http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/10/vietnam-vets-betrayed-again/
A Washington bureaucrat wants to make points by saving money cutting back the 50th anniversary commemoration plans. If he were just another civilian appointee I might understand his motives. He actually served one 4 year term in the Army before becoming a DOD civilian. During that time, he has worked in a military environment. He SHOULD know the impact this would have for not only Vietnam veterans, but for current and future veterans as well. It sounds like he has played the politics game too long.
http://www.whs.mil/About/docs/MichaelRhodes_BIO.pdf
Must be a buddy of Kerry...
http://www.defense.gov/bios/biographydetail.aspx?biographyid=164
AssHole...
:mad::mad::mad::mad:
The guy's a 'bean counter' in a hierarchical system of countless bean counters who has - I would guess - received his marching orders from those above him and is now taking heat as the 'point' in carrying them out.
I wonder who's walking the 'slack' and '1-0' positions on this patrol?
I also wonder who the hell came up with this concept:
The idea was to have a series of commemorations that would begin in 2009, 50 years after the July 8, 1959, Viet Cong attack at Bien Hoa killed Army Maj. Dale R. Buis and Master Sgt. Chester M. Ovnand, the first two names on the wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
FYI - the first casualty listed on the memorial is that of a USAF TSgt who was murdered by a fellow airman:
RICHARD B FITZGIBBON JR
TSGT, USAF, Jun 8, 1956
Panel 52E - Line 21
http://thewall-usa.com/info.asp?recid=16314
Air Force Tech Sgt. Richard B Fitzgibbon, Jr. murdered in Vietnam by a fellow airman on June 8, 1956, has been formally recognized by the Pentagon as the first American to die in that war.
With this decision, the Defense Department set Nov. 1, 1955 as the earliest qualifying date for inclusion on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It says this is the date the MAAG was officially established. Eight other pre- 1961 casualties are already listed on the memorial.
The first death of an American serviceman in Vietnam occurred Sept. 26, 1945. OSS Major A. Peter Dewey was killed in action by the Communist Vietminh near Hanoi. Some 128 members of a MAAG began supervising the use of U. S. equipment in Vietnam on Sept. 17, 1950. And two U. S. fliers contracted by the CIA were killed in action flying a mission over Dien Bien Phu in 1954. The first U. S. advisors sent to actually train Vietnamese troops arrived Feb. 12, 1955. Capt. Harry Cramer, Jr. was killed in a munitions handling accident Oct. 21, 1957: His name had been the first listed.
There is another unique aspect to this story: Marine Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III -- his son -- was killed in action in Vietnam on Sept. 7, 1965. The Fitzgibbons are the only father-son honorees on the Wall.
http://lonestar.50megs.com/vietnamvet/casualty.html
"Okay, menses...'BY THE NUMBERS...EF...UP!'"
And so it goes...:rolleyes:
Richard :munchin