clarkster
05-09-2007, 12:35 PM
Heres this, and its fairly close to home on both fronts for me. its oneof those maybe you can see both sides kind of stories, however, i refuse to let
Littleton - With its green lawn, jungle gym and picnic gazebo, Berry Park is an unlikely battlefield, but the local flap over the statue of a fallen war hero set to be placed here brewed into a national conflict Thursday.
The Internet, talk radio and cable news spread the word of some parents' concerns about the planned bronze sculpture of Navy SEAL Danny Dietz holding his automatic rifle.
"There's no middle ground here, and that's unfortunate," said Emily Cassidy, one of a handful of Littleton parents who say the statue with the gun should not be near three schools and two playgrounds at the southeast corner of South Lowell Boulevard and West Berry Avenue.
"We're continuing to try to spread our
Statue standoff
Discuss the controversy over the memorial.
message," Cassidy said. "The message is not against Danny Dietz, his family or the war. It's location, location and the audience that will view it."
Reached at home Thursday in Virginia Beach, Va., Patsy Dietz, Dietz's widow, said she sympathizes with the message that guns and schools shouldn't mix, especially in the community where the Columbine shootings took place.
But to use her husband to forge such a political statement about guns is irresponsible, she said.
"It's a parent's job, including these parents who are protesting, to teach their children the difference between two thugs who murder their classmates and a soldier who died fighting for their freedom," she said. "Danny represents every soldier and sailor who has fallen, and for them to take this stand, well, that's offensive to me."
Patsy Dietz found out about the opposition via an e-mail forwarded by Janice Caulfield, the parent-teacher association president at Centennial Academy of Fine Arts Education.
Caulfield had received the e-mail, which solicited opposition the statue.
"They were barking up the wrong tree," said Caulfield, the daughter of a 24-year Navy man and the cousin of a Navy SEAL who served with Danny Dietz.
Caulfield said she could not speak for the PTA, but in her opinion admiring a local war hero is good for children.
"I'll be proud to take my children there, and I'll be glad to show them a hero who died fighting for them and how we live our lives in freedom," she said.
The statue of the Heritage High School graduate is being cast at a foundry in Loveland. Sculptor Robert Henderson of Caņon City based it on the last photo taken of Dietz, showing him in a crouched position and holding the rifle on one knee.
It is scheduled to be unveiled at the park July 4, the second anniversary of the discovery of his body on a mountainside in Afghanistan. Dietz died June 28,
Shell pieces for the bronze statue of Navy SEAL Danny Dietz are drying at the Bronze Services of Loveland foundry. The statue is scheduled to be unveiled at Berry Park in Littleton on July 4, the second anniversary of the discovery of Dietz's body. (Post / Hyoung Chang)2005, fighting off dozens of al-Qaeda guerrillas. He posthumously received the Navy Cross for heroism.
The opposition to a war memorial is unprecedented in Jim Carrier's experience He is a national board member for both the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the Navy SEAL Warrior Fund, foundations that help the families of those who die in service to the country.
"They are missing the point," Carrier said. "It takes guns to defend our freedoms against terrorists when they are trying to kill you and your children."
But those who side with Cassidy see a different depiction.
"A statue of a soldier holding a child would send a better message," said Calvin Freehling, a Vietnam veteran from Indianola,
Caņon City sculptor Robert Henderson based his clay form of Navy SEAL Danny Dietz on the last photo taken of him. (Courtesy Tracy Harmon)Neb., who e-mailed The Denver Post. "An automatic weapon doesn't signify protection. It signifies violence. I'm 64 years old now, and I'm tired of violence."
Ann Levy of Denver, who calls herself a "peacenik," would like to see Dietz's sacrifice honored in a different way.
"They should be putting up a peace dove instead," she said. "The question is do we stand for peace or do we stand for war?"
Littleton - With its green lawn, jungle gym and picnic gazebo, Berry Park is an unlikely battlefield, but the local flap over the statue of a fallen war hero set to be placed here brewed into a national conflict Thursday.
The Internet, talk radio and cable news spread the word of some parents' concerns about the planned bronze sculpture of Navy SEAL Danny Dietz holding his automatic rifle.
"There's no middle ground here, and that's unfortunate," said Emily Cassidy, one of a handful of Littleton parents who say the statue with the gun should not be near three schools and two playgrounds at the southeast corner of South Lowell Boulevard and West Berry Avenue.
"We're continuing to try to spread our
Statue standoff
Discuss the controversy over the memorial.
message," Cassidy said. "The message is not against Danny Dietz, his family or the war. It's location, location and the audience that will view it."
Reached at home Thursday in Virginia Beach, Va., Patsy Dietz, Dietz's widow, said she sympathizes with the message that guns and schools shouldn't mix, especially in the community where the Columbine shootings took place.
But to use her husband to forge such a political statement about guns is irresponsible, she said.
"It's a parent's job, including these parents who are protesting, to teach their children the difference between two thugs who murder their classmates and a soldier who died fighting for their freedom," she said. "Danny represents every soldier and sailor who has fallen, and for them to take this stand, well, that's offensive to me."
Patsy Dietz found out about the opposition via an e-mail forwarded by Janice Caulfield, the parent-teacher association president at Centennial Academy of Fine Arts Education.
Caulfield had received the e-mail, which solicited opposition the statue.
"They were barking up the wrong tree," said Caulfield, the daughter of a 24-year Navy man and the cousin of a Navy SEAL who served with Danny Dietz.
Caulfield said she could not speak for the PTA, but in her opinion admiring a local war hero is good for children.
"I'll be proud to take my children there, and I'll be glad to show them a hero who died fighting for them and how we live our lives in freedom," she said.
The statue of the Heritage High School graduate is being cast at a foundry in Loveland. Sculptor Robert Henderson of Caņon City based it on the last photo taken of Dietz, showing him in a crouched position and holding the rifle on one knee.
It is scheduled to be unveiled at the park July 4, the second anniversary of the discovery of his body on a mountainside in Afghanistan. Dietz died June 28,
Shell pieces for the bronze statue of Navy SEAL Danny Dietz are drying at the Bronze Services of Loveland foundry. The statue is scheduled to be unveiled at Berry Park in Littleton on July 4, the second anniversary of the discovery of Dietz's body. (Post / Hyoung Chang)2005, fighting off dozens of al-Qaeda guerrillas. He posthumously received the Navy Cross for heroism.
The opposition to a war memorial is unprecedented in Jim Carrier's experience He is a national board member for both the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the Navy SEAL Warrior Fund, foundations that help the families of those who die in service to the country.
"They are missing the point," Carrier said. "It takes guns to defend our freedoms against terrorists when they are trying to kill you and your children."
But those who side with Cassidy see a different depiction.
"A statue of a soldier holding a child would send a better message," said Calvin Freehling, a Vietnam veteran from Indianola,
Caņon City sculptor Robert Henderson based his clay form of Navy SEAL Danny Dietz on the last photo taken of him. (Courtesy Tracy Harmon)Neb., who e-mailed The Denver Post. "An automatic weapon doesn't signify protection. It signifies violence. I'm 64 years old now, and I'm tired of violence."
Ann Levy of Denver, who calls herself a "peacenik," would like to see Dietz's sacrifice honored in a different way.
"They should be putting up a peace dove instead," she said. "The question is do we stand for peace or do we stand for war?"