WHITE HOUSE DENYS 10 YR OLD GRANDSON OF CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR WINNER.

[powderman]

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpps/news/white-house-turns-away-heros-grandson-for-dress-code-violation-dpgonc-20101001-fc_9903265




The grandson had just attended his gfathers funeral at arlington and the family was invited to a vip tour of the whitehouse, the boy was denied access for not being properly dressed. POWDERMAN. 

[Oldshooter]

Was the ten year old Caucasian?  Well he sure shudda known better! 

[dukkillr]

Was the ten year old Caucasian?  Well he sure shudda known better! 

From The Army Times:

SPOKANE, Wash. — The White House apologized Thursday for turning the family of a Medal of Honor recipient away from an exclusive tour last week because the late veteran’s 10-year-old grandson was wearing shorts.

Vernon Baker, the last surviving black Medal of Honor winner from World War II, was buried Friday at Arlington National Cemetery after dying in July from complications of brain cancer at age 90. He belatedly received the military’s top award from President Bill Clinton in 1997, after historians concluded he’d been wrongly denied because of his race.

On Saturday, his widow and grandson went to the White House for a special tour of the West Wing, which includes the Oval Office and rooms that are in use.

The staffer who was to lead the family wasn’t sure whether 10-year-old Vernon Pawlik’s attire — shorts and a T-shirt bearing a picture of the boy’s grandfather — was considered appropriate, officials said. Another winner of the military’s top award, Thomas Norris, also was turned away because he was not previously cleared for the tour.

Norris and the Baker family had turned down a previously arranged East Wing tour for the more exclusive visit to the West Wing.

“This is an unfortunate misunderstanding,” White House spokesman Adam Abrams said Thursday. “We would have loved to have hosted 10-year-old Vernon and his family at the White House, and we have reached out to the Baker family and Lt. Norris to communicate our deep regret and invite them back to the White House.”

A message left at the home of Baker’s widow, Heidy, who was also on the tour, was not immediately returned.

In 1945, Baker rallied black troops after their white commander deserted. They captured a German stronghold in Italy, taking out three machine gun nests, two bunkers and an observation post. But he did not receive his award for more than half a century, and no black soldiers received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for battlefield valor, during that era. An Army study initiated in the early 1990s concluded Baker and several other men had been denied the award because of racism.

Baker and six other black World War II veterans received medals posthumously at a 1997 White House ceremony.

Baker had lived since the 1980s in a valley near St. Maries, Idaho, about 50 miles east of Spokane, Wash.

The office of Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, is working with the Baker family to help them return to the White House, said press secretary Susan Wheeler.

“The senator was upset by the news,” Wheeler said. “We want to make sure they are comfortable.”

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/09/ap-veterans-family-refused-tour-093010/

[billy_56081]

You can't wear shorts and a t shirt on a White house tour? WOW!

[briarpatch]

I'm glad we have heroes like that. They have made America great.
Its interesting that their WHITE commander deserted them. Not platoon leader, not commander but WHITE commander.
The cowardly whites. Why does the world put up with them?
I would have allowed the boy in. It may not have been protocol but I would have let him in.  

[BBF]

Considering the dress code that Michelle adheres to, yep, not a problem.

[Flemc1]

This has sickened many here in North Idaho , Vernon lived here for many years and was respected by all , the color of his skin wasnt an issue , he was a TRUE HERO to us all , He spoke at many functions in St Marries , He was a very common man , lived a simple life with his wife on the Benewha , It was a sad , very sad day when I learned Vernon had passed , There were donations from all over the country from people wanting to make sure his wife could make it back to arrlington to lay her husband to rest . Then to hear that because his granson had worn a shirt with Vernons picture on it was denied a tour because of it . Another sad day for sure . So Vernon not all people are fools , We all will miss you , Always a Hero in My eyes .


Chris Fleming
Santa , Idaho