OT: Harrisburg officer publicly humiliates Marine veteran, no apology

[simons96]

I've been pretty consistent with my boycott of PennLive, but this incident jumped out at me:

Harrisburg police officer wrongly accuses Marine veteran of "stolen valor"

I think the worst part is the mayor refusing to apologize to Robert Ford. and the army dbag in the blue sneakers should man up, identify himself, and publicly apologize . . . for wearing such dbag clothes.

 

[jim cummings]

Everything is just back asswards anymore. There's a major integrity issue at all levels of just about everything.

Core values of civil living have evaporated mightily over the last 15 years.

 

[simons96]

we have become this "accuse first, scream loudest, give no one the benefit of the doubt" culture . . .

 

[WeR0206]

we have become this "accuse first, scream loudest, give no one the benefit of the doubt" culture . . .

Exactly. Everyone wants to just one up each other over who can be more outraged about something without ever actually checking facts to see if there is something to be outraged over in the first place!! Its madness

 

[simons96]

Exactly. Everyone wants to just one up each other over who can be more outraged about something without ever actually checking facts to see if there is something to be outraged over in the first place!! Its madness

seems like this Army guy and the police officer assumed the Marine was fake and made every effort to "out" him, without actually doing their due diligence.

the big problem I have is they seem to have no conscience about what they did to this poor guy.

 

[Philly Lion]

On a lighter note I do see that Robert Ford "catapulted" to the rank of lance corporal (E-3) in six years. ;-)

 

[N&B4PSU]

seems like this Army guy and the police officer assumed the Marine was fake and made every effort to "out" him, without actually doing their due diligence.

the big problem I have is they seem to have no conscience about what they did to this poor guy.

just poorly handled... and agree that the failure to issue an apology makes it all the worse. somebody should be stepping up and saying they are sorry and do it very publicly. of course, that means someone needs to man-up and take responsibility... good luck with that.

 

[FrontFlipper1]

I have spoken with this Marine in the past. Very regular guy. One of his favorite stories was about Joe. The guy was bar tending in the 50's or 60's and Joe stopped in on a recruiting trip or speaking thing. Anyway Joe orders a drink and the guy gives it to him and says "it's on the house". Joe asks " do you own this bar?" The reply was "no my dad does". Joe gives him money and says " your dad works hard for this place. Don't give his stuff away". He couldn't believe the life lesson and always respected Joe for that and was/is a big PSU fan.

 

[Ranger Dan]

My wife and I were at the arts festival and saw and older man walking around in Marine dress blues. I never would have thought that he was "stealing valor" but I did wonder why he was doing it. It's great that he continues his tribute to fallen veterans each year and if anything good can come of this, maybe there will be some spectators at his little ceremony next year.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

I've been pretty consistent with my boycott of PennLive, but this incident jumped out at me:

Harrisburg police officer wrongly accuses Marine veteran of "stolen valor"

I think the worst part is the mayor refusing to apologize to Robert Ford. and the army dbag in the blue sneakers should man up, identify himself, and publicly apologize . . . for wearing such dbag clothes.

Seems like recent people who served are really big into credit-taking and patting themselves on the backs. The coaches, mentors, scout masters, family members I grew up with who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam would have never acted like a lot of current servicemen.

I understand outing fake soldiers is important, but I'm talking about the whole recent ethos of separating themselves from civilians - like a smug mercenary class.

Did it take all of about a year, before a Seal wrote a book about killing Bin Laden? Pathetic after the fact glory hunting.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

Ranger Dan - thanks for the "like". I thought I'd be pummeled for my post and should have qualified it with "some".

Perhaps this is a manifestation of an all-volunteer force. I almost think a National Service requirement would be good for all of us - spread out the sacrifice and have everyone have a stake in our foreign policy decisions - both good and bad. We'd have a lot less gung ho Cowboy stuff from Congress if more of their kids would be impacted, for example.

For conscientious objectors, they could work in National Parks or something building trails or fighting fires.

