that browse by it should be reminded of the blood that is shed for our freedoms by men willing to take up arms and to do the job that most do want to do, which it to die for their country.

Mr. Cassidy is just another in the flock of sheep that are walking around in a static state of political intoxication. Shame on her, not the city !!

I remember that the NRA convention that year was in Colorado close to Columbine and that the city officials wrote a letter to Charleton Heston stating "Dont bring your NRA here" his reply was "We've been here all along, and are already here" As if the NRA sanctioned the shootings at Columbine. What a croc of little ass pounding sheep !!

SF18C

04-07-2007, 06:14

Parents say that a statue made in honor of Navy SEAL Danny Dietz, which depicts the soldier with an automatic rifle in his hands, praises violence in a location near three schools and two playgrounds, according to the Denver Post.

This is the exactly the place it should be...where those that are learning can see and wonder and ask about it and its significance.

"I don't think young children should be exposed to that in that way — unsupervised by their parents or any adults," said Emily Cassidy, one of the mothers, reported the Post.

100% wrong...if we don't expose our patriots and warriors to our children we will not produce warriors or patriots.

Boulder, CO = Berkley, CA...Littleton, CO wants to be like Boulder!

CoLawman

04-07-2007, 09:13

82ndtrooper

04-07-2007, 09:31

The Reaper

04-07-2007, 10:09

This is probably the same lady that contacted one of our uniformed officers in a family restaurant. He was eating with his family while on his meal break. The lady came up to his table and told him that she felt it was inappropriate for him to be "parading" around in uniform in a public eatery!

SHEEP! Are they worth the efforts of the Sheep Dog?

My brother was a volunteer fireman as was my Dad. They were given a good bit of latitude by LE in responding to fire calls, as it was a rural area, and the first few guys (normally the ones who lived in town) took the fire trucks to the call and everyone else drove directly to the scene in their POVs, with dash and grille red lights flashing.

One day, a local complained to my brother that she thought they drove too fast in responding to calls.

Bro, who is pretty quick with a dry country wit, said, "If it was your house on fire, would we be driving too fast?"

That topic was never brought up again.

TR

Firebeef

04-11-2007, 19:09

sometimes....even in a "progressive" city like Denver, calmer heads prevail;

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5470519,00.html

Memorial set in stone
Parents of slain SEAL surprised by all the flak
Evan Semon © The Rocky

April 7, 2007
Dan Dietz sees irony in the death of his Navy SEAL son and those opposed to erecting a statute in his honor July 4 in a Littleton park.
"This was Danny's third tour over there. The first time he was over there, he lost a friend and when he came back, he was mad. And he said, 'Boy, Dad, I'd better not run across any of those anti-Americans. You know they're not doing us any good,' " Dan Dietz said Friday.

"And I said, 'Wait a minute, Danny. During Vietnam I fought for those rights and now you're fighting for those rights.'

"I said, 'That's a part of the United States. We have to be thankful we can do that because the other countries, if you did something like that - protested or anything like that - you'd be in jail or be shot.' "

The statue of 25-year-old Danny Dietz shows him crouching while holding an assault rifle.

Opponents of the statue have said, in light of the 1999 Columbine High School tragedy, kids shouldn't be walking past something that depicts violence.

Dan and Cindy Dietz said they were "surprised" by the opposition to the statue of their son - especially since it had been in the planning stages for months.

One of those opponents, Linda Cuesta, had a child at Columbine during that massacre and made her objections known to the Littleton City Council last month.

"This has nothing to do with Columbine," Cindy Dietz said.

Also objecting was Emily Cassidy Fuchs, who didn't want the statue at Berry Park because of its proximity to three schools.

City officials noted, however, the park is in the same neighborhood where Danny grew up and attended elementary and middle school. His parents still live there.

Kelli Narde, spokeswoman for the city of Littleton, said the dedication of the statue will go forward July 4 and that an admiral will give a keynote address.

Cindy Dietz said she's made several trips to the foundry in Loveland where the mold of the statue has been worked on to make sure it correctly depicts her son.

She said she struggled with the idea of him having facial hair in the statue ("He was always angelic looking") but agreed that the photo showed him with facial hair - and that's how he should be in bronze.

Sculptor Robert Henderson created the statue from one of the last photos taken of Danny before he was killed June 28, 2005, in Afghanistan while fighting al-Qaida and Taliban forces with his team of four.

He received the Navy Cross for heroism posthumously.

His father said his son would likely view the statue the same way he viewed his other honors and awards.

"Danny wouldn't go for this at all," Dan Dietz said.

"He liked to be low-keyed in his career. He didn't like to display what he'd done and all the awards that he has gotten and stuff like that."

