My father, Anthony Casamento, was a Congressional Medal of Honor (the Nation's highest medal) recipient. He received the Medal 38 years after he served on Guadal Canal as a Marine in WWII. He was actually unanimously recommended for the Medal of Honor in 1957 when the goverment learned that their were survivors (how do veteran's get benefits from the government, but the government didn't know that these people were living?). Then the Department of the Navy turned down giving my father the Congressional Medal and recommended giving my father the Navy Cross instead. My father inquired as to why did the decision get overturned? He wanted the paper work or the minutes just to understand their decision. They refused to give any information stating "it was telephonic or somehow lost or misplaced". He didn't accept the Navy Cross. Over the next 38 years my father continually wrote any person in the government that he thought could help him find out the truth. He learned on his own that their were survivors, in fact, the general on the side of the Japanese came to Washington to testify that in Japan my father is a hero, and the battle is written about in their history books. In our history books, there is no mention of the battle that my father fought in because all but two men were killed due to the Japanese and also to our own friendly fire. My father wouldn't allow the government to coverup what they did that day...all of his men had to die for something...that had to for my dad to make sense of things. It's okay if our government messes up, just own up to it. Have HONOR. Since my father was a guy who grew up in the Bronx, he came from Italian decent, butt kissing was probably not his specialty...Then in 1980 after my father had been requesting his military records for 38 years, the military department sent him all the records...he wasn't given the Medal of Honor because of the friendly fire, the government would have owed him $100 a month back pay from the time of the occurrence (you know how frugal our government is with spending (lol)), and he was Italian. They sent my fathers records to him this time because he signed his name "C Casamento" in the request he made (He signed it this wasy because he was a Corporal (remember I told you about the unwillingness to kiss butt...). Well, some poor son of a gun, thought it was Colonel Casamento and sent him all of his files...did I mention that the VA hospital held him in a psyche ward because he kept speaking about the friendly fire, or did I mention that the VA scheduled my father for a lobotomy so that he would be calmer and not discuss the friendly fire, but lucky for my father the doctor who was going to perform the surgery, had a daughter that had TB...so he had to relocated.
In September of 1980, President Jimmy Carter awarded my father the Congressional Medal of Honor, and on the same day the Pentagon sent out a release that this was only politically motivated.
I learned that so very many things go wrong in the world, but there are those who have integrity and honor who will always continue to fight for what is right. You do things because they are the right thing to do...regardless of the outcome. You take it like a soldier.
I have been following this site for quite awhile, and have stayed by the sidelines. People have started to take their focus off what's infront of them, and instead are using wasted energy to go after one another and double checkout people, and to be verbally nasty. If we waste energy fighting amongst our selves, we dilute our efforts. Let's stay focus, let's presume we all mean well and are sharing our thoughts, everyone is free to buy and sell as they choose, but's let's focus getting a deal for our NOLs, to whom (JPM OR GS--talk about irony--they make money coming and going), how much for old WAMU in escow and/or WMIH, and when!
We will NEVER get an apology, years(decades) from now the truth may come out.
For now, let's focus on what's directly in front of us, pool our research, share information, and wait for the "show me the money" moment to happen...it's coming...stay centered and focus.
