Posted on 10/01/2013 8:24:42 PM PDT by M. Thatcher
TOLEDO -- Locally in the Glass City, we can see the affects of the government shutdown at our museums, monuments, and national parks. The gates are closed and locked, denying access completely to the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.
TSA employees were still working at Toledo Express Airport, but when WNWO called the TSA to find out if they would be affected, there was a message that said the public relations representative did not have access to her voicemail or email due to the government shutdown.
In a letter from Marcy Kaptur's office in the 9th District, it read, "...only services deemed essential for the safety of human life and protection of property will be continued."
But for a group of World War II vets visiting the national memorial in Washington D.C., an all expense paid trip which is called an "Honor Flight," the shutdown was not stopping them from seeing the tribute that was inspired by them.
"It just goes to show you why we won World War II," says Honor Flight of Northwest Ohio President Lee Armstrong.
Many elderly veterans, some in wheelchairs, broke through the barriers set up around the memorial, as police, park service employees, and tourists looked on.
"The Germans and the Japanese couldn't contain us. They weren't going to let barriers contain them today. They wanted to see their memorial," says Armstrong.
Honor Flight of Northwest Ohio has a trip scheduled to depart from Toledo next Wednesday, October 9.
"We will make the call this Friday to determine if the flight is still a go, or if we will have to re-schedule," Armstrong explains.
He says they are considering going ahead with the trip even if the government is still on shutdown, but when he called the parks service, he was told they would face arrest.
Armstrong says, "I said, are you kidding me? You're going to arrest a 90/91-year-old veteran from seeing his memorial? If it wasn't for them it wouldn't be there. She said, 'That's correct sir.'"
When he asked for her name, he says she did not give it to him and then promptly hung up the phone.
99% of veterans on Honor Flights have never had the opportunity to see the memorial that is devoted to their service.
Through October, the are over 35,000 veterans scheduled to visit the site, more than 900 in the next five days alone.
It may all be waiting in limbo if the government can't complete their job.
"Park Police arresting any member of the Greatest Generation for trying to see THEIR memoral should be enough to arouse any decent American to white-hot anger. Let’s see Harry Reid defend THAT."
Right on.
I’m sick of the Obama Govt sh@@, they are acting like dictators , trying to find all sorts of ways to hurt people.
Now the DOD has told the military to stop football!!! Now military families can’t do their shopping tax free on base.
It’s pathetic how this corrupt Govt is trying to hurt the people while the media always covers for their messiah and their party.
It’s damn time our side got organized , marched on the white house and demand this crap to stop.
Unbelievable! There is no need to rope off a memorial! You don’t have to pay government personell in order for people to walk around and view a wall!! A wall that we the damned people paid for and others paid in blood! This commie bastard of a president better back off!
the media will never run with the facts or anything to make their messiah and their party look bad.
Fact is we are living under a NAZI regime, people are being targeted by this admin and homosexual groups.
Fact is that big business is the Dems group and those who oppose are targeted and forced to go against their constitutional right of freedom or religion and speech.
Fact is even Carson was targeted by the IRS because he spoke against this Govt.
Fact is this Govt under the radicals and bozo are trying to hurt anyone who opposes them and hurt the average American with this slowdown.
The media has no problem with what is going on because they support it and have voted for it.
This they lie and twist the facts
We are now living under a tyrannical Govt and we are not far from Chavez’s Govt.
I had same thought. A Rolling Thunder escort and shield for the WW2 vets.
**
I’m ok with the Rolling Thunder coming in to protect them, but I’d also like to see everyday Americans, show up in their suits, taking a break from whatever they’re doing to protect these vets. Just Americans ...from all walks of life, doing what needs to be done at this time in history.
My friend’s daughter was nearly approved for a federal loan to buy a house. My friend was told that it would be 4 months now because of the government shut-down. She asked if that sounded reasonable. You should have seen the look on her face when I told her that the Obama regime had earlier sent out memos telling all agencies to make the sequester as painful as possible. “It’s all spite, isn’t it?” she asked. I said, “Welcome to Washington DC”.
These pathetic DC SOB’s think it’s all about them.
Indeed!!!!
Obama would not be picking cotton. He would be an official in the fascist-approved puppet government.
Obama is a narcissist. When they don't get their way, they either give up or fly into a rage.
Looks like the latter. If the GOP keeps it up, and there are real political reasons why they shouldn't, I would not be surprised to see raids on TEA party congressmen.
There is a precedent.
Congress critters need to once again escort the WWII vets down to the Memorial to make sure nobody gets harrassed by the govt goons.
They’ve put barricades around the Lincoln Memorial yesterday...don’t know about the Gettysburg Battlefield.........heh.
The American people won’t stand for it.
Not so sure of that. Most of the people in this country will probably say “whats a WWII?” And any teaching of the war in our schools teaches we were the bad guys, so they would probably say the vets deserve to be arrested.
The Greatest Generation veterans kicked Nazi butt 70 years ago....they will do it again!
Yeah, 90 year olds confined to wheel chairs or who can barely walk are real ass kickers. sarc/
“White House PR Kamikazes try to pick a fight with guys who stormed Iwo Jima with flamethrowers.”
Most clear thinking Americans understand the absurdity of that statement and the dishonor involved in this instance - and are ashamed.
However, one is reminded of the 1932 Bonus Army episode. One out-of-control army officer, Douglas MacArthur, exceeded the president’s orders and with fixed bayonets and billy clubs rousted the “army” of veterans that had peaceably collected in a public park, injuring 55.
Can one seriously doubt in the current political setting that something similar is possible?
Patton was also eager to get his licks in against the WWI “rabble.”
The reason MacArthur is vilified by Marxists/Progressives is because he was a conservative/Republican general and a out spoken one at that. After the Chinese entered Korea things did not go well for MacArthur. Several creatable historians strongly suspect that after Inchon Chinese/Russian infiltrated the command structure in DC and were privy to his strategic plans. They point to the fact that when things were happening to fast for the chain of command to operate MacArthur's battle plans did quite well.
It is also worth noting that after Truman fires MacArthur the USA never really won another war/occupation. MacArthur fought to win, he fought Washington as hard as he fought the enemy in Korea, so he was fired and hence forth US commanders were gelled and silenced.
Sadly, you’re probably right. This isn’t the America that it once was. It’s “Me, me, me! What’s in it for me?!” these days.
The irony that nobody's mentioned is that Martin Luther King would approve of this kind of protest.
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