Legally Blind Vet Denied Service At Restaurant

Guide dog Indy rests at Colin Rich’s feet as he and his wife, Nancy, eat lunch at Primo’s Pizza on Raeford Road after they were denied service at another restaurant, Tony’s Pizza.

A soldier blinded in combat in Afghanistan was turned away at a restaurant for bringing his guide dog into the business.

Colin Rich, a sergeant major in the 82nd Airborne Division, is legally blind. He said he was refused service Monday at Tony’s Pizza in the Bordeaux Shopping Center because the manager told him his guide dog, Indi, violated the health code.

The manager, who would only identify himself as Tim, said afterward he felt bad about what happened. He said he had never seen anyone walk in with a guide dog.

The manager didn’t apologize to Rich, nor did he allow Rich and the guide dog to stay.

Rich said he has contacted a lawyer and is considering filing a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department against the restaurant for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The act requires that restaurants and other privately owned businesses serving the public allow people with disabilities to bring service animals into customer areas.

Rich and his wife, Nancy, went to the restaurant a little after 1 p.m. with their friend, Roscoe Burnett. As soon as they walked in, the manager told them to leave, Rich said.

“He wouldn’t even let me explain myself,” Rich said. “He just said, ‘I’m not serving you with your dog.’”

Rich said he tried to show the manager his laminated, pocket-size version of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but the manager wouldn’t listen.

The manager said he initially refused the party because he thought the dog was a pet. The manager said he also became angry when Burnett brought up discrimination.

“He threw the race card out there,” he said.

Burnett and the Riches are white.

The manager said he also worried the dog might bite customers and that others might want to bring their pets into the restaurant.

Rich, who wears dark, oversized sunglasses indoors and out, lost much of his sight after being shot in the back of the head during a 2002 raid on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The shot entered his occipital lobe, causing loss of sight and seizures.

Rich still serves with the 82nd. He recently returned from Iraq, though he’s in the process of retiring.

Rich got Indi — a 3-year-old black Labrador retriever mix — about five weeks ago from a guide-dog training company in Florida. He made the decision to buy a guide dog after realizing he needed help getting around.

Rich said it was the first time he’s been kicked out of a restaurant because of the dog.

“I’m frustrated,” he said. “I take it as a personal insult to me and anyone else who is in this situation. The law is cut and dried.”

Cynthia Magnuson, a spokeswoman with the Department of Justice, said the restaurant won’t face penalties as a result of Rich’s complaint.

“There’s nothing that automatically happens,” Magnuson said. “It’s a civil violation.”

The Department of Justice does plan to call the restaurant to explain the law to them, she said.

Rich and his wife talked with a Cumberland County magistrate and later contacted a lawyer.

They also have taken their business to Primo’s Pizza on Raeford Road.

“We should’ve come here first,” Rich said.

Video: Soldier Denied Service Due To Guide Dog

 

Marine to receive Medal of Honor for Iraq heroism

President Bush announced on Friday that the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration, will be awarded posthumously to Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham.

In April 2004, Dunham was leading a patrol in an Iraqi town near the Syrian border when the patrol stopped a convoy of cars leaving the scene of an attack on a Marine convoy, according to military and media accounts of the action.

An occupant of one of the cars attacked Dunham and the two fought hand to hand. As they fought, Dunham yelled to fellow Marines, “No, no watch his hand.” The attacker then dropped a grenade and Dunham hurled himself on top of it, using his helmet to try to blunt the force of the blast.

Still, Dunham was critically wounded in the explosion and died eight days later at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.

“As long as we have Marines like Corporal Dunham, America will never fear for her liberty,” Bush said Friday as he announced that Dunham would receive the award. Bush spoke at the dedication of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Virginia.

“His was a selfless act of courage to save his fellow Marines,” Sgt. Maj. Daniel A. Huff of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, was quoted as saying in Marine Corps News that April.

“He knew what he was doing,” Lance Cpl. Jason A. Sanders, 21, of McAllester, Oklahoma, who was in Dunham’s company, was quoted as saying by Marine Corps News. “He wanted to save Marines’ lives from that grenade.”

In various media accounts, fellow Marines told how Dunham had extended his enlistment shortly before he died so he could help his comrades.

“We told him he was crazy for coming out here,” Lance Cpl. Mark E. Dean, 22, from Owasso, Oklahoma, said in Marine Corps News. “He decided to come out here and fight with us. All he wanted was to make sure his boys made it back home.”

“He loved his country, believed in his mission, and wanted to stay with his fellow Marines and see the job through,” Vice President Dick Cheney said when speaking of Dunham’s heroism at a Disabled American Veterans conference in July 2004.

The Scio, New York, native would have been 25 years old on Friday.

In a letter urging Bush to honor Dunham with the Medal of Honor, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, called the Marine’s actions “an act of unbelievable bravery and selflessness.”

Dunham’s story was told in the book “The Gift of Valor,” written by Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Phillips.

Dunham will be the second American to receive the Medal of Honor from service in Iraq.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith was the other, honored for action near Baghdad International Airport in April 2003, in which he killed as many as 50 enemy combatants while helping wounded comrades to safety. Smith was the only U.S. soldier killed in the battle.

