Community Corner
Letter: Hamden Should Verify Discharge Papers of Veterans Added to Memorial Wall
One resident writes that, if town officials are looking to add names of veterans to the Hamden Veterans Memorial, then they should make sure those veterans have been honorably discharged.
Below is a letter to the editor submitted to Hamden Patch in response to an article published on Aug. 23.
8/24/2013
To the editor,
Below was taken from the Hamden Patch news article titled: “Hamden Seeking Names of Veterans to be Added to Memorial Wall."
“Mayor Scott Jackson and the Hamden Veterans' Commission are adding names to the monument on Dixwell Avenue, and the deadline to submit a name is Sept. 15
Veterans must have been residents of Hamden when they entered the service or have lived in Hamden a least one year after their service. They should have entered the service from Hamden or presently have their home address in town.
Also men and women presently serving in the military are also eligible.
A copy of the veterans’ discharge papers, photo I.D. and proof of residency must be brought to the Town Clerk’s Office in the Hamden Government Center. Current military personnel should submit a letter from their commanding officer verifying they are serving.”
For the purpose of example only, Pfc, John Doe is serving his country honorable in the year 2013 and his name was added to Hamden’s Memorial Wall in 2014, because Pfc, John Doe lived in Hamden. But, in 2015 the same Pfc. John Dow was dishonorably discharge from the military for raping a fellow female Pfc. Second example, what if Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan had lived in Hamden, and he applied for his name to be added to Hamden’s Memorial Wall of Honor, before his shooting rampage.
Do the Mayor and Hamden Veterans' Commission want to take the chance of adding active service members names to Hamden’s Memorial Wall of Honor based on the two examples I used above. I for one would not like to read the names of dishonorably discharge military members alongside honorably discharged Veterans. So I believe it would be prudent of the Mayor and the Hamden Veterans' Commission to add names of active military members to Hamden’s Memorial Wall of Honor, only when these active military members have ended their military service and are able to provide Hamden’s Town Clerk with a DD-214 that shows they were honorably discharged from U.S. military service.
Thomas Alegi
Benham Street
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