That's what ten years old Vernon Pawlik and his grandmother Heidi were told when they tried to visit the West Wing of the Whitehouse last week after his grandfather, the last surviving black Medal of Honor recipient who served in WWII, the family received a personal invitation from the President. After being turned away because of his lack of proper attire, the WH was "not available for comment".
There are dress codes and then when I think about all the times I've seen our elected public servants appearing in public (who oftentimes look and act more like children themselves than the people they collect paychecks from to represent)I've come to realize that appropriate dress codes are more often in the eyes of the dress code police, than in the eyes of the beholder. I can't count the number of occasions I've even seen our President dressed in "not ready for prime time" attire befitting our nation's highest office. But I've often said that it's not the uniform, the suit, or the office that makes the man. It's the man that makes the uniform, the suit and the office.
At any rate, I'm sure that little boy will never forget his first visit to the WH.
Medal of Honor recipient's family turned away at White House
KTVB.COM
Posted on September 29, 2010 at 3:13 PM
Updated Thursday, Sep 30 at 5:45 PM
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Family of Medal of Honor recipient Vernon Baker was denied access to the White House's West Wing on Saturday, a day after the World War II hero was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Baker's widow, Heidy, and grandson, Vernon Pawlik, 10, were denied entry because the boy was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. His shirt had a picture of his grandfather on it.
http://www.ktvb.com/...
US Army LT. VERNON BAKER's Offical Congressional Medal of Honor Citation reads as follows:
"Citation: For extraordinary heroism in action on 5 and 6 April 1945, near Viareggio, Italy. Then Second Lieutenant Baker demonstrated outstanding courage and leadership in destroying enemy installations, personnel and equipment during his company's attack against a strongly entrenched enemy in mountainous terrain. When his company was stopped by the concentration of fire from several machine gun emplacements, he crawled to one position and destroyed it, killing three Germans. Continuing forward, he attacked and enemy observation post and killed two occupants. With the aid of one of his men, Lieutenant Baker attacked two more machine gun nests, killing or wounding the four enemy soldiers occupying these positions. He then covered the evacuation of the wounded personnel of his company by occupying an exposed position and drawing the enemy's fire. On the following night Lieutenant Baker voluntarily led a battalion advance through enemy mine fields and heavy fire toward the division objective. Second Lieutenant Baker's fighting spirit and daring leadership were an inspiration to his men and exemplify the highest traditions of the Armed Forces."
http://www.history.army.mil/...
If I were the type of person who judged a book by its cover, or one to reject somebody simply because of their religious affiliation-whether or not they still adhere to it, this would definitely sway my mind:
And it would certainly take exception if I knew for a fact that our president were a practicing Muslim:
And surely I would harbor some ill will towards any sitting president who bowed to other foreign heads of state:
And I would most assuredly be angered if I knew our Congress permitted another nation's president to verbally attack America, even if it were in a closet, much less before our Congress as an invited guest:
But I judge people not by hearsay, rumors and innuendo, but solely by their own words and actions. Outside appearances are not the true measure of a person's character. It's what they do behind closed doors in secret when nobody has them under the microscope of public scrutiny that proves a person's true condition of the heart and soul. Nobody who truly loves their nation-or anyone they call family or countrymen, can do anything to hurt the things they truly love-or let anyone or anything else come between them. Great oratory does not necessarily a great leader make. Dissent is not treason anymore than blind faith in bad leadership is patriotism. Trust is earned, and once lost is almost impossible to regain. Nobody gets a blank check of implicit trust drawn against my freedom from me. Not everything that looks good to you is necessarily good for you, either.
::UPDATE:: WH issued an apology last week:
"After criticism from Idaho senator Mike Crapo and others over the incident, the White House came forth with a public apology to the Baker family Thursday.
"This is an unfortunate misunderstanding," White House spokesman Adam Abrams said. "We would have loved to have hosted 10-year-old Vernon and his family at the White House and we have reached out to the Baker family and Lt. Norris to communicate our deep regret and invite them back to the White House."
The question is: Will Vernon dare wear shorts again or will he opt for pants?!?!"
http://nymag.com/...