REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT D-DAY 65TH ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial
Normandy, France

3:53 P.M. (Local)

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon.  Thank you, President Sarkozy, Prime Minister Brown, Prime Minister Harper, and Prince Charles for being here today.  Thank you to our Secretary of Veterans Affairs, General Eric Shinseki, for making the trip out here to join us.  Thanks also to Susan Eisenhower, whose grandfather began this mission 65 years ago with a simple charge: “Ok, let’s go.”  And to a World War II veteran who returned home from this war to serve a proud and distinguished career as a United States Senator and a national leader:  Bob Dole.  (Applause.)

I’m not the first American President to come and mark this anniversary, and I likely will not be the last.  This is an event that has long brought to this coast both heads of state and grateful citizens; veterans and their loved ones; the liberated and their liberators.  It’s been written about and spoken of and depicted in countless books and films and speeches.  And long after our time on this Earth has passed, one word will still bring forth the pride and awe of men and women who will never meet the heroes who sit before us:  D-Day.

Coast Guard Moral Compass

Our Coast Guard Moral Compass Thought of the Day

In January 2008, Ms. Terri A. Dickerson assigned two GS-15’s the yeoman’s task of rewriting the Commandant’s Equal Opportunity Manual.  One and half years later; a Booz Allen Hamilton report completed; a Congressional Hearing held; and promises made; the manual has still yet to be completed.  Coast Guard Civil Rights does not operate in full compliance with the law today, as it has not done for a decade.

The questions are why, who is responsible and will anyone be held accountable.

Coast Guard Failure to Implement Effective Equal Opportunity Processes May Be Willingness to Tolerate Discrimination

The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings, Chairman
Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
Hearing on
“Civil Rights Services and Diversity Initiatives in the Coast Guard”
April 1, 2009

“Discrimination is an evil that destroys the dignity of fellow human beings and robs them of the opportunity to achieve what their abilities would otherwise enable them to achieve. In this, the 21st Century, any agency that tolerates any failure in the implementation of effective equal employment opportunity processes or in the effective management of complaints is an agency that is willing to tolerate the possibility that discrimination may exist in its midst.”

Editorial Note:  Coast Guard has not attempted to reach out to any of the employees past and present that were affected by failures in their processes to protect employee rights.

Deputy Commandant Mission Support a Blogophile

In a DIGEST (Coast Guard type of Memo) drafted and signed by Terry Dickeson, Coast Guard Director Office of Civil Rights, she referred to her boss and others who are fascinated with Social Media as Blogophiles and Blogoholics.  The Publisher, Editors and Contributors to this site have never done a road show and dozens upon dozens of interviews on our fascination with the Social Medium, but Commandant of the Coast Guard Thad Allen has.  Sadly, we’re not sure we qualify just yet for the lofty labels assigned by Dickerson, but we can dream.

On Friday 5 June 2009, the Deputy Commandant for Mission Support did attain this lofty label with the nationwide announcement of the new DCMS Blog.  Take few moments and check out and bookmark the latest addition to Coast Guards Family of Blogs (stole that one from Tony Soliz).

Coast Guard Civil Rights Director labels Leaders Blogophiles and Blogoholics

Coast Guard Lessons Not Learned Under Thad Allen’s Leadership

WashingtonTechnology.com published an article written by Alice Lipowicz on Friday, June 5 “Deepwater whistle-blower ‘has a conscience,’ attorney says,” on Michael DeKorts $720 million lawsuit against ICGS.  It’s a great article and we encourage you to follow the link above to the full article at WT.  DeKorts attorney is quoted  as saying:

“Michael DeKort did not want things to go badly wrong with the Coast Guard project, and he did not seek counsel, nor money, nor anything, as he wandered up the chain of the command at Lockheed and at the DHS,” said Boyd, who is based in Dallas.

DeKort “tried everything he could to get the involved parties to resolve the problems without going external. He has a family, but he also has a conscience. Sometimes the conscience can make us unpopular with institutions,” Boyd said.

Coast Guard Report and many of our readers will find that quote ironic since an employee at a field unit along with dozen or so Office of Civil Rights staff did the same thing.  The employee in the field used the chain of command all the way up to and inc luding the Commandant of the Coast Guard.  In fact, as an act of last resort he wrote a letter to Commandant of the Coast Guard in August 2007.  Admiral Allen never responded to the employee’s letter, but after congressional inquiries from Senator Richard Burr, R.NC, Ms. Terri Dickerson responded on Allen’s behalf several months later.  You read that right.  It took a congressional inquiry to get a response from the Commandant of the Coast Guard on his Office of Civil Rights failing to follow the law.