please don't put your bullhorns and soapboxes away yet, Mates...

from Lt Col Harry Riley, USA, Ret., (5th SFG) and
a great leader in the Gathering Of Eagles:
.................................................
Retraction of All Statements on Incident

To All:

Since it is now clear that SGT Steven Booker is not an
Official spokesman for the National Park Service (NPS),
it is necessary to retract any and all statements
citing him as a source on any "cleaning accident" at
the Vietnam Wall earlier this week. His phone numbers
have been given to all Patriots and Eagles who asked
for such information for their independent verification
of what happened. This retraction also includes any
earlier statements from the Vietnam Veterans of America
(VVA), and other sources, on what actually happened at
the Vietnam Wall. Instead, I will rely on the results
of ongoing investigations of the National Park Police
(NPP), plus the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, and
independent investigations by autonomous news media
sources such as the Washington Times and FOX News.
Their reports will be conclusive for me on what
actually happened.

I will also rely on the statement of Lisa Gough,
Director of Communications for the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Fund, who stated in her press release of Sept.
11, 2007: "The United States Park Police has begun an
investigation into the matter, and that investigation
is ongoing. Until this investigation is completed, it
is premature to speculate whether any intentional act
was committed." An additional source of reliance will
be the Washington Times, with any follow up stories
from their news article of Sep 11 on "Vandals feared
at memorial," as cited in previous E-mail messages.

Like many of you, I have my suspicions on what
actually happened at the Vietnam Wall, but I prefer
not to comment further on any statements from any
party of interest on this issue. There was also a
similar incident reported to have happened to a
Vietnam Wall in Andover, MA, published on Sep 5,
2007, which has been reported in a previous message
with the full source included. This was confusing to
me, and was shared in an attempt to learn what
actually happened, when, and where.

This statement is also sent to Military Order of the
Purple Heart (MOPH) members who are not on the
national level as blind copies, in order to protect
their privacy after several asked not to be included
openly in this issue. Thank you for your consideration
of my comments and observations.

Yours in Patriotism,

Steve Cobb
Commander
Region I, MOPH

.................................................
more to follow..

T4