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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: unclewest who wrote (17111)	1/26/2002 2:15:54 AM
From: Dennis O'Bell	Respond to of 281500

Sky Harbor International Airport working to make America safe -ng- Medal of Honor fails to impress airline security By Joyce Howard Price THE WASHINGTON TIMES Airline security personnel at Phoenix's international airport questioned a retired general and war hero about the Medal of Honor he was carrying before he boarded a flight to Washington, D.C. "They just didn't know what it was but they acted like I shouldn't be carrying it on," retired Marine Corps Gen. Joseph J. Foss of Scottsdale, Ariz., said yesterday in a telephone interview. "I kept explaining that it was the highest medal you can receive from the military in this country, but nobody listened," he said. Gen. Foss, an 86-year-old former South Dakota governor whose resume also includes stints as president of the National Rifle Association and as commissioner of the old American Football League, said he was "hassled" about the medal by two separate security crews at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. He was trying to board an America West airliner Jan. 11 to attend an NRA meeting in Arlington. "I received the medal in 1943 from President Franklin Roosevelt," after shooting down 26 enemy planes in the Pacific, said Gen. Foss, who was a Marine fighter pilot during World War II. ....... Also, Gen. Foss said, "I had to take off my cowboy boots three times [before boarding], as well as my belt and necktie. I compared the situation to bailing out to land in a foreign country." He said security personnel went so far as to remove razor blades from his luggage, which also went beyond FAA requirements. Jim Baker, chief lobbyist for the NRA, said he understands the need for "extra security." But he questions how an 86-year-old man bearing the Medal of Honor could be considered a security risk. "There appears to be a need to incorporate common sense" with the additional security that's being imposed, Mr. Baker said. (that's an understatement...) washtimes.com