Salute stolenThieves abscond with yellow ribbons By Bonnie Obremski, North Adams Transcript North Adams Transcript Article Launched:10/25/2006 12:09:36 PM EDT Wednesday, October 25WILLIAMSTOWN — A local family was devastated Tuesday to find the homecoming display of yellow ribbons they had put out for a son returning from Iraq had been ripped down. "Tuesday was not Williamstown's finest moment," wrote Town Manager Peter Fohlin Tuesday night in an e-mail to the Transcript, adding "a heartless coward had absconded with every (yellow) ribbon." Wendy Trotter of Cole Avenue said Tuesday that she and her family had tied the yellow ribbons to utility polls and some trees and road signs throughout town as a welcome home signal to Berkshire County's Company B of the National Guard 181st Combat Engineer Battalion. The company, which included Trotter's son Sgt. Robert Trotter, returned Tuesday after nearly two years in Iraq. Yellow ribbons became a common sign for missing loved ones during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1981, and later for troops serving overseas. It stems from the 1973 Tony Orlando and Dawn song cover "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree," about a man going home after serving a prison sentence. On Monday night, 40 yellow bows, each about a foot-and-a-half long, hung from craft wire up Cold Spring Road, Cole Avenue, Main Street and down Route 7. By Tuesday morning, the wire remained but most of the ribbons were gone. "I was coming home from work when I said, 'Oh my God, where did all of our ribbons go?' I was hysterical," Trotter said. She called Fohlin, who had granted her three days' permission to hang the ribbons, and told him the news. "I was just shocked someone would do it," Trotter said. "Maybe some people thought the ribbons are anti-war or pro-war but they have nothing to do with the war. We're showing our troops that we appreciate the sacrifice they made." Still, she said some residents watching her and her family tie the ribbons appeared to be unhappy. "Some people were giving us dirty looks," she said. Trotter, her daughter Autumn Rose, her other son Daniel and her nephew Christian spent many hours searching stores for yellow ribbon, tying the bows and fixing them along the roads and outside consenting businesses. Her son, Robert, who lives with his wife, Stacy, and child in Lanesborough, plans to visit her today. Trotter said she has some ribbon left and will tie a couple of bows to her porch, but she will not attempt to put them back around the neighborhood. "We're not even going to bother," she said. From Lee up through Williamstown, two members of a local family support group had lined all the routes soldiers might follow home with yellow ribbons. "If anything, we're anti-war because they're putting our kids' lives on the line," Trotter said. "We're thanking God that they're coming home alive and we just want them to know that."
____________________________________ Long article but I saw it and it made me mad. Once again some disrespectful asshole(s) do something so mean, its like a slap in the face to the Soldiers and their Families. IT PISSES ME OFF, LUCKY I DIDNT CATCH THEM...CAN YOU SAY STREET JUSTICE.
Posted by: kojack1
give me the address, I send the replacements myself. some people just don't get it
Posted by: 209
UPDATE
Ribbon war ends in peaceBy Bonnie Obremski, North Adams Transcript North Adams TranscriptArticle Launched:10/26/2006 12:09:55 PM EDTThursday, October 26 WILLIAMSTOWN — A short-lived ribbon war ended Wednesday afternoon when a soldier's family and a neighbor opposed to the war came to a tearful and peaceful understanding. Autumn Rose Trotter, 24, of Cole Avenue said she confronted the neighbor about the disappearance of yellow ribbons from trees and poles along the avenue sometime Monday night. Trotter and her family had tied yellow bows up the street and around the town on Monday as a sign of welcome for her brother, Sgt. Robert Trotter, who returned Tuesday from service in Iraq. The family had been given permission from Town Manager Peter Fohlin to display the ribbons for three days. Trotter said Wednesday that she confronted the neighbor around 2 p.m., while on her way home from work because she had appeared upset Monday when the ribbons were tied to trees near her house. The Trotters had said Tuesday that they had gotten some dirty looks while putting up the decorations. "I just noticed her and I approached her and I just asked her if I could ask why she took down the ribbons. She told me that she thought they made a political statement that her and husband did not approve of," Trotter said. Trotter said she explained what her family's intentions had been. "I said they were for my brother. We were just trying to do something so that (the troops) felt like they had some support," she said. According to Trotter, the woman said she was unaware that yellow ribbons were primarily a sign of supporting the troops; she had believed they showed support for the war. After taking down the ribbons in front of her house, she had told some of her friends about other ribbons the Trotter family had tied around town. "She apologized for offending us. She said she didn't mean to hurt us," Trotter said, who said she began crying during her conversation with the woman. She said the woman also began to cry. "It wasn't so much a hug, but a pat — she grabbed my arm as I was walking away and said she was really sorry," Trotter said. "She said 'Let your mother know we do know people in Iraq and it was just a bad judgment call on our part.'" Trotter's mother, Wendy Trotter, said she could not believe highly educated people in Williamstown could be so ill-informed or insensitive to the tradition of tying yellow ribbons. Still, she admitted the politics surrounding the war are complex. "It's just a big mess, and we got caught up in it," she said. An anonymous sympathizer mailed a large bunch of yellow balloons to the Trotters' house later Wednesday afternoon. The family tied the display around the front-porch railing for when Sgt. Robert Trotter comes to call.
Posted by: USMCMP5811
Ya, Bull shit she didn't know what th ribbons were for. I say charge her ass for Larceny.
Posted by: justanotherparatrooper
Absolutely Bullshit
Posted by: MM1799
ya right she doesn't know what the yellow ribbons stand for. Apparently she resides under a rock next to her house.
Posted by: Mikey682
Ignorant b*tch.
Posted by: Mongo
I know where I would like to tie a ribbon around.
