CT’s Joe Courtney sucks canal water

TSO forwarded this letter to me which was forwarded to him about a POW/MIA’s widow who got stiffed by Connecticut Congressman Joseph “Joe” Courtney. I’ll let her tell the story;

I am Margarete Holm, the widow of Cpt.Arnold E. Holm, Jr [Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)] case file # 1874. My sister-in –law, Margret-Ann Brewster and I just returned from spending 3 days in Washington DC for the Annual Family Up-date for missing or killed service members.

My husband’s friends and family in the Waterford, CT area are well acquainted with his case since the search for his remains has been going on for quite some time.

Several weeks ago I received a phone call from the DPMO telling me that the POW/MIA medal that my husband should have received 38 years ago, was finally available.

This POW/MIA medal is one that was issued and authorized by Congress and is presented to the families of POW/MIA’s by Congress only. Following this I left several messages for Congressman Courtney, CT at his office and did not receive a reply until shortly before I left for Washington. I was assured by his aide that the Congressman would be happy to present the medal to Cpt. Holm’s family and that transportation to the Congressional Building would be arranged. Mr. McKierney promised to stay in contact to finalize the arrangement.

Finally, 1-2 hours before the presentation was to be held, I called Congressman Courtney’s office again and was told that after all, the Congressman would not be able to find the time to make the presentation of the POW/MIA medal issued by Congress. No substitute official was offered and it was left at that.

Army Officers from DPMO were also told that the Congressman was too busy to make the presentation.

To spare Cpt. Holm’s family any further embarrassment, arrangements were made within the services to donate a room for a short period and a number of officers in dress uniform attended the ceremony to honor the memory and sacrifice of one of their own.

I, Margarete Holm, on behalf of the family of Cpt.Arnold E. Holm, thank the DPMO and all servicemen and women that took the initiative to go outside their purview to give comfort and solace to the family of one of their own.

Courtney was “too busy” for a POW’s widow? How long does it take to hand the family a medal and snap a picture? Of course this dingus, Courtney has no military service however his biography says that he “has distinguished himself as a tireless advocate for both our nation’s veterans and our men and women in uniform. ” Really? It’s “distinguished” to blow off a POW’s widow and her family to award a medal after he promised he would?

His bio also says that Courtney was born in 1953. That makes him two years older than me, but those must’ve been a rough two years because in his official photo, he looks to be about 15 years older then me.

His bio also says he was a graduate of Tufts University, so I guess that’s why he didn’t have military experience as he must’ve gone to college and got a few deferments – not that there’s anything wrong with that. He was on summer break from Tufts when Captain Holm went missing on June 11, 1972. And he still couldn’t bring himself to be available for Ms. Holm 38 years later.

Anyway, first thing yesterday morning, I called his staff to find out what the Congressman could have been doing last week that was so important. Of course the ditz working the phones didn’t know and when I asked to speak to this Mr. McKierney. I waited four hours or so and didn’t get a call back. So when I tried again, the receptionist told me that McKierney was the wrong person with whom I should talk. I should talk to the Communications Director, Josh.

So Josh called me a few hours later and gave me an off-the-record response. So I asked him for an on-the-record response. I’m still waiting for that response – I noticed that Josh had time to scroll through TAH, though – I love My Clicky.

I emailed with Mrs. Holm last night and told her of the off-the-record response I got from Courtney’s office and she stands by her statement above. Since Josh wants to jerk me around, you only get Mrs. Holm’s side of the story. I think the treatment I got from Courtney’s office on a simple matter is indicative of how much they care about this issue.

So here’s what you can do – call Courtney’s Washington, DC Office:

215 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2076
(202) 225-4977 fax

Flood his office with faxes. Obviously he doesn’t think that ignoring a POW’s widow is a big deal – let’s make it a big damn deal.

If Josh gets back to me, I’ll be glad to add Courtney’s response here. But I’m not holding my breath. Their off-the-record statement was pretty weak as it was.

I’m wondering what’s wrong with Democrats in Connecticut – you’ve got the phony soldier Dick Blumenthal running for the Senate and now this douche in Congress. I wonder how veterans in Connecticut feel they’ll be well-served by these peckerwoods.

Category: Congress sucks