 

[N&B4PSU]

Ranger Dan - thanks for the "like". I thought I'd be pummeled for my post and should have qualified it with "some".

Perhaps this is a manifestation of an all-volunteer force. I almost think a National Service requirement would be good for all of us - spread out the sacrifice and have everyone have a stake in our foreign policy decisions - both good and bad. We'd have a lot less gung ho Cowboy stuff from Congress if more of their kids would be impacted, for example.

For conscientious objectors, they could work in National Parks or something building trails or fighting fires.

rant mode onnn.

all for it... but ONLY so long as EVERYONE serves.... and serves right! Not one congressional punk skunk gets his kid out of duty... and no back of the field officer duty, neither. their kids get front duty... put them out on the field and their lives at risk. i am so sick and tired of these pols and rich crappers with zero to lose sticking our necks out for their punk asses. until someone says that's gonna happen, i'm not in on this. when they do (and i mean it gets enforced), all in with you, bro.

as for CO's... you know already that every pol's kid is gonna be a CO. screw em. front lines. and let's give lindsay graham a parachute and rifle and drop him into whatever middle east locale he wants us to fight in. then please video the outcome. gonna be like a sweet video game.

rant mode off.

 

[fairgambit]

Seems like recent people who served are really big into credit-taking and patting themselves on the backs. The coaches, mentors, scout masters, family members I grew up with who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam would have never acted like a lot of current servicemen.
I understand outing fake soldiers is important, but I'm talking about the whole recent ethos of separating themselves from civilians - like a smug mercenary class.
Did it take all of about a year, before a Seal wrote a book about killing Bin Laden? Pathetic after the fact glory hunting.

Certainly the model for me is the WWII generation. These men and women were my heroes growing up. Those I knew who served included my father, my uncles, my neighbors, people at my church....but they never spoke about it unless asked and when asked they usually said very little, confining their remarks to the bravery of others and tearing up at the loss of buddies. One of my neighbors survived the Bataan Death March and never mentioned it in my presence. It is often only in death that I find out of their courage......a death notice, for example, mentioning that "Joe Smith" earned a Bronze Star. It's incredibly sad that this generation is passing away from us in increasing numbers. So many of their stories remain untold.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

Certainly the model for me is the WWII generation. These men and women were my heroes growing up. Those I knew who served included my father, my uncles, my neighbors, people at my church....but they never spoke about it unless asked and when asked they usually said very little, confining their remarks to the bravery of others and tearing up at the loss of buddies. One of my neighbors survived the Bataan Death March and never mentioned it in my presence. It is often only in death that I find out of their courage......a death notice, for example, mentioning that "Joe Smith" earned a Bronze Star. It's incredibly sad that this generation is passing away from us in increasing numbers. So many of their stories remain untold.

One of the best Penn Staters there was was our Assistant Scoutmaster.

Google David Pergrin when you get a chance.

 

[fairgambit]

One of the best Penn Staters there was was our Assistant Scoutmaster.
Google David Pergrin when you get a chance.

I just did and I thank you for mentioning him. He was certainly the type of man I was talking about. In thinking about this subject, it brought to mind an incident that happened to me about 10 years ago. I was doing some work for a client that I knew was a WWII vet and had served in the Pacific. I mentioned that I had just watched a documentary about Guadalcanal. I told him the documentary piqued my interest and I was going to read the book Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tregaskis. I asked him if he had ever read the book. He said he didn't have to read it, that he was there. That's all he said. About a month later I read the book and this gentleman was mentioned in it. He later confirmed that he was in the book and had close contact with the author but had never actually read the book. He said no more.

 

[psu00]

Harrisburg police chief and mayor setting up meeting to apologize in person apparently.


http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/06/harrisburg_police_chief_to_mar.html#incart_2box

 

[LafayetteBear]

Harrisburg police chief and mayor setting up meeting to apologize in person apparently.


http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/06/harrisburg_police_chief_to_mar.html#incart_2box

Inevitable. And necessary.