Posted by: 209
Heres another article, yes its 6 months old but while we are on the topic. Don't Politicize Our Soldiers
By Geoffrey C. Lambert Saturday, April 1, 2006; A17
The Associated Press reported recently that a trailside memorial to an American soldier killed in Afghanistan had been vandalized. The memorial to Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory, adjacent to the Ashuwillticook Trail in Cheshire, Mass., was defaced with the words "Oil," "Bush," "Christian Crusade" and other phrases. Dan Petithory was one of my soldiers. He was an Army Green Beret and was killed on Dec. 5, 2001, north of Kandahar as he and his A-Team were closing in on the home of al-Qaeda and the Taliban leadership. I attended Dan's funeral in Cheshire along with Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry, as well as the archbishop of Chicago and other generals and government dignitaries, who honored Daniel and his family with their presence. Kerry gave the eulogy and moved us to tears, acknowledging that this war was one that we had no choice but to fight. Toward the end of the Mass we shook hands, giving the sign of peace. We then turned to Dan's wonderful parents, brother and sister to try to somehow alleviate their pain and suffering. Months later, my wife, Bonnie, and I were honored to have the Petithorys as guests in North Carolina. Our hearts ached anew at their loss, and I promised to jog the Ashuwillticook Trail one day in remembrance of Dan. I was a soldier in 1969, and I witnessed misguided students and adults attacking individual soldiers because of their disgust with national policy. In the '60s the purveyors of hate on the left were mostly resident on campus and could not differentiate between those responsible for policy and deception regarding the war in Vietnam and the young, honorable men and women who served in the military. The vandals who struck the Petithory family were confused. Oil, Christian crusades and Bush were not issues during the fight in Afghanistan. We had consensus. Both sides of the aisle in Congress and the entire nation agreed that al-Qaeda had to be kept from continuing its attacks. Sadly, the vandals' actions are illustrative of how we have squandered our opportunity to face terrorism with unified and coherent action. The right's neocons orchestrated a war with Iraq that has destroyed national consensus and they are culpable for politicizing the individual soldier by repeatedly sending the message that to criticize policy equates attacking the soldier -- an allegation that is simply not true. Meanwhile, some on the left are returning to mindless violence. So here I stand, waiting for my daughter to return from her voluntary tour in the Middle East with the U.S. Coast Guard, wondering if some cretin will spit on her. I pray that soon our leaders on the left, right and center will find a way forward, build a new consensus and reverse our growing polarization. Meanwhile, I may take to long midnight walks on the Ashuwillticook Trail -- packing heat. Me? Polarized? Count me in. Dan was a hell of a soldier from a great family. The writer, a retired major general, commanded the Army Special Forces Command (Airborne) from 2001 to 2003. Unfortunatly we werent able to catch the asshole(s) that vandalized the signs. So Ill be putting out Yellow ribbons on my front porch and maybe at the Police Station as well. With friends that are just returning from Iraq, a brother over in Korea and other family and nieghbors in the military its the least I can do. TRY AND TEAR DOWN MY RIBBONS, GO AHEAD ...I DARE YOU.
I LOVE THIS PART.... "Meanwhile, I may take to long midnight walks on the Ashuwillticook Trail -- packing heat. Me? Polarized? Count me in. Dan was a hell of a soldier from a great family. Retired major general, commanded the Army Special Forces Command"
Posted by: mpd61
Educated people in Williamstown? Don't they mean liberals!? Sounds like some MCLA rejects to me.
Real Berkshire people are patriots, these fools are a minority.
ma police, boston ma police, massachusetts police, massachusetts police, mass state police, mass police, ma, mass, massachusetts, massachusetts, massachutes, massachusetts law, massachusetts polece, police, officer, police officer, cops, police gear, law enforcement, police duty gear, state police, sheriff, law, police supply, police agency directory, police agency, police department, traffic officer, police dept, state trooper, dispatcher, massachusetts county sheriff, massachusetts sheriff, massachusetts department of corrections, ma doc, doc, dept of corrections, police information, civil service, ma civil service, massachusetts crime, police training, police academy, ma police academy, massachusetts officers, masscop, masscops, mpa, bpa, ibpoa, police association, massachusetts police news, massachusetts crime news, mass most wanted, police career information, police patrol, police administration, police books, crime scene training, police discussion, crime discussions, cops
About MassCops, the home for Massachusetts law enforcement.
The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network opened in 1998 and is now a part of the New England Police Network The site is a pro-police discussion forum intended for sworn police officers and civilian law enforcement officials as well as those interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement here in Massachusetts.
The goal of The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network is to provide an informal network of law enforcement officials here in Massachusetts for educational and informational purposes.
The forum covers many topics such as Police Related News Articles, Agency & Profession Discussions, Police Training as well as Law Enforcement Career Information.
The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network and The New England Police Network (NEPN) and it's network sites are privately owned websites/domains and are not affiliated with or endorsed by any government association or agency.
MassCops (masscops.com) and (masscop.com) are privately owned are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Massachusetts Coalition of Police (masscop.org)
ma police, boston ma police, massachusetts police, massachusetts police, mass state police, mass police, ma, mass, massachusetts, massachusetts, massachutes, massachusetts law, massachusetts polece, police, officer, police officer, cops, police gear, law enforcement, police duty gear, state police, sheriff, law, police supply, police agency directory, police agency, police department, traffic officer, police dept, state trooper, dispatcher, massachusetts county sheriff, massachusetts sheriff, massachusetts department of corrections, ma doc, doc, dept of corrections, police information, civil service, ma civil service, massachusetts crime, police training, police academy, ma police academy, massachusetts officers, masscop, masscops, mpa, bpa, ibpoa, police association, massachusetts police news, massachusetts crime news, mass most wanted, police career information, police patrol, police administration, police books, crime scene training, police discussion, crime discussions, cops