thedrifter
08-02-05, 06:46 PM
07.28.2005
From The Editor
These Funeral Pranks Dishonor the Fallen
By Ed Offley
Can't we simply honor the dead and comfort their families?
As the Iraq occupation grinds on with its emotional roller-coaster ride of ups (political and economic improvements) and downs (terrorist attacks), the fact remains that American servicemen and women serving there are continuing to die in harm's way.
The small announcements in our newspapers and online websites fall like the drops of a water torture: An Army soldier dies when an improvised explosive device detonates near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle; a Marine perishes in a mortar attack; a Navy corpsman loses his life to a terrorist's bullet. It is understandable that the vast majority of Americans will glance at these postage-sized notices and quickly avert their eyes.
Not so for the infinitesimally smaller group of Americans whose lives are ripped apart by the loss of a loved one. They must endure the heart-rending visit of the CACO team, the passing of the black news to other relatives and friends, the sad planning of an unexpected funeral, and finally, the arrival back home of their loved one's remains and the bittersweet ceremony honoring and commemorating a fallen relative.
You would think the least that those of us not directly touched by tragedy could do is to stand respectfully aside and show our respect by allowing a family in sorrow to bury their dead.
Well, twice in recent weeks it seems that even this was too much to ask.
When the family of Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich gathered at a church in Carnegie, Pa., last Saturday, the solemnity of the funeral service for the 32-year-old Marine who had died in Iraq came to an abrupt end when the lieutenant governor of the state stalked in uninvited.
As reported in the Harrisburg Post-Gazette, Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll entered the packed funeral service, then proceeded to disrupting the event by accosting family members, handing out her business card, and reportedly telling them, "I want you to know our [state] government is against this war." The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review quoted Goodrich family members as saying the lieutenant governor had said she always tried to attend such "functions."
"Knoll felt this was an appropriate time to campaign and impose her will on us," said Rhonda Goodrich, the fallen Marine's sister-in-law, in an interview with the Harrisburg newspaper. "I am amazed and disgusted Knoll finds a Marine funeral a prime place to campaign." Goodrich told the newspaper that the funeral service was full of people – including Marine comrades and police officers with whom Goodrich had worked prior to enlisting – "who wanted to tell his family how Joe had impacted their lives."
"Here you have a soldier who was killed – dying for his country – in a church full of grieving family members, and she shows up uninvited," Rhonda Goodrich added. "It made a mockery of Joey's death."
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in an editorial aptly summarized the politician's behavior: "Outrageous."
If that weren't bad enough, consider what happened to the family of Army Pfc. Tim Hines, who died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on July 14 of complications of injuries that he had suffered last month in a roadside bombing in Baghdad. Hines had struggled in recovery for four weeks, making slow progress, before suffering a fatal heart attack last week. The 21-year-old soldier left behind his wife, Katy and a two-year-old daughter, Lily. Katy Hines is expecting their second child, a boy to be named Noah, in August.
When the soldier's remains arrived at their hometown in Fairfield, Ohio, The Journal-News, the local newspaper, reported that "hundreds of friends, family, church members and strangers ... stood in line Thursday [July 23] to honor the fallen soldier during the visitation at Vineyard Community Church .... " The report added:
"As the Fairfield Police and Fire Honor Guards stood watch over the casket draped by the American flag, Tim Hines' mother spent hours hugging visitors from her wheelchair while photos of her smiling son flashed by in a slide show. In several photos, he stood proudly in uniform holding his 2-year-old daughter, Lily, with his wife and high school sweetheart, Katy, at his side."
That was as things should be: dignified, respectful and polite. But the day after the funeral, some thugs removed several dozen American flags planted in the family home front yard, stuffed them under a car in the driveway, and set them ablaze.
Fairfield authorities have offered a $5,000 reward for tips. Police Chief Mike Dickey told CNN that he believed the incident was "more of a crime of opportunity as opposed to a planned act." Neighbors of the Hines family immediately replaced the destroyed flags with hundreds more.
In Pennsylvania, the lieutenant governor subsequently apologized for her churlish behavior (while Gov. Ed Rendell tried to split the difference, supporting his embattled subordinate, lauding the troops but echoing her comments on how the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania disdains to support American foreign policy). The thugs in Ohio who vandalized a heartbroken family's home have not yet been caught, but can be expected to come up with belated remorse once they are arrested, tried, convicted and appear for sentencing.
You would think that having suffered the wartime loss of a beloved family member, things could not get worse. Thanks to a self-centered, thoughtless Pennsylvania politician and some not-yet-arrested felons in Ohio, it did.
Ed Offley is Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at dweditor@yahoo.com. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com. © 2005 Ed Offley.