But his parents view the statue as a way to honor their son and all of those who died while serving in the military.

"I feel like Danny belongs to the nation now and he's a part of that history," Dan Dietz said.

City officials said they've been taken aback by the controversy surrounding the statue, and Narde said that claims the city didn't go through the usual approval process for public art isn't correct.

Narde said the city's Fine Arts Committee - on which Fuchs sits - opted not to oversee the process because they didn't consider it art.

So it was passed to the city's staff to handle, which it did.

After the Dietz family spoke Friday afternoon in the city of Littleton's Community Room, state Sen. Steve Ward, R-Littleton, stewed outside in the hallway.

"This is pathetic," Ward said. "What's next? Take 'the bombs bursting in air' out of The Star- Spangled Banner?"

Dan and Cindy Dietz got a measure of support as they left the community room.

After the couple finished talking, a group of police officers stood and applauded as they exited the room.

monterod@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5236

Firebeef

04-11-2007, 19:13

try this one as well, form the mostly Communist Denver Post as well!

SEAL's memorial within kids' view? Perfect spot
By David Harsanyi
Denver Post Staff Columnist
Article Launched: 04/09/2007 01:00:00 AM MDT

Maybe those parents offended by a proposed war memorial in Littleton believe that freedom can be defended using snappy bumper stickers.

Luckily, Danny Dietz knew better.

For now, despite the protestations of a handful of locals, the memorial to honor this Navy SEAL, Navy Cross winner and Colorado native killed after volunteering for action in Afghanistan will go on as scheduled.

A wonderful statue of Dietz holding a rifle will be placed in the vicinity of schools and playgrounds - near many impressionable children.

Really, there's no better spot for it. The more kids see it, the better.

Though we all understand the politics of war - and God knows, we're capable of royally messing things up - allowing ideology to interfere with honoring someone like Dietz is truly repugnant.

A couple of locals claim they are horrified that a replica rifle's shadow may darken their children's playgrounds?

Kids might feel uncomfortable.

We're a long way from the Greatest Generation, indeed.

The memorial will honor a Littleton native who had the guts to pick up a rifle and defend the peace those little children enjoy. And because you can't take out al-Qaeda guerrillas with a blog post or guest spot on "The View," Dietz turned to a rifle equipped with a grenade launcher.

"That weapon was part of him," explains Patsy Dietz, his (rather perturbed) widow. "It's how he defended himself and this country. And that's how he died. So it upset me so much when people began protesting. That gun helped defend the freedom of speech of those protesters ... but that doesn't mean I can't challenge their ignorance."

Dietz, according to his Navy Cross citation, fought "valiantly against the numerically superior and positionally advantaged enemy force."

Instead of fleeing, Dietz remained behind "in a hailstorm of enemy fire." And even though Dietz was seriously wounded, "he bravely fought on, valiantly defending his teammates and himself in a harrowing gunfight, until he was mortally wounded."

So for those parents so offended by a rifle, they might take the time to explain to their children that without Dietz and his gun, Abby and Jacob wouldn't be enjoying life in a prosperous neighborhood with the infinite freedom to whine.

While they're at it, they could take the kids down to the Colorado Capitol, where a Civil War monument features a Union soldier. He's carrying a rifle.

Turns out the Confederacy didn't free the slaves after being asked nicely.

Nearby, there's a statue of Joe Martinez, the first Hispanic Coloradan to receive the Medal of Honor. He has a rifle, as well. And he had it when he ran to his certain death on the Aleutian Islands during World War II.

In fact, Tim Nimz, Littleton's museum director, points out the prevalence of weapons at war memorials:

"Service weapons, usually sheathed or unsheathed cavalry sabers or swords, appear in many of the 56 martial-themed statues in the District of Columbia, including almost all of the equestrian statues that dominate the major street intersections."

Soldiers and SEALs carry guns. And though this war has torn us apart, ignoring reality and belittling our heroes with politically correct twaddle is a slap in the face to all who serve.

"These protesters probably haven't ever encountered someone whose family has died in war - and they have no room and no ground to stand on," says Patsy Dietz.

Certainly, some of them live in a fantasy. Take for example the comment of one Ann Levy to a Post reporter. She believes that Dietz's sacrifice deserves a "peace dove instead."

A peace dove ...

You know what? When a dove can protect our children from religious fanatics who'd like to behead them, I'll visit the National Peace Dove Memorial.

For now, I look forward to taking my kids to Littleton and explaining why guys like Danny Dietz deserve to be honored.

David Harsanyi's column appears Monday and Thursday. He can be reached at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.

Razor

04-11-2007, 23:07

"I feel like Danny belongs to the nation now...

Wow, that really hit home. One hell of a gift--thank you Mr. & Mrs. Dietz.