Willamette National Cemetery Vandalized
Willamette National Cemetery is in the Portland, Oregon area. It currently has 133,174 Veterans interred. Among these are four Medal of Honor winners - Lieutenant Colonel Stanley T. Adams (Korea) U.S. Army, 1st Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. Sesim-ni, Korea, Feb. 4, 1951, First Lieutenant Arnold L. Bjorklund (World War II) U.S. Army, 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, Altavilla, Italy, Sept. 13, 1943, Specialist 4th Class Larry G. Dahl (Vietnam) U.S. Army, 359th Transportation Company, 27th Transportation Battalion, U.S. Support Command, An Khe, Binh Dinh Province, Republic of Vietnam, Feb. 23, 1971, Sergeant 1st Class Loren R. Kaufman (Korea) U.S. Army, Company G, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, Yongsan, Korea, Sept. 4 & 5, 1950. Also interred is a young man from our town, LCpl Randy Newman, a Marine who lost his life in Iraq in 2006, along with many other Oregonians who have fallen in the Great War on Terror.
This beautiful place has suddenly become yet another Military Cemetery defiled by the the greedy and the disrespectful. Recently and on three different occassions, vandals, called ‘metal thieves’ by law enforcement, went into the cemetery and stripped the copper gutters, downspouts and roofing from the shelters used during burials. Additionally, brass name plates and metal urns have been stolen.
When I heard about this I was outraged. When I began to research this I was shocked to find most cemeteries are being vandalized in this way, including our National Cemeteries.
Most metal recyclers are ‘unaware’ that these items are being purchased by them, though they do identify them and contact the police on occassion.
In addition to our cemeteries, our history is being stolen and sold. Recently the Bronze statue of Sacagawea was stolen from the end of the Lewis and Clark trail, destroyed by being cut up and sold as scrap. Historical markers are being stolen. The marker to honor Rex T Barber, the man who shot down Admiral Yamamoto, was stolen.
What has happened to our country that these sacred things are treated like trash?
6 comments:
FG, I linked to this on my blog.
It's the decline of our culture. Liberals have been working to destroy our culture for the last 50 years. They are succeeding. People of faith are openly mocked and houses of worship are vandalized. There is a systematic destruction of our way of life. And with Obama, I fear it will get worse. Not that Obama believes that cemeteries should be vandalized, but liberals will continue their war against our culture with renewed vigor.
I hope justice is served
http://soldiersconnect.blogspot.com/
Maybe a few veterans with bats, staking the place out at night, would be helpful. In case a game of baseball breaks out, I mean...
Love your idea Mike....
this is sad beyond belief.
I'd read about this revolting phenomenon some time ago. I really, truly believe desecration of cemeteries, especially our national cemeteries, ought to be a Class A felony... NO plea bargains, NO slack, NO parole. Just a long, long prison sentence with time to reflect on one's morality (in between encounters with Bubba).
As a Vietnam veteran, district captain for the Patriot Guard Riders and a staunch liberal, I too was sickened when I heard about the desecration of Willamette National Cemetery. I have stood in a flag line for many fallen heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan as well as many veterans at WNC. I feel as though a part of me has been ripped out along with the copper. As this is a federal reservation, this is a federal crime. I too hope the perpetrators are caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I also believe the metal buyers need to answer for many of these crimes. They turn a blind eye to the drug users that commit the majority of these crimes.
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