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| Navy bureaucrats prevent town from honoring vets |
| 2008-04-02 |
| A voluntary program in Idaho for residents to raise funds and work with the maker of Buck brand name knives to honor veterans returning from the defense of the U.S. apparently has been torpedoed by military administrative rules regarding the value of gifts. And the command wasn't sitting well with both members and leaders of the community near Post Falls, where Buck has its corporate headquarters. "Who's in charge here anyway? Dumb and Dumber?" asked "davenjan" on a forum page in the Coeur d'Alene Press. Clay Larkin, the Post Falls mayor, said the decision was senseless. "I would like to know what top-ranking brass made this decision, and I will personally call them and share my thoughts!" he told the newspaper. The program was launched about three years ago as Graham Crutchfield, a retired Marine, organized the plan to raise money from individuals, service clubs and businesses and work with the company on the commemorative knife program. More than 500 veterans from the region, including those wounded in combat, have been given the knives since 2005, officials said. They also have been presented to family members of those killed in action. But then, the newspaper reported, an unidentified senior Navy officer told Troy Gilbert, a member of a Hayden, Idaho-based Mobile Construction Battalion, since the value of the knives was more than $20, members of the military were banned from accepting them, the newspaper said. Members of the Navy's Judge Advocate General's staff in nearby Washington state deferred a WND request for comment to the Washington headquarters. Officials there did not return messages requesting a comment. But the Post Falls mayor was more than a little upset. "I cannot believe what I read this morning about the Navy balking at their seamen receiving a gift from their communities for their service. Where has reality gone?" he said. "I was in on the first Buck Knife giveaway for the 116th, Charlie Co. National Guard when they came back from Iraq," he continued. "Graham Crutchfield helped me on the fundraising. The looks on their faces when we presented the knives were priceless. Buck Knives employees have come forward and been a major supporter of the project, and I thank them for their involvement!" He noted an "interesting part" of the argument is that two generals already have been given – and accepted – the knives, "and never has anyone questioned the presentation or the gift for their service," he said. Paul Abschier, a World War II vet, told the newspaper. "It's the stupidest thing I've heard of. They've put their lives on the line and they can't receive a knife?" "As a retired lieutenant colonel judge advocate general Army Reserve officer, it is my opinion that gifts exceeding a monetary value of $20 may be kept if they are for meritorious service or achievement," said Kootenai County prosecutor Bill Douglas. "Combat service in Iraq or Afghanistan would certainly fit this criteria." On the newspaper forum, "Former Ranger," said, "This is utterly ridiculous. When did common sense leave those who are in charge?" "I still can't believe any service would do such a thing," Crutchfield said. "Megan McClung was a Marine and Annapolis graduate who was killed in Iraq. We gave her parents a knife. Are we saying her life is only worth $20?" Officials with the knife company did not respond to WND requests for comment. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #14 there was this rule that even w/in the military a unit could not give a retiring officer or a guest speaker at a ball a gift worth more than $200.00 or ask the troops to donate more than $10.00 a piece....didn't stop a general I'll leave nameless from getting a pristine german 8mm mauser for being a guest speaker at a regimental mess night a few moons ago...even though no SNCO was ever going to get the same treatment.....I'm on the zero side of the house & I agree this is some bullshit rule. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2008-04-02 22:46 |
| #13 Agreed, lotp. Thanks to ALL the RB'ers out there (and those few that don't know of RB yet) who have served our fine nation. |
| Posted by: BA 2008-04-02 21:21 |
| #12 Thanks to you both and to all R'bers who have served to keep us safe and free. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-04-02 19:38 |
| #11 OS: that is because the home team lettuce counts more than any foreign one; my Kuwait leberation is the very last one on my stuff also, but becasue it is the genuine thing, means an awful lot to me. (more than the PC 'Sea Service' POS.) |
| Posted by: USN,Ret. 2008-04-02 17:58 |
| #10 OS: that is because the home team lettuce counts more than any foreign one; my Kuwait leberation is the very last one on my stuff also, but becasue it is the genuine thing, means an awful lot to me. (more than the PC 'Sea Service' POS.) |
| Posted by: USN,Ret. 2008-04-02 17:57 |
| #9 And even more odd, since it is not a foreign decoration, it goes higher and in front of the Kuwait and Saudi and other foreign medals that adorn the bottom rows of my ribbon bars. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-04-02 17:43 |
| #8 Jim, in the Army we got the "Rainbow Ribbon" just for finishing boot camp. Ironic that its the same colors as the "Gay Rainbow" symbolism. There are even jokes about it now. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-04-02 17:11 |
| #7 The Bureaucrats got squished and this program is on again. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=60477 Yes, it's WND but apparently they're the only ones that have followed up on it. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2008-04-02 15:11 |
| #6 Gifts from corporations run amok V. 2.0: i was part of the Navy flight crew for Flight of the Intruder: Navy rules made Paramont route ball caps through the Chief of Naval Info rep before we could have them..... |
| Posted by: USN,Ret. 2008-04-02 14:29 |
| #5 I have the "National Defense Service Medal" for enlisting in time of war, we all called it the "Geedunk" medal (Worthless) they gave it to anyone and everyone so it was without any special meaning or honor, no ceremony, just handed me the box. Right degrading to wear it. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2008-04-02 13:26 |
| #4 LOL. Metals yeah. I don't have none. |
| Posted by: Zebulon Angavick7428 2008-04-02 12:57 |
| #3 FYI - Buck Knives was a longtime San Diego-area (El Cajon) company that recently relocated to Idaho for cost-savings (taxes and cost-of-living). A lot of their employees relocated, and we were sad to see them go. Good knives and good people |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-04-02 12:52 |
| #2 I still have my 3 different "go to war" folders, each retired when I got home, now staying in my "memory" box with my medals, and other memorabilia (unit patches, coins). Every one of them is a Buck Knife. Only other knife I regularly carried was a KBar. This is some brass ass REMF squatting on the warriors. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-04-02 12:20 |
| #1 This personally irritates me because Buck Knives has had a long and friendly relationship with the US military going way back. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-04-02 10:03 |