"Sounds yummy...mmm...mmm...mmm."
Posted on 11/13/2016 9:20:18 PM PST by nickcarraway
The Chili's Bar & Grill restaurant chain has apologized and vowed to correct a wrongdoing by one its managers, who took away a meal from a U.S. Army veteran from the Dallas area.
U.S. Army veteran Ernest Walker, 47, of Cedar Hill, said he was served the meal as part of a "free meal to Veterans" promotion on Friday, Veterans Day. He had finished his food and was preparing to leave the restaurant when the trouble began. Walker was accompanied by his service dog named "Barack."
Walker said he believes an elderly man wearing an American flag shirt and Trump sticker told the restaurant manager that Walker was not a U.S. veteran and should not receive the free meal because he was wearing his cap indoors.
In an encounter captured on video by Walker and posted to Facebook, the manager asked for Walker's military ID, which he provided. Walker also provided his discharge paperwork.
Walker said the manager then took his to-go meal.
"I looked around and I'm embarrassed at this point," Walker said. "People are looking. I'm a soldier. I'm a person and everybody's looking like I stole food."
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The manager also indicated the service dog was not a service dog despite having a red service vest and certified service tags.
On Sunday, Chili's issued the following statement on Walker's Facebook page and to NBCDFW. It reads:
"We are aware of the situation that occurred at our Chili's Cedar Hill restaurant on November 11th. Our goal is to make every guest feel special and unfortunately we fell short on a day where we serve more than 180,000 free meals as a small token to honor our Veterans and active military for their service, hence these actions do not reflect the beliefs of our brand. We are taking this very seriously and the leaders in our company are actively involved with the goal of making it right. Since the incident occurred, we have extended an apology and we are reaching out to the guest."
"They're doing what they should do, but they still haven't validated me as a soldier," said Walker. "I just need him to say 'I see your ID, I see your DD214, and I respect you as a soldier, and as a man and as a customer'."
Walker said he served in the Army's 25th Infantry Division, serving from 1987 to 1991. He said he was in an Army uniform without his name or rank on it on Veterans Day because he did not want to be mistaken for an active-duty soldier.
"And I wear this one day a year," said Walker. "I'm not some kook that's reliving the past."
Walker has retained an attorney, Kim Cole, who said she had a meeting planned with Chili's corporate on Monday.
This manager needs to be fired - yesterday. I’ll call Chili’s headquarters on Monday and express my views.
He believes...but isn't sure. Of course, no proof means that the media will print it any ways.
Of course he just had to believe it was a Trump supporter that started it all.
I find that very hard to believe.
His dog was named Barack.
Possibly more to this than what the reporting shows since it seems like it would be easier to have just let him have the meal and get him out the door. But I’m probably reacting to the fact that he’s hired an attorney. Which seems a bit much.
"Sounds yummy...mmm...mmm...mmm."
Look! The #NeverTrumper is posting trash trying to denigrate Trump supporters again!
Lol, thats why they really took his meal away, he had the audacity to name a dog after the president.
The man wearing the Trump sticker seems to be the focus of this story.
He admits in the article that he left off his name & rank markins so as not to be mistaken for active duty, & apparently he was wearing his cover indoors (or cap - however the Army refers to it).
So here we have an issue of a guy making a stolen-valor uniform lapse. He’s a real soldier, but the lapse in uniform standards probably caught the eyes of a bunch of veterans. Maybe one spoke up, maybe not.
But once he proved his veracity - full stop, end of story. Or should have been.
My better half & I went out to Applebee’s for the veterans’ meal Friday night. I appreciated that because otherwise we could not have gone out. Yes, they checked our VA cards for proof first. We were fine with that.
Pays to read the article before posting
FROM FOX 4 Dallas:
[He believes it was another customer, an elderly white man, also a veteran, who doubted him.
“He said, ‘Well, I was in World War II in Germany and they didn’t have any blacks over there then.’ He’s an older guy so I let that stuff go,” said Walker.
Moments later was the confrontation with the manager.
“He says that we have guests that say you are not a legitimate military veteran,” said Walker.
Walker says the man who approached him first was wearing a Donald Trump campaign sticker. He feels it is no coincidence it happened days after Trump’s election.
“I believe if it wasn’t for the temperature of America right now, I believe that man would have never reacted that way, because I think he’s probably a good person,” said Walker.
Walker’s attorney, Kim Cole, says she is meeting with Chili’s general counsel Monday, and one of the company’s attorneys has apologized.
“She felt really bad that Mr. Walker had this experience,” said Cole.
Walker says he plans to file assault charges against the manager and says that manager needs to get some sensitivity training.]
The FOX4 video of Mr. Walker shows he’s African American.
This reminds me of the “Clock Boy” shakedown.
http://www.fox4news.com/news/217309810-story
WHy does he need an attorney?
Because he couldn’t take home the remains of his completely free meal?
If Obama had an older brother in Dallas, it would be Walker!
If it’s important that he actually be a veteran, why didn’t they ask for his ID before he ordered the meal. And if it’s not important enough to card him before he orders, why not just let him take the meal.
It sounds like everyone overreacted, including the subject of the article. What sort of lawyer would take such a flimsy case? Probably an Ambulance Chaser.
+10 points for naming your dog Barack. Apologies to canine.
Sorry, there’s more to this than being reported.
Too many facts don’t check out.
I think this was another Obama follower trying to do an anti-Trump demonstration.
He might be a legit veteran, but we need to check more than what’s in this story.
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