Monday 11 June 2012

Requests for Black Soldiers Arlington Burial Go Unanswered

This story is an updated account of a soldier that was part of Patton's Army.  Theodore Lovejoy passed away in 1993, having suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Alzheimer's Disease.   His daughter Joan Flowers, an actress in the Chicago area, was promised a funeral for her father at Arlington National Cemetery, however the promise was never fulfilled.   Today Theodore Lovejoy rests at Mount Glenwood Cemetery in an unmarked grave.

After 19 years of begging and pleading with politicians to fulfill the original promise made by the Clinton Administration, unfortunately, Joan Flower is still waiting to get a simple request granted to have her father, Theodore Lovejoy, buried at Arlington cemetery.  To add insult to injury, Joan Flowers, has asked her representatives and Senators from Chicago to approach President Obama, but it hasn't happened.  She has been getting the run around, while others had their request approved by pleading to Speaker John Boehner, who took the request to President Obama and were buried at Arlington within three weeks.

For the past three years Joan Flowers has taken to twitter pleading basically with the world to have her soldier dad buried.  All of it without result to this point.

Joan's e-mail account to me on her discussions with Senator DickDurban's office (Please note that Joan is visually impaired, thus the account in capital letters):

OH YES I DID GET SOMETHING FROM MY SENATOR DICK DURBIN!!!!
APRIL 27TH HIS OFFICE ASSIT "JAKE" HUNG UP PHONE & NEVER CALLED BACK!!!
I CALLED BACK & "CHRISTOPHER" NEVER APOLOGIZED FOR "JAKE"
& HAD ME TELL STORY ALL OVER AGIAN AFTER 1 YEAR & 3 MOS
OF ASKING WHY SEN DICK DURBIN DID NOT GO TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
FOR MY SOLIDER DAD AS SEN JOHN BOEHNER & SEN JAY ROCKERFELLER
DID IN 2011 FOR SOLIDR "COLONEL FRANK BUCKLES" OF WW 1
WHOSE DAUGHTER SAID 'SHE WANTED THE HIGHEST HONOR" FOR HER
SOLDIER DAD & HE WAS BURIED IN 3 WEEKS TIE & OBAMA SPOKE AT HIS
FUNERAL!!!! HE COULD DO THE SAME & I KEEP ASKING HIS TEENAGE
WORKERS & NEVER GOT SEN DURBIN HIMSELF!!! I DID NOT CALL HIS
WASHINGTON OFFICE BACK TO TELL THEM OF BAD TREATMENT ONCE AGAIN
I JUST DID NOT FEEL LIKE IT AGAIN!!!
Joan also found it offensive that she received a request to donate to the Obama for America campaign in an e-mail by Sarah Jessica Parker.  

I WAS ASKED FOR A DONATION SO I COULD WIN A SPOT
AT HER DINNER PARTY!!!! READ AGAIN!!!!
SARA JESSICA PARKER & PRESIDENT OBAMA IS "RESPONSIBLE"
FOR ANYONE "WHO USE THEIR LIKENESS-PERIOD"
The request for donation to the Obama for America campaign was initially published as a blog.  Initially the author believed that the donation was in response to Joan's request, however the timeline was apart by a few minutes and the request for donation was unrelated to the request for a burial.  
The e-mails were 17 minutes apart and it's not difficult to see how this could be misconstrued as being a response to a request, based on e-mail delivery times.  
 Sent: Sunday, June 3, 2012 3:39 PM
Subject: Re: I'm hosting

Hi Sara Jessica Parker
I Am Asking President Obama To Carry Out Arlington Ground Burial
For My Soldier Dad-I Too Need All The Help I Can Get For A Black WWll
Soldier Who Fought For His Country But Lies In Unmarked Grave With No name Or Rank!
Matthew Broderick Understand What My Soldier Dad Went Through In His
Beautiful Portrayal In "Glory" If You Can Get To President Obama & Let Him Know
If Soldiers & Others Around The World See President Obama Fighting For My Soldier
Dad's Arlington Ground Burial Offered By White House June 30,1993 But Never Carried Out
Being Done By The First Black President For A Black Soldier Whose History Was less
Than "Kind" To "Ammunition Handler" With General George S Patton On "D-Day"+
"Battle Of The Bulge" & 3 Mor Wars Never Given Army Upgrade Rank Or A Grave With His Name
& Rank! THE WORLD WILL LOVE & CARE & VOTE FOR HIM BECAUSE HE TOOK THE TIME
TO RESPECT A SOLDIER  OF "THE GREATEST GENERATION" HISTORY FORGOT!
JOAN FLOWERS


From: Sarah Jessica Parker <info@barackobama.com>
To: flowersjoan@yahoo.com
Sent: Sunday, June 3, 2012 3:22 PM
Subject: I'm hosting
Friend --

It's my honor to invite you to take part in an event I'm hosting at my home with the President and First Lady on June 14th.

