One Thing That Made My Blood Boil

Government shutdown? Fine. Shut it down. At this point, I don't care for the politicians from either party but that is beside the point.

My heart warmed yesterday when I read the story of the World War II veterans who refused to be turned away by fences and barricades in their attempt to view the monument erected in their honor. "We stormed the beaches in Normandy. I think we can handle their fence." Bravo. There is no reason that these brave men should have been denied the opportunity to see their monument.

Honor Flight is a fantastic organization that coordinates and provides for trips such as these every day. An estimated 800 WWII vets pass away each day and the mission of Honor Flight is to make the dream of seeing the WWII memorial a reality for as many as possible. Honor Flight is a non-profit organization and there is no cost for a veteran to participate.

Over the next five days, Honor Flight has scheduled to bring an estimated 900 vets to view their memorial. Many of those trips may now be cancelled after learning late Wednesday that the vets could face arrest if they dare to cross the barricade again. When I first read the article my blood boiled. It sounded like something out of Les Miserables and not an actual policy of the federal government. I worked to calm myself and think of the ways that taking action like this may have been necessary. Breathe in. Breathe out. Calming thoughts. Whoosaaaa....

No good.

I became further incensed upon reading that in previous shutdowns the memorials and monuments had all been left open save the federal employees manning the various visitor's centers and information kiosks. That means that someone made the decision to hang signs and erect barricades. Additionally, the latest reports indicated that the WWII memorial in particular was now being guarded by eight mounted park officials. EIGHT. That is more staff than is typically required for a normal day of operation. Allow me to sum this mess up. The United States government decided to close the WWII memorial as a result of the government shutdown supposedly due to a lack of funding and then proceeded to erect barricades($$) and place mounted guards(more $$) throughout the park to protect it from the people who wanted to see it. It certainly seems that the government was more than willing to spend money in order to make a political point. When park officials were asked who had directed them to shut down the park and arrest any "trespassers" they responded- The White House Office of Management and Budget.

Silver Lining: Apparently, news of this story spread like wildfire since Wednesday evening when it first broke. At first, the White House ordered more barricades and fences to be erected and increased the number of parks employees who would be "protecting" the memorials from almost certain destruction at the hands of octogenarian heroes (please read sarcasm here). Once the Congress and Senate got wind of what was going on, members of both parties headed right over for some photo ops with the vets and to blame the others for causing the shutdown which was in theory preventing them from seeing their memorial. In the end, it seems that the crowds blatantly ignored what the politicians in Washington DC tried to do and enjoyed their day at the memorial. The Senators, Congressman, and President ended up looking like the petulant children that they are. The WWII veterans were treated with the respect that they deserve and the American people remembered that there are some things for which we don't the government's permission.

http://americanmilitarynews.com/2013/10/ww2-vets-face-arrest-for-visiting-their-memorial/