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Damaged Vietnam Memorial Has Park Service Walking on Eggshells
Human Events ^ | 09/14/2007 | Ronald Winter

Posted on 09/14/2007 11:46:23 AM PDT by vietvet67

Last Friday evening an oily substance that has proved extremely difficult to remove was splattered along an approximately 60 foot section of the wall, defacing panels bearing the names of the deceased as well as ornamental stones along the base. Mainstream media coverage has been sparse.

Veterans immediately attributed the defacement to anti-war groups that have threatened the memorial in past months, have defaced monuments and memorials nationwide, and are gathering in Washington this weekend to protest the War on Terror.

The outrage in the veteran community is palpable. In apparent fear of vets’ reaction, some who sympathize with the anti-war group ANSWER (which is coordinating this weekend’s protests) have issued bogus news releases stating that there was no damage to The Wall. This led some veterans to speculate that ANSWER is hoping to convince veterans to avoid Washington this weekend.

Nonetheless, the Park Service has stopped short of labeling the incident as vandalism.

“The United States Park Police is investigating the matter. Until this investigation is completed, it is premature to speculate whether any intentional act was committed,” is the official statement.

Bill Line, NPS Communications & Tourism Officer for the National Capital Region adds that although crews have been working since Saturday to remove the substance, they don’t even know what it is, much less who splattered it on the memorial.

(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: hickoryshampoo; hippybeatdown; movealong; nothingtoseehere; novandalismhere; thewall; traitorbeatdown

1 posted on 09/14/2007 11:46:24 AM PDT by vietvet67
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To: vietvet67

“Until this investigation is completed, it is premature to speculate whether any intentional act was committed,”

Probably just some little tyke in his stroller swinging his sippy cup around. Filled up with transmission fluid.


2 posted on 09/14/2007 11:49:56 AM PDT by geopyg (Don't wish for peace, pray for Victory.)
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To: vietvet67

And do they say the gouges in one panel aren’t vandalism, too?


3 posted on 09/14/2007 11:50:11 AM PDT by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
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To: vietvet67

Who is analyzing the substance? They can’t really treat the damage unless they know what it is!


4 posted on 09/14/2007 11:51:47 AM PDT by Edgerunner (If you won't let the military fight your battles, you will have to. Keep your powder dry...)
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To: vietvet67

Aging hippies still stuck in the 60s and young adults a/k/a “internet tough guys” living in mom’s basement...
sad, sad testaments to the mental disease of liberalism.


5 posted on 09/14/2007 11:52:43 AM PDT by JeeperFreeper
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To: vietvet67
they don’t even know what it is

I find it hard to believe the Park Service has no access to gas chromatography.

6 posted on 09/14/2007 11:54:25 AM PDT by wideawake (Why is it that so many self-proclaimed "Constitutionalists" know so little about the Constitution?)
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To: vietvet67

A cover-up by the Park Police


7 posted on 09/14/2007 11:54:26 AM PDT by Lexington Green (There ain't no news in the news no more.)
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To: vietvet67
Normally I think mob violence is reprehensible and should be stopped by any means up to and including the use of firearms.

However in this case I wouldn't mind seeing a bunch of Viet Nam vets engaging in a good old fashioned extended hippy beat down as the DC cops stand around watching and smiling.

L

8 posted on 09/14/2007 11:55:22 AM PDT by Lurker ( Comparing moderate islam to extremist islam is like comparing smallpox to ebola.)
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To: vietvet67

It’s not possible for the substance to have been applied over such a considerable length of the wall unintentionally, sippy cups notwithstanding. And it is inadvisable, to say the least, to try to remove something before knowing what it is.


9 posted on 09/14/2007 11:56:42 AM PDT by Prince Caspian (Don't ask if it's risky... Ask if the reward is worth the risk)
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To: Lexington Green

Are there no AROUND THE CLOCK CAMERAS AT THIS LOCATION?

WHO HAS THE FILM?


10 posted on 09/14/2007 11:57:21 AM PDT by tbird-james
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To: vietvet67
“The United States Park Police is investigating the matter. Until this investigation is completed, it is premature to speculate whether any intentional act was committed"

What an absolute crock!


11 posted on 09/14/2007 11:58:36 AM PDT by ConorMacNessa (HM/2 USN, 3rd Bn. 5th Marines, RVN 1969. St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle!)
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To: Lexington Green
A cover-up by the Park Police

That would be my guess. Looks like there's never going to be a "CSI Washington", just like there's never going to be a "CSI Fort Marcy Park"

12 posted on 09/14/2007 11:59:23 AM PDT by agere_contra
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To: vietvet67

post a couple of those vets in some trees with night vision goggles. if they see something, call in the cavalry.


