Moment of truth
This is the widow of the Army Ranger I wrote about recently. I’m glad that she got the all-too-rare opportunity to tell one of these callous warmongers to his face what she thinks of him and his enablers:
Two people were removed from Friday’s Donald Rumsfeld book signing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, including the Yelm widow of an Army Ranger who blames the military for her husband’s suicide.
Security officers for the former secretary of defense escorted Ashley Joppa-Hagemann out by the arm, she said this evening. She and Jorge Gonzalez, the executive director of Coffee Strong, a Lakewood-based anti-war group that links soldiers with benefits and counseling, confronted Rumsfeld as he promoted his memoir, “Known and Unknown.”
According to an account posted today on Coffee Strong’s web site:
Mrs. Joppa-Hagemann introduced herself by handing a copy of her husband’s funeral program to Rumsfeld, and telling him that her husband had joined the military because he believed the lies told by Rumsfeld during his tenure with the Bush Administration.
Joppa-Hagemann complained about Rumsfeld’s response to her account of Staff Sgt. Jared Hagemann’s multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and his death at age 25. He belonged to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.The web site said Rumsfeld’s
only response was to callously quip, ‘Oh yeah, I heard about that.’ Despite the reply, Mrs. Joppa-Hagemann continued to lay the blame directly at the feet of Rumsfeld and the military for not providing enough care for soldiers and veterans returning from deployments in combat zones. However, within moments Ashley and Jorge were dragged from the Post Exchange by a group of 5-6 security agents and military police officers, and told not to return.
A base spokesman said the pair were causing a minor disturbance.“Two people were quietly and peacefully escorted out of the PX after they caused a disturbance at the book signing,” public affairs officer Bud McKay said.
Joppa-Hagemann said the pair spoke calmly and weren’t trying to make a scene. She should have been allowed to finish talking to Rumsfeld, she said.The pair did take a picture with Rumsfeld, after Gonzalez unbuttoned his shirt to reveal an “Iraq veterans against the war” T-shirt.
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