If you can make a donation of any amount today, you'll be automatically entered to win two tickets to New York to join us.

Just before Election Day in 2008, I went to an Obama campaign office in New York and called some undecided voters.

I believed then, as I do now, that if we all chipped in and did our part, we would not only make history, but create meaningful change that so many Americans needed.

For me, this election is even more important than 2008.

As a woman, a mother, and an entrepreneur, I need to believe our country can be a place where everyone has a fair shot at success.

This November's election will determine whether we get to keep moving forward, or if we're forced to go back to policies that ask people like my middle-class family in Ohio to carry the burden -- while people like me, who don't need tax breaks, get extra help.

I'm hosting this event on June 14th because there is so much at stake this year, and I want to keep doing what I can.

I hope you'll help me welcome President Obama and the First Lady to New York.

It should be fabulous.

Donate $3 or whatever you can to be automatically entered to win:

https://donate.barackobama.com/Night-in-New-York

Hope to see you there,

Sarah Jessica

Joan's relentless pursuit to get her father buried and this blog then came under attack:

a. in a comment on the blog itself; and 

b. personal attacks on Joan on her facebook page.  

First check the time stamps on the email thread. Joan first got an automated solicitation from Sarah Jessica Parker then Joan replied back to an automated server informing her on her father's plight. I know this because I personally corresponded with Joan and told her that her pleas are likely not going anywhere because it's a dummy email address. Democrat and GOP politicians use these all the time. Joan then told me that she didn't care and hand nothing to lose. OK, fine. Talk to a server. Whatever makes you happy. But let's not disgrace her father's memory for partisan politics.

The comment was signed by Ricardo. 

Instead of attacking Joan perhaps it would have been prudent to show some sympathy for Joan's plight.  The attack was definitely misdirected.  Ricardo Lori professes to expose the truth.  Perhaps the truth to be exposed should be this:

The truth he needs to expose is that Theodor Lovejoy never received a proper burial, while others did.  He also needs to expose the truth that Joan Flowers pleaded with two Administration to get her dad buried and all she got was Nothing.  Period.  He also needs to expose that she went straight to her Senator for assistance and again nothing.  That is the real truth.  There is a whole bunch of rhetoric coming out of Washington, but very little action. 
Anyone with two eyes can see that Joan Flowers is in pain.  Her plea to have her father buried at Arlington National Cemetery seems like a simple request.  It shouldn't take 19 years to get this resolved.  
This is not about partisan politics, but common decency.  In 2011 this should no longer be an issue of race, even if only perceived on Joan's part.  Perception is reality.

In the big scheme of things, this is a minor request that can be settled by a single signature by President Obama.  Theodore Lovejoy deserves to be honoured. 

6 comments:

  1. No, my friend, your account of what I did is incorrect. I am indeed quite sympathetic to the facts about her father not getting a proper burial. It's what lead me to be supportive of her cause in the first place. If you saw my comments on her Facebook page, you would have seen that I voiced that numerous times. My issue lies in the (as you call it) "misconstrued" events to what happened regarding this email exchange. I attacked the tactics concerning this particular incident, not her personally. I felt Joan was coming off as a bit misleading about this incident especially after we talked about it personally in email exchanges between us. There are two sides to every story, this is mine. I am not some jerk that would not want justice for her dad. I'm quite a fair and reasoned man. I am someone that wants this reported accurately.

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  2. Ricardo thank you for clarifying. Unfortunately, Joan, in her account to me, felt that she had been called a liar. I have no real skin in this game. I merely want her to get the funeral her father deserves. Let's face it waiting for 19 years is long enough, especially in view of the fact that others achieved it within three weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. No worries my friend. I agree it is an awfully long time to wait and I can't imagine what the hold up is. I have supported her on Twitter for quite sometime and would be happy to show you the exchange between Joan and I on Facebook to set things straight further but we are not friends on that site anymore and I can't get a screen shot of it. She's not a liar about her dead father's plight but on this particular incident, I personally felt she wasn't being totally upfront. That is what frustrated me to no end with Joan and I let her know that in no uncertain terms. She is in pain, let their be no doubt but she did get me hot under the collar with this particular incident. I do hope that the recognition for her father comes soon. All my best, take care.

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  4. Thanks again. It is water under the bridge now. The key is to work hard to make this happen. No wonder people have no faith in politicians.

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  5. You said it. 19 years is too long to wait for justice. Shameful treatment of a loyal citizen.

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