Woman charged with tearing banner to troops
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 3, 2008 12:27:15 EDT
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — A Bridgeville woman is facing criminal charges after she was allegedly seen in Rehoboth Beach tearing a banner honoring military personnel from Delaware killed in Iraq and Vietnam.
According to court records, 21-year-old Mytia Dorman is charged with criminal mischief and criminal impersonation.
Court records said Rehoboth Beach police received a call that a woman in a red Obama T-shirt was trying to climb a pole near the Rehoboth bandstand that holds two of the Hometown Heroes banners about 12:45 a.m. Monday. When an officer arrived, Dorman allegedly said the date that a Marine corporal was killed was incorrect on the banner, “so she was tearing it down.”
Court records also allege Dorman gave a false name to the officer.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/ap_banner_090208/
Will be interesting to find out the rest of this story considering it would have been someone who take the side that putting up a banner to the fallen is considered "anti-war" by some in this country. This does not add up. Anyone else know the rest of the story?
I am the mother of LCpl Chad Clifton, and it was my son's banner that was damaged. To the best of our knowledge, Chad never met this person and the info on his banner was accurate.
ReplyDeleteI am very sorry for the loss of your son and then this on top of it. This is such a strange story and makes no sense at all. Do people ever think of the families when they do something like this?
ReplyDeleteI have friends on both sides of the Iraq debate and they are doing what they believe their hearts call them to do. Most of them have sons, daughters, family members serving or have been wounded or killed in the line of duty. What all of them do have in common is that they support the troops. I just don't understand something like this at all. My friends don't either.
The worst part has been to stupidity that has followed with "each side" trying to use it to advantage, so I'm sending this response in hopes of putting an end to it. I understand if you choose not to use it.
ReplyDeleteI am writing in reponse to the attack on the Hometown Hero Banner in Rehoboth. I am the mother of Chad Clifton and it was his banner that was damaged.
The woman that perpetrated it claimed that the date of death was inaccurate. It was not. These banners were created with the input and knowledge of the families and we checked Chad's information prior to the banner being made. She also claimed to have served with Chad. As far as we have been able to ascertain, this is not true. As Chad was 19 at the time of his death, the woman would have been very young to be in war zone and there were no women in his combat unit.
As for the description of her as wearing "a red Obama t-shirt," I'm sure it was very helpful in police identification, but I caution against turning it into a political statement.
Perhaps the most difficult part of this for the family has been the utterly ignorant and biased opinions posted online as comments to the news story. To use this incident as proof of one political stance over another is ludicrous and indicative of perhaps the most damaging and immdiate problem facing our country today, the apathy of the American people. Instead of an educated and thoughtful consideration of the realities we are faced with and a concerted effort to strengthen ourselves as a society, I see an inability, or pehaps simply unwillingness, to move beyond predjudices and ingrained personal issues.
Chad was in Iraq for the voting in January of 2005. While turnout in the city of Ramadi was small, the overall turnout of the countries citizens was not. More people, percentage wise, voted under threat of death than America manages to turn out on a sunny day. But even voter participation is not the entire answer. As long as people still go to the polls filled with hatred, ignorance and personal agendas we will never achieve the best result for our country. In the words of G.B. Shaw, "Democracy is a device that insures we will be governed no better that we deserve."
The men and women featured on the Hometown Heroes Banners were individuals, with individual opinions and experiences. They stood up and served at various times in our history and the conflicts they fought in occured for various reasons. It was act the of standing up, not the fighting they faced, that was the protection of your freedom. You have the freedom to serve your country well by applying your mind to understanding such issues as foreign policy and economics. Or you can serve it poorly by slinging mud and calling names and never moving beyond your own ignorance. To anyone who would use our Fallen to political advantage, I say this: You do not dishonor them, they are beyond your reach. You dishonor yourself and prove yourself unworthy of such a sacrifice. You may be a Republican or a Democrat, but you are a sorry excuse for an American. Semper Fi,
Terri Clifton
Eloquent and powerful. Thank you.
ReplyDelete