Posted on 01/30/2005 5:44:22 PM PST by ConservativeGadfly
Edited on 01/30/2005 7:45:24 PM PST by Jim Robinson. [history]
A good friend called me a few hours ago terribly upset. Her two sons, both United States Marines, were in Washington DC last night (Saturday) with their dates. They went to the Hawk and Dove, which is a Capitol Hill watering hole.
Now before I go any farther here, understand that I know these two Marines and these are really good kids, hardly the rowdy type -- both went through OCS and are just not the troublemaking types.
At any rate, they were NOT ALLOWED entry into the Hawk and Dove. They were told that the military WAS NOT WELCOME and that especially was true for MARINES.
Is your blood boiling yet???? Mine is. I cannot reveal who these Marines' parents are, but let me tell you, my Freeper brethren, this is a patriotic family who has done much for our nation. (Their mother spends many weekends at Walter Reed with the injured soldiers and even had a house full of them over for Thanksgiving.) I'm telling you, this is an extraordinary family that has given much in service to our country.
So here's the deal. I want this bar to know of our displeasure with their disrespectful behavior toward these two young Marines.
At the very least, I'd like to see a round for these young men on the house and a profuse apology from the owner.
You know a better headline would be Marines refused service in DC bar
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That's different. The Marines can do that. A public establishment shouldn't.
The ACLU would be ALL OVER THIS if these were women or minorities. I'm sure they'll be jumping right in to defend these marines, right?
I'm sorry if I posted material not allowed on FR.
I went back to read some reviews. Sounds like our young Marines were saved from bad food, bad service and bad company.
Any DC area Freepers can waltz down to Fran O'Brien's any Friday night and give them a check. The owners sponsor an all-you-can eat dinner for Combat Wounded from WRAMC and their families. They take a beating financially but keep doing it.
It still sucks and you should NEVER have to go thru it. You should have your beer tab picked up by the bar, IMHO. (Thank you for your service.)
Phone number can be found on superpages.com
Been there; I doubt this story.
There is no doubt that there are some Marines who can get out of hand. I know these young men personally and know that they are not the rowdy type at all - they are very respectful young men who graduated top in their class at their universities and chose to go into the Marines. They did very well in OCS. I also know their parents quite well.
This was not a "I don't want marines in here because they are rowdy" situation. As it was described to me, this was clearly out and out contempt for all things military and particularly the marine corps.
Yes. Actions have consequences.
Listen, we don't know why this owner refused service. He could merely hate Marines or any military. That is wrong. But if he has had a string of bad experiences with Marines trashing his bar then no, I don't expect him to tolerate that and I don't think the Marines as a group would expect him to have to.
Good point, Raycpa!
And since young black men commit disproportionately more crime, we should just throw them in the slammer when they turn 16!
This is nothing less than another example of "Dogs and Soldiers keep off the grass.
I understand your skepticism. I have been there as well.
But I KNOW these young men and I KNOW their parents. Not a chance they are making this up. NOT A CHANCE.
I just called and was told to call back tomorrow and speak with Paul Maugher. The man I spoke with had no comment. Wouldn't say whether or not he knew of any complication in the place involving two U.S military personnel. (I asked twice.)
I'm not questioning whether this place offered or refused service. This is still gossip at this point.
I'm questioning your logic.
Discipline from a ranks authority is nothing to compare to a civilian operation discriminating.
The two are not comparable.
At this point, from the way you speak, you having a son in the MIL is now gossip.
Thank you for making that post! I heard there was a restaurant doing this, but I didn't know which one.
I am there next Friday PM.
I just called, too Did you speak with a man with an hispanic accent?
Thank you.
I tried to find an old english pub song called "Tommy Boy" from ww1 era I believe. It tells a tale similar to what happened to these young Marines in DC.
In '73, right after sKerry had given his ghengis ghan speech, we had a base directive (Camp Lejeune) that instructed all personnel NOT to wear their uniforms while visiting non-military oriented towns while off duty. At that time the histeria was pretty deep and as sucky as it was, it kept the peace.
This nightspot has the right to do what they did even through the men in uniform refused service are the ones that maintain that right for them.
Good thing they weren't smokers! :-)
This could be an interesting night. I could probably find another couple of military types to show up too. I haven't been turned away at the door of a bar for being U.S. military since Korea. That encounter ended with a Korean speaking U.S. soldier cussing out the bouncers and telling themn that they'd all be Kim Jong Il's concubines if it wasn't for us defending their country. Great fun. I could go for a little more, especially in our nation's capitol.
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