Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (62254)	6/2/2005 12:32:25 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81568

How the left treats our military..... Marine Rejected at School Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ \| June 2, 2005 \| Mary MacDonald Marine Corps Sgt. Zach Richardson survived Iraq, but not Carson Middle School in Greensboro. When Richardson walked into the Greene County school last week, he expected to meet some of the sixth-graders who had written to him during his seven-month deployment. Instead, he was shown the door, coming under the scrutiny of a principal enforcing a policy that requires prior approval for visiting speakers. Principal Ulrica Corbett told teacher Matthew Lund, the Marine's host and former college roommate, to escort Richardson from the campus. On Wednesday, after the incident had gotten attention across the nation, the superintendent of Greene County Schools apologized to Richardson and "all our other military personnel." Richardson, 24, who corresponded with Lund's students while he served in the Persian Gulf, said he is still perplexed about what happened. "I know the principal wasn't trying to sabotage everything," he said. "I don't know what she was thinking." His treatment, coming a few days before the Memorial Day holiday, led to front-page coverage in the local weekly, The Herald-Journal. The story, written by 35-year editor Carey Williams and capped with a triple-decker headline, attracted the attention of talk radio and then the nation. By Wednesday, people from Kansas and Louisiana were calling Greensboro, about midway between Atlanta and Augusta, and asking the editor to fax his story. Most were sympathetic veterans, he said. "The people here, they just can't believe it happened," Williams said. "They respect the soldier." In his written apology, Superintendent John Jackson said the situation could have been handled differently. The principal, he said, could have allowed the Marine sergeant to speak with students, then dealt with the teacher who did not secure written permission for the visit. "The thrust that's been placed on it was that he was unwelcome," Jackson said, although he insisted that was not the case. Richardson, an Athens native, said he had planned to answer questions from the students and had brought combat items they might have found interesting, such as helmets and bullet-proof vests. Lund had mailed postcards from students in September and December to Richardson and five other Marines stationed at Al-Asad, Iraq. After Richardson returned from Iraq, Lund said he spoke several times with Corbett about having his friend come to the school. He said he asked for her written permission on May 3, but she never responded. Corbett did not return a call Wednesday seeking comment. Lund, a first-year teacher, said his students were upset by the events. "Technically, she did her job. But what was right [was] for him to come speak to my kids," he said. "My kids earned the right for him to come speak to them. He certainly earned the right to be there."