Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Philadelphia Inquirer
February 14, 2008 He said he meant no insult, didn't want people caught off-guard. The City Council apologized.
By John Seewer, Associated Press
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Turning away a squad of Marine Corps reservists planning a weekend of training downtown has put Toledo's mayor in the cross fire of veterans.
Even some supporters wonder what he was thinking.
Mayor Carty Finkbeiner told the Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., to turn around when they hit town Friday, saying he did not want them scaring unsuspecting visitors and office workers.
City Council members have sent an apology to the Marines, and the local visitors bureau offered the unit's 200 members a free hotel stay, restaurant gift certificates, and a visit to the zoo.
"I'm shaking, I'm so upset," said Ron Hernandez, a former Marine who served in Vietnam. "It's a slap in the face."
The mayor said he did not mean to inconvenience the unit, which had to cancel the exercise and return home.
Yet Finkbeiner - a three-term mayor whose history of gaffes includes considering moving deaf people near the airport to solve noise complaints - said that if the Marines try to come downtown, he will close the door in their faces again.
The mayor said he did not know the city's police department had approved the latest urban-warfare training until a few hours before the Marines arrived. Police sent out a news release to the media three days before the Marines arrived, but no one had alerted business owners or residents downtown.
A similar training exercise two years ago caught people off-guard when they saw troops in camouflage running down sidewalks, crouching behind buildings, and aiming their weapons, Finkbeiner said.
Not everyone thinks his stand against the Marines' plan to simulate firefights and ambushes and fire blank ammunition downtown was a mistake.
"This isn't about being for or against our military," said Jan Moore, a lifelong resident. "This is about avoiding potential danger."
Moore and her husband were downtown three years ago during another training exercise when a man in fatigues sprinted past their car with his gun drawn. Other troops then surrounded a building, she said.
"We didn't know what the heck was going on," she said. "My mind was going crazy."
Five minutes of panic passed before they figured out the city wasn't under siege. "Our first thought wasn't that this was just training," she said.
Maj. Dan Whisnant, commander of First Battalion, 24th Marines, said the training was vital to his troops, who have been deployed to Iraq twice in the last two years. They've trained in the city four times since 2004.
Another former Marine, City Councilman D. Michael Collins, said he did not think Finkbeiner meant any disrespect toward the Marines. He said the city should have told downtown business owners and residents about the training and let it continue.
February 14, 2008 He said he meant no insult, didn't want people caught off-guard. The City Council apologized.
By John Seewer, Associated Press
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Turning away a squad of Marine Corps reservists planning a weekend of training downtown has put Toledo's mayor in the cross fire of veterans.
Even some supporters wonder what he was thinking.
Mayor Carty Finkbeiner told the Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., to turn around when they hit town Friday, saying he did not want them scaring unsuspecting visitors and office workers.
City Council members have sent an apology to the Marines, and the local visitors bureau offered the unit's 200 members a free hotel stay, restaurant gift certificates, and a visit to the zoo.
"I'm shaking, I'm so upset," said Ron Hernandez, a former Marine who served in Vietnam. "It's a slap in the face."
The mayor said he did not mean to inconvenience the unit, which had to cancel the exercise and return home.
Yet Finkbeiner - a three-term mayor whose history of gaffes includes considering moving deaf people near the airport to solve noise complaints - said that if the Marines try to come downtown, he will close the door in their faces again.
The mayor said he did not know the city's police department had approved the latest urban-warfare training until a few hours before the Marines arrived. Police sent out a news release to the media three days before the Marines arrived, but no one had alerted business owners or residents downtown.
A similar training exercise two years ago caught people off-guard when they saw troops in camouflage running down sidewalks, crouching behind buildings, and aiming their weapons, Finkbeiner said.
Not everyone thinks his stand against the Marines' plan to simulate firefights and ambushes and fire blank ammunition downtown was a mistake.
"This isn't about being for or against our military," said Jan Moore, a lifelong resident. "This is about avoiding potential danger."
Moore and her husband were downtown three years ago during another training exercise when a man in fatigues sprinted past their car with his gun drawn. Other troops then surrounded a building, she said.
"We didn't know what the heck was going on," she said. "My mind was going crazy."
Five minutes of panic passed before they figured out the city wasn't under siege. "Our first thought wasn't that this was just training," she said.
Maj. Dan Whisnant, commander of First Battalion, 24th Marines, said the training was vital to his troops, who have been deployed to Iraq twice in the last two years. They've trained in the city four times since 2004.
Another former Marine, City Councilman D. Michael Collins, said he did not think Finkbeiner meant any disrespect toward the Marines. He said the city should have told downtown business owners and residents about the training and let it continue.