13 posted on 09/14/2007 12:02:18 PM PDT by thefactor
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To: vietvet67

The Park service police don’t want to see a bunch of Vets come in and kick some commie pinko hippie ass!....I do!


14 posted on 09/14/2007 12:02:49 PM PDT by AngelesCrestHighway
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To: Lurker

“However in this case I wouldn’t mind seeing a bunch of Viet Nam vets engaging in a good old fashioned extended hippy beat down as the DC cops stand around watching and smiling.”

I’ll volunteer, although it really does not take very long.


15 posted on 09/14/2007 12:04:36 PM PDT by Stashiu (RVN, 1969-70)
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To: agere_contra
"That would be my guess. Looks like there's never going to be a "CSI Washington", just like there's never going to be a "CSI Fort Marcy Park"

They thought about it, but, sadly, Buster Keaton and all the original Keystone Cops have passed away.

16 posted on 09/14/2007 12:05:18 PM PDT by norton
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To: vietvet67
" an oily substance that has proved extremely difficult to remove was splattered"

What kind of substance CAN'T be removed from granite? Perhaps an acid type fluid? DAMN SCUMBAGS! I hate the antiwar over the hill freakin hippies!! Don't think for one minute this is a localized situation in DC. Just this morning some Vets were in front of Wal-mart picking up some signatures for a petition against our city for neglecting our Fort Bliss Cemetery grounds. THERE was absolutely no grass across the cemetery...BUT just a few blocks away a gulf course as green as the grass in Valley Forge! I could not believe it! I should have asked them for some pic so that I could have posted them here! Your stomach would have turn over twice with rage!

17 posted on 09/14/2007 12:08:48 PM PDT by RoseofTexas
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To: vietvet67

“Mainstream media coverage has been sparse.”

Understatement of the year.

I have visited the wall several times. Cried like a baby each time.

I have high school friends on the wall.

DAMN the SOBs that defaced this precious American memorial.


18 posted on 09/14/2007 12:09:54 PM PDT by upchuck (The President has an Agenda, and it's not promoting The Land of the Free and The Home of the Brave.)
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To: vietvet67

Look to Moveon.org as the culprits. Wouldn’t be surprising.


19 posted on 09/14/2007 12:11:56 PM PDT by lilylangtree (Veni, Vidi, Vici)
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To: lilylangtree

My money’s on Code Pink.


20 posted on 09/14/2007 12:13:44 PM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner ("Si vis pacem para bellum")
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To: JeeperFreeper

Yep. Did moron.org have a convention in DC that day?


21 posted on 09/14/2007 12:15:14 PM PDT by Obadiah
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To: upchuck

I’m glad for the passion, it is past time to get out there and kick some butt.

This thing can be remedied so easily. Volunteers would absolutely crowd the memorial to patrol it 24/7/365, I’ll volunteer for min. 8hr shift a day/night for one week to start. But no, the “authorities” who can find their butts with both hands won’t allow that, I’ll bet.

But a security plan like that would be a great start.


22 posted on 09/14/2007 12:16:23 PM PDT by brushcop (B-Co. 2/69 3rd Infantry Div., "Sledgehammer!" ...and keep hammering 'em!)
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To: Edgerunner

Who is analyzing the substance? They can’t really treat the damage unless they know what it is!

Maybe its 60’s acid, leftover from the hippie’s stash.


23 posted on 09/14/2007 12:17:24 PM PDT by Sig Sauer P220
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To: brushcop

can=can’t SHEESH, must be my outrage pouring over...


24 posted on 09/14/2007 12:17:43 PM PDT by brushcop (B-Co. 2/69 3rd Infantry Div., "Sledgehammer!" ...and keep hammering 'em!)
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To: AngelesCrestHighway

The Park service police don’t want to see a bunch of Vets come in and kick some commie pinko hippie ass!....I do!

Bingo! One of those, please can’t we all just get along, and avoid controversy.


25 posted on 09/14/2007 12:18:29 PM PDT by Sig Sauer P220
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To: vietvet67

This sort of thing is encouraged by the radical left, which supports the goals of jihadists.


26 posted on 09/14/2007 12:19:17 PM PDT by Leftism is Mentally Deranged
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To: vietvet67
Damaged Vietnam Memorial Has Park Service Walking on Eggshells

More dumbing down of the American people.

An "oily substance" that is not corrosive to the stone is not a reason to panic, but a reason to contact an chemist, analyze the substance and find the proper solvent.

Reminds me of the hazmat suits called out to a bicarb highway spill...
Spectacular but needless, useless and gross ignorance.

27 posted on 09/14/2007 12:22:46 PM PDT by Publius6961 (MSM: Israelis are killed by rockets; Lebanese are killed by Israelis.)
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To: vietvet67

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1896205/posts
The pictures are on this thread! There is MORE than an oily substance. There is physical damage now.