INTRODUCTION MEDAL OF HONOR BILL H.R.5537

SPEECH OF HON. THOMAS E. PETRI OF WISCONSIN IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2006

• Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to honor a true American hero by awarding him the Medal of Honor. On January 28, 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge, Lt. James Megellas led his platoon of the 82nd Airborne Division on a surprise and devastating attack on a much larger advancing German force, killing and capturing a large number of the enemy and causing others to flee. In an act of fearless courage, Megellas single-handedly destroyed an attacking German Mark V tank with two hand-held grenades. He then led the charge of his men and seized Herresbach, Belgium, during this fierce action of the Battle of the Bulge. Due to his aggressive, fearless and superior leadership, Lt. James Megellas inspired his men to excel.

• After serving 4 years as a rifle platoon leader during World War II, including many combat jumps into Italy and Holland, Megellas left the active Army and served for 16 years in the Army Reserve. He retired after 20 years of service as a lieutenant colonel.

• His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Star Medals, two Bronze Star Medals, two Purple Hearts, and he is credited with being the 82nd Airborne Division’s most decorated officer. During World War II, Gen. James Gavin selected one 82nd officer—Lt. James Megellas—to receive the Military Order of Willhelm Orange Lanyard from the Dutch Minister of War on behalf of his division.

• To this day, James Megellas continues to inspire. In February, 61 years since that momentous battle, James “Maggie’’ Megellas set foot on a battlefield with fellow 82nd Airborne Division soldiers, this time in a current theatre of war—Afghanistan. Megellas was impressed with what he saw of the paratroopers and their work. He listened to their stories of their past year of deployment and shared with them his own experiences during World War II.

• I urge my colleagues to also recognize James “Maggie’’ Megellas by supporting this bill to authorize and request the President to award him the Medal of Honor for his acts of valor on January 28, 1945, during the Battle of the Bulge. As time goes by, true heroes should never be forgotten, so please join me in honoring this outstanding American hero.END

More information:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.5537.IH:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-5537

Mark V Panther Tank

Mark V Panther Tank 

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO

It had been 61 years since retired Lt. Col. James “Maggie” Megellas had set foot on a battlefield with fellow 82nd Airborne Division “Devils in Baggy Pants.”

That all changed when he arrived in Afghanistan to visit paratroopers from the regiment that he called home during World War II, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment

Megellas has been awarded the title of distinguished member of the regiment and has frequently visited with paratroopers from the 504th throughout the past six decades. Although it is not uncommon for veterans of America’s first airborne units to visit their present-day comrades, this was the first time anyone could remember a World War II combat-jump veteran visiting paratroopers in present-day combat.

“It was totally awesome, it was the last thing I expected,” said Sgt. Maj. Colin Rich, of Headquarters Combined Task Force Devil, who first met Megellas when his best-selling book “All The Way to Berlin” was published in 2003. “He is an inspiration; he is my hero.”

Rich and other paratroopers from CTF Devil headquarters took Megellas on a tour of Khost to give him a view of the operating environment the Devils face in Afghanistan. He was impressed with what he saw of the paratroopers and their work.

“The technology is better now, the guys are better equipped, but the individual paratrooper is still the same – highly dedicated with high standards,” Megellas said.

Throughout his stay at FOB Salerno, Megellas could be seen huddled with small groups of paratroopers sharing first-hand accounts of major historical points of World War II, including 100 days of combat after jumping into Italy and the daring crossing of the Waal River under heavy Nazi machine-gun fire during Operation Market Garden.

Worthy adversary

“I like to say we had them surrounded from the inside,” remarked Megellas, describing what it felt like to have his platoon surrounded by two German rifle companies.

“It is one thing reading (history books), but hearing it while looking into his eyes as he is describing things that happened, it is amazing,” said Spc. Ulysses Deleon, Company A, 307th Engineer Battalion. “I have an indescribable amount of respect for him.”

Megellas listened to the paratroopers’ stories of their past year of deployment in Afghanistan, reminding them to share their experiences as paratroopers in this new chapter of history just as he did in “All The Way to Berlin.” Megellas also contributed to the book “A Bridge Too Far” which was later adapted into one of the largest war epic movies ever filmed.

“It is important to add another chapter of setting the standard for the future of American paratroopers,” Megellas said.

Megellas at times seemed just as excited to spend time with this generation of paratroopers as they were to see him.

“People may ask why I came all the way out here at 89 years old,” said Megellas.

“It is just to see the guys from my old outfit. There is an inseparable bond between paratroopers and the chance to come out and visit means so much to me.”

After serving four years with the 82d Abn. Div. during World War II, which included combat jumps into Italy and Holland, Megellas left the active Army and served for 16 years in the Army Reserve. He retired after 20 years of service as a Lieutenant Colonel.

His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Star Medals, two Bronze Star Medals, two Purple Hearts, and he is credited with being the 82nd Abn. Division’s most decorated officer. During World War II, Gen. James Gavin, selected one 82nd officer, then 2nd Lt. James Megellas to receive the Military Order of Willhelm Orange Lanyard from the Dutch Minister of War.