Ellie
From The Editor
These Funeral Pranks Dishonor the Fallen
By Ed Offley
Can't we simply honor the dead and comfort their families?
As the Iraq occupation grinds on with its emotional roller-coaster ride of ups (political and economic improvements) and downs (terrorist attacks), the fact remains that American servicemen and women serving there are continuing to die in harm's way.
The small announcements in our newspapers and online websites fall like the drops of a water torture: An Army soldier dies when an improvised explosive device detonates near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle; a Marine perishes in a mortar attack; a Navy corpsman loses his life to a terrorist's bullet. It is understandable that the vast majority of Americans will glance at these postage-sized notices and quickly avert their eyes.
Not so for the infinitesimally smaller group of Americans whose lives are ripped apart by the loss of a loved one. They must endure the heart-rending visit of the CACO team, the passing of the black news to other relatives and friends, the sad planning of an unexpected funeral, and finally, the arrival back home of their loved one's remains and the bittersweet ceremony honoring and commemorating a fallen relative.
You would think the least that those of us not directly touched by tragedy could do is to stand respectfully aside and show our respect by allowing a family in sorrow to bury their dead.
Well, twice in recent weeks it seems that even this was too much to ask.
When the family of Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich gathered at a church in Carnegie, Pa., last Saturday, the solemnity of the funeral service for the 32-year-old Marine who had died in Iraq came to an abrupt end when the lieutenant governor of the state stalked in uninvited.
As reported in the Harrisburg Post-Gazette, Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll entered the packed funeral service, then proceeded to disrupting the event by accosting family members, handing out her business card, and reportedly telling them, "I want you to know our [state] government is against this war." The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review quoted Goodrich family members as saying the lieutenant governor had said she always tried to attend such "functions."
"Knoll felt this was an appropriate time to campaign and impose her will on us," said Rhonda Goodrich, the fallen Marine's sister-in-law, in an interview with the Harrisburg newspaper. "I am amazed and disgusted Knoll finds a Marine funeral a prime place to campaign." Goodrich told the newspaper that the funeral service was full of people – including Marine comrades and police officers with whom Goodrich had worked prior to enlisting – "who wanted to tell his family how Joe had impacted their lives."
"Here you have a soldier who was killed – dying for his country – in a church full of grieving family members, and she shows up uninvited," Rhonda Goodrich added. "It made a mockery of Joey's death."
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in an editorial aptly summarized the politician's behavior: "Outrageous."
If that weren't bad enough, consider what happened to the family of Army Pfc. Tim Hines, who died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on July 14 of complications of injuries that he had suffered last month in a roadside bombing in Baghdad. Hines had struggled in recovery for four weeks, making slow progress, before suffering a fatal heart attack last week. The 21-year-old soldier left behind his wife, Katy and a two-year-old daughter, Lily. Katy Hines is expecting their second child, a boy to be named Noah, in August.
When the soldier's remains arrived at their hometown in Fairfield, Ohio, The Journal-News, the local newspaper, reported that "hundreds of friends, family, church members and strangers ... stood in line Thursday [July 23] to honor the fallen soldier during the visitation at Vineyard Community Church .... " The report added:
"As the Fairfield Police and Fire Honor Guards stood watch over the casket draped by the American flag, Tim Hines' mother spent hours hugging visitors from her wheelchair while photos of her smiling son flashed by in a slide show. In several photos, he stood proudly in uniform holding his 2-year-old daughter, Lily, with his wife and high school sweetheart, Katy, at his side."
That was as things should be: dignified, respectful and polite. But the day after the funeral, some thugs removed several dozen American flags planted in the family home front yard, stuffed them under a car in the driveway, and set them ablaze.
Fairfield authorities have offered a $5,000 reward for tips. Police Chief Mike Dickey told CNN that he believed the incident was "more of a crime of opportunity as opposed to a planned act." Neighbors of the Hines family immediately replaced the destroyed flags with hundreds more.
In Pennsylvania, the lieutenant governor subsequently apologized for her churlish behavior (while Gov. Ed Rendell tried to split the difference, supporting his embattled subordinate, lauding the troops but echoing her comments on how the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania disdains to support American foreign policy). The thugs in Ohio who vandalized a heartbroken family's home have not yet been caught, but can be expected to come up with belated remorse once they are arrested, tried, convicted and appear for sentencing.
You would think that having suffered the wartime loss of a beloved family member, things could not get worse. Thanks to a self-centered, thoughtless Pennsylvania politician and some not-yet-arrested felons in Ohio, it did.
Ed Offley is Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at dweditor@yahoo.com. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com. © 2005 Ed Offley.
Ellie