 

[FlyinLion1]

Everything is just back asswards anymore. There's a major integrity issue at all levels of just about everything.

Core values of civil living have evaporated mightily over the last 15 years.

Bingo............... Sadly!

 

[psu1969a]

I've been pretty consistent with my boycott of PennLive, but this incident jumped out at me:

Harrisburg police officer wrongly accuses Marine veteran of "stolen valor"

I think the worst part is the mayor refusing to apologize to Robert Ford. and the army dbag in the blue sneakers should man up, identify himself, and publicly apologize . . . for wearing such dbag clothes.

check pennlive, believe saw article that he has apologized

 

[bwifan]

The Marine accused of stealing valor is a friend of mine's father in law and its disgusting what the mayor/police officer/serviceman did to him. All entities that check for stolen valor tell everyone to take their time and do all the background checks and verifications before accusing someone to avoid this kind of exact mess. It gives everyone a black eye and bad taste in their mouths. I hope everyone remembers this incident at voting time.

 

[psuguy04]

Seems like recent people who served are really big into credit-taking and patting themselves on the backs. The coaches, mentors, scout masters, family members I grew up with who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam would have never acted like a lot of current servicemen.

I understand outing fake soldiers is important, but I'm talking about the whole recent ethos of separating themselves from civilians - like a smug mercenary class.

Did it take all of about a year, before a Seal wrote a book about killing Bin Laden? Pathetic after the fact glory hunting.

Right there with you, Testa.

My grandfather fought in WW2 on Okinawa, and then later in Korea.

I'd ask him to tell war stories as a kid not knowing/understanding what he went through. Generally, he'd oblige and give a few funny stories, but never said much. I never knew until I was older what he went through.

His motto was always "It's better for someone to ask why you don't have a statue than for someone to ask why you have one", and it's something I try to live by. He lived until age 94, was active in local/regional politics & civic life.

Interestingly, during his time in local office, he argued against naming a bridge after veterans. Rightly or wrongly, his point was that who cares? No one notices bridge names, every one is named after a veteran, and it's a meaningless gesture by those in the present to make themselves feel better. It's been my experience that he was right.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

Right there with you, Testa.

My grandfather fought in WW2 on Okinawa, and then later in Korea.

I'd ask him to tell war stories as a kid not knowing/understanding what he went through. Generally, he'd oblige and give a few funny stories, but never said much. I never knew until I was older what he went through.

His motto was always "It's better for someone to ask why you don't have a statue than for someone to ask why you have one", and it's something I try to live by. He lived until age 94, was active in local/regional politics & civic life.

Interestingly, during his time in local office, he argued against naming a bridge after veterans. Rightly or wrongly, his point was that who cares? No one notices bridge names, every one is named after a veteran, and it's a meaningless gesture by those in the present to make themselves feel better. It's been my experience that he was right.

We've become a country filled with meaningless gestures and fake outrage.

The former is no better exemplified than the American flag pin lapels worn by every Congressperson. Hey, ignore my evisceration of VA benefits, guys, I'm a Patriot - I'm wearing an American Flag lapel pin!

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Harrisburg police chief and mayor setting up meeting to apologize in person apparently.

What a**holes. It doesn't take much to figure out if someone served or not. Certainly what he's wearing isn't any indication. I get calling out guys who have some fishy Medal of Honor or Navy SEAL story, but an elderly man wearing an old, maybe out of standard regulation, Marine uniform? Disgusting. I served and was in DC the morning of the Rolling Thunder rally. My cousin and his family were there too. You wouldn't know it to look at my cousin, but he's a Harley guy. He struck up a conversation with some young members of the 'American Infidels' (Boston Chapter) and while they talked bikes I talked to one about service. I'm in khaki shorts, a polo shirt, and loafers. This guy is nice but is a bit quiet with his words. When I mention my unit and tour to Sarajevo he perks up and we chat a bit more. Great guys. Unlike these clowns in Harrisburg.