posted 04-24-2015 11:07 AM                  

Investigations have been launched at two universities over accusations that fraternity members taunted wounded war heroes, urinated on an American flag, and spit on a wounded veteran and his service dog in Panama City Beach, Florida.

The April 17 incident, involving Zeta Beta Tau fraternity members from the University of Florida and Emory University, has infuriated residents of Panama City.

“They were being treated like the Vietnam veterans were treated,” said Linda Cope, the founder of the Warrior Beach Retreat.

The local charity provides an annual all-expense-paid vacation for more than a 100 combat-wounded warriors and their spouses or caregivers. All of the expenses are covered by Panama City Beach residents and businesses.

Cope tells me the fraternity members were staying in the same resort – and caused a night of mayhem. The college kids made derogatory comments about the warriors’ wives, threw items off balconies and desecrated an American flag.

She also said one of the warriors and his service dog were spit on.

Television station WJHG identified that man as Nicholas Connole.

“They actually spit on me and my service dog as well, and that’s just so disrespectful and it hurts,” he told the television station.

There were local reports of frat boys throwing beer on veterans and ripping an American flag out of the ground.

“This happened because of two fraternities causing heartache for these warriors and that should never have happened – never happened,” Cope said. “Shame on them. There was no excuse.”

Reaction has been swift.

Zeta Beta Tau International confirmed that three members of the University of Florida chapter have been expelled from the fraternity and both university chapters have suspended all activities.

“There is no doubt that some of our members engaged in ugly and unacceptable behavior,” Executive Director Laurence Bolotin wrote in a statement. “Their actions have no place in ZBT or anywhere, and they will not be tolerated.”

Bolotin issued a personal apology to the veterans and their families as well as the Warrior Beach Retreat organization – calling the behavior disgusting.

“I am deeply saddened that the actions of our members ruined this special event and failed to show the respect our military and their families deserve,” he wrote.

To the fraternity’s credit, they have promised to make amends for what they called a “disgraceful situation.”

W. Kent Fuchs, the president of the University of Florida, wrote a personal apology to Cope and the Warrior Beach Retreat.

“I can only imagine the pain and indignity of enduring this behavior,” he wrote. “I want to assure you that it is not representative of our students or our university and we will make every effort to learn more, take appropriate action and prevent similar incidents from occurring again.”

Emory University, on the other hand, said it cannot confirm that any of their students were involved in the despicable behavior.

“If any members of our community are identified as being responsible, they will be held accountable for their actions by the university,” read a statement from the Georgia school.

Cope told me the residents of Panama City Beach are “up in arms about what happened.”

“This community is so patriotic and supportive,” she said. “The fraternities are learning a hard lesson. You don’t treat these men and women who have sacrificed so much for your freedom like that.”

posted 04-24-2015 03:38 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by padroo:
I thought we were past this kind of disgrace, some of the younger generation have not learned from the past mistakes.

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posted 04-24-2015 04:05 PM                  

Much like Michael Brown's parents,, now suing the town of Ferguson, Mo for their "nice boy's" actions:
www.youtube.com/watch?t=30&v=Qp0-gmwDw9g

^> Respect for elders?... I'm surprised the ole man didn't shoot and kill him first.

posted 04-24-2015 06:32 PM                  

Whether you're a GI or not, NO ONE would allow themselves to be SPIT ON.....Especially a trained combat veteran against a hippie..

I'm calling BS on this "urban legend"....

BTW....If you want to claim that you WERE spit on be prepared to show police reports, etc or claim that you were too cowardly to defend yourself.....

It has never happened...

posted 04-25-2015 09:15 AM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by bjprowler:
Quite frankly, this [B]spitting on veterans is, and always has been ********...It's something made up in an old Hollywood movie with Sylvester Sallone....Let's give it a break!....It NEVER happened in real life!

Whether you're a GI or not, NO ONE would allow themselves to be SPIT ON.....Especially a trained combat veteran against a hippie..

I'm calling BS on this "urban legend"....

BTW....If you want to claim that you WERE spit on be prepared to show police reports, etc or claim that you were too cowardly to defend yourself.....

It has never happened...[/B]

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...apparently you didn't serve

...overseas, the very people we were there to protect called us names, spit from their passing bicycles and taxi cabs...I did get a piece of a couple of them, but sorry, I didn't get a police report or take pictures (wish I had pix of the Taxi I kicked the windows out of)

...I have seen it first hand in the USA, 1973, Seattle...we landed, still in uniform, were called. "f'***in baby killers" and spit at from a crowd 20-30 feet away inside the terminal by our FELLOW AMERICANS, NOT HIPPIES.. .warm and fuzzy feeling to serve overseas for 15 months and come home to such a greeting

...sorry I didn't get a police report for you to see, or kick some ass to report about, we were under guard and were transferring from a military flight to civilian flights...we had been in transit for 2 days stopping only to be inspected, de bugged, etc......they didn't allow us to attack the crowds of haters

...many of my closest friends are surprised to find out I am a veteran, I let it go when I finally returned home in 1974, threw away all my uniforms, ribbons etc...wanted no memories...