28 posted on 09/14/2007 12:23:44 PM PDT by missnry (The truth will set you free ... and drive liberals Crazy!)
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To: vietvet67
From the article, for emphasis:

Park rangers are not involved in cleaning or maintenance of the memorial, Line confirmed.

29 posted on 09/14/2007 12:24:40 PM PDT by Calpernia (Hunters Rangers - Raising the Bar of Integrity http://www.barofintegrity.us)
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To: missnry
There is MORE than an oily substance. There is physical damage now.

Maintenance workers as "welfare alternative"
That can only happen if the "oily substance" was not identified, and treated with abrasives or jackhammers...

30 posted on 09/14/2007 12:26:14 PM PDT by Publius6961 (MSM: Israelis are killed by rockets; Lebanese are killed by Israelis.)
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To: vietvet67

The time has come to stomp some ANSWER butt!


31 posted on 09/14/2007 12:32:51 PM PDT by sailor4321
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To: thefactor

Garry Owen


32 posted on 09/14/2007 12:32:55 PM PDT by METO
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To: missnry

Damn..didn’t see the gouge pictures. thanks.


33 posted on 09/14/2007 12:36:12 PM PDT by vietvet67
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To: upchuck

I work only a few blocks from the wall — ride my bike there. My much loved cousin’s name is there — I take this vandalism very personally, and I’m steaming.


34 posted on 09/14/2007 12:40:40 PM PDT by freepertoo
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To: Calpernia
Park rangers are not involved in cleaning or maintenance of the memorial, Line confirmed.

“Hi' tell you again... heez' not my chob!”

35 posted on 09/14/2007 12:44:03 PM PDT by johnny7 ("But that one on the far left... he had crazy eyes")
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To: vietvet67; trooprally; All

This statement was made to MOPH:

“SGT Booker of the National Park Service (NPS), to check on the facts about the defacement of the Vietnam Wall last weekend. He explained it was a cleaning accident by a Park Ranger and NOT a defacement as was originally reported by the Vietnam Veterans of American (VVA). *The NPS is regarding this as an accident instead of an act of vandalism or terrorism.”

Now this article says:

“Park rangers are not involved in cleaning or maintenance of the memorial, Line confirmed.”

If NPS does not get involved in cleaning or maintenance of the memorial, why did this Sgt. Booker make this statement?


36 posted on 09/14/2007 12:47:06 PM PDT by Calpernia (Hunters Rangers - Raising the Bar of Integrity http://www.barofintegrity.us)
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To: Calpernia

And what about those scratches? Are they going to remain there???


37 posted on 09/14/2007 12:48:33 PM PDT by freepertoo
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To: vietvet67

I wonder if it was brake fluid.

Splash some on a car and it will eat down to the bare metal. Cheap, available and more damaging than a light oil like Marvel Mystery or such.


38 posted on 09/14/2007 12:50:51 PM PDT by Malsua
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To: Lurker

This is fast approaching the point where an ass kicking is insufficient...

This will certainly lead to worse than that...
Count on it.

They are now messing with the very least tolerant, and most angry set of adult males in the country — old warriors who cherish that memorial to their lost brothers and experienced in dealing with their enemy in a manner most efficient.


39 posted on 09/14/2007 12:53:14 PM PDT by river rat (Semper Fi - You may turn the other cheek, but I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: freepertoo

http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070911/METRO/109110043/1004
From this article: NPS tried to publicly misrepresent the amount of damage. They stated the substance was, “50 to 60 feet mostly on the paving stones”.

If it wasn’t for the videos and on scene reporting, we wouldn’t have know about the extent of the damage.


40 posted on 09/14/2007 12:53:51 PM PDT by Calpernia (Hunters Rangers - Raising the Bar of Integrity http://www.barofintegrity.us)
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To: vietvet67

These are the same people who investigated Vince Foster’s murder.


41 posted on 09/14/2007 12:59:13 PM PDT by anoldafvet (To liberals, building a wall across the Mexican border is a violation of the Voting Rights Act.)
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To: RoseofTexas
What kind of substance CAN'T be removed from granite?

I wonder if it's a type of wax? I've got a granite countertop that repells just about anything, but if a candle melts on it, it leaves a residue after you scrape it off. It takes elbow grease (a lot of it) to get rid of it, and the caretakers of the wall may not want to scrub too hard for risk of damaging the surface.

42 posted on 09/14/2007 1:11:57 PM PDT by Kieri (Midwest Snark Claw & Feather Club Founder)
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To: All

Sorry if this was posted on another thread. Found some video of the damage: http://acan.gohotsprings.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=506


43 posted on 09/14/2007 1:13:53 PM PDT by vietvet67
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To: anoldafvet

Figures.


44 posted on 09/14/2007 1:51:28 PM PDT by mcshot (Only your word and honor are truly yours - never go against either.)
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