You may have seen the story of Lt. Col. (ret.) Bernard Kempter of Hudson, OH, giving a Memorial Day speech (click here and scroll down) when his microphone was cut off because he dared to note that freed black slaves honoring Union soldiers were the origin of the Memorial Day observation. Apparently, two bigots with Hudson's American Legion post didn't want Kempter's audience to hear the story that credited African-Americans with originating the holiday when they decorated their graves with flowers. The blowback on the story was strong and, to their credit, the American Legion, Ohio Department has criticized the move and asked for the resignations of the two bigots involved (click to enlarge):
The bigots used the lame excuse that Lt. Col. Kempter didn't stick to only honoring Hudson, Ohio's vets, when he noted the historical record about the holiday, and they got pulled up short but not before they tried to take Kempter's voice away. VoteVets.org was able to enhance the sound so that his speech can be listened to, because that's what real patriots do.
(photo: Lt. Col. Kempter, via The