...these days, it all seems like someone else's life, some young kid I knew long ago...I have even tracked down some of the guys I served with in the last year, we're just old guys with long funny stories to tell

posted 04-25-2015 11:22 AM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by bjprowler:
Quite frankly, this [B]spitting on veterans is, and always has been ********...It's something made up in an old Hollywood movie with Sylvester Sallone....Let's give it a break!....It NEVER happened in real life!

Whether you're a GI or not, NO ONE would allow themselves to be SPIT ON.....Especially a trained combat veteran against a hippie..

I'm calling BS on this "urban legend"....

BTW....If you want to claim that you WERE spit on be prepared to show police reports, etc or claim that you were too cowardly to defend yourself.....

It has never happened...[/B]

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posted 04-25-2015 12:00 PM                  

quote:

---

Originally posted by bjprowler:
I'm calling BS on this "urban legend"....

BTW....If you want to claim that you WERE spit on be prepared to show police reports, etc or claim that you were too cowardly to defend yourself.....

It has never happened...

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If you think this way, maybe you need to drive a Bus in an Urban City where you deal with a public on a daily basis for a while. These bus drivers are often spit on and worse by the passengers for no good reason.

Typically the Drivers lose their job if they react in a normal defensive manner. The problem is that the public is aware of this and it makes them bolder and more aggressive toward the public servants.

I ride on the Subway Trains daily to and from work as well as during the course of my work day. It is amazing how poorly behaved many of the "Patrons" are on a daily basis.

Should anyone even think about suggesting to many of these individuals that they behave and respect the rules, they elevate their anger and behave even worse up to and including violence then claim they were the victim.

posted 04-25-2015 06:49 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by bjprowler:
[B]Sorry....It's an urban myth....Here's what the Viet Nam Vets have to say about it..

http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=215 [/B]

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...I am glad he settled it for sure, my fellow troops and I must have been dreaming...maybe they were blowing bubbles to us to welcome us home

posted 04-25-2015 08:25 PM                  

Anti-War Protester Spits on Iraq War Veteran

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-TBirrPiQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANDKEOalGjY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp0LYc4IHnY

http://www.military-money-matters.com/real-facts-about-vietnam-veterans.html#axzz3YN FASgwH

http://www.military-money-matters.com/vietnam-veterans-spit-on-part-2.html#axzz3YNFASg wH

posted 04-25-2015 09:35 PM                  

...But, I do remember vividly the faces at the airport of the angry Americans who spit at us, cursed us, called us names, threw trash our way...I could point out several of them in a line up today, 40 years later...I didn't dream this, my fellow troops didn't dream this...I can't believe our flight was the only one during the entire Vietnam Nam Conflict who was treated this way

...just a few weeks ago I had a similar conversation with another veteran, we were both stationed in SEA, different locations, same story with the locals and the return trip to the "world"...we had problems in Texas to a lesser degree, the number of military was a far higher number, but there were still taunts, names, cursing and violent attacks on military personnel

...I'm sure not all returning vets encountered the same degree of hatred, I always considered our treatment mild, but as I stated earlier, for approximately 40 years, very few people even knew I served, I didn't tell if they didn't already know.....today, I am somewhat surprised when people thank me for my service, it NEVER happened until the last 5 years or so...

posted 04-25-2015 11:07 PM                  

In his purported study, Lembcke's sampling was not random, it was statistically insignificant, and he stated that stories of spitting first surfaced in the 1980s. And he espouses that post-traumatic stress disorder was an invention of the government to garner support for the war.

But Lembcke is refuted by many other sources, including Jim Lindgren, a Northwestern University law professor who cited news accounts that documented many spitting incidents. One example: A 1967 Bucks County Courier Times article reporting that two sailors were spat on outside a high school football game by a gang of about 10 young men. One of the sailors was stabbed.

Others:

• In October 1967, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter James Reston's front page article in the New York Times described his eyewitness account of protest behavior so vulgar that spitting was the least of the transgressions.

• Even Medal of Honor recipients were abused and "spat upon as 'monsters'," according to the head of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, WWII medalist Thomas J. Kelly. Kelly recounted how about 200 anti-war protesters showed up one year to harass the Medal of Honor recipients at their annual dinner. WWII Medalist James Conners was unable to avoid a particularly obnoxious man yelling, "Killer, killer, killer." Conners decked him.

• Other spitting incidents were reported by Pulitzer Prize winners Max Frankel in the New York Times (November 1969) and Carl Bernstein in the Washington Post (May 1970).

Lembcke is an avowed socialist and has tried to use incomplete or dishonest research to lend credence to his government-as-pro-war conspiracy theories, to use the 9-million-plus Vietnam-era veterans as anti-war pawns.

Let's all stop listening to those who refuse to consider the facts. Our Vietnam experience ended more than 40 years past, and it deserves to be judged by history.

I do not wish to have my record of service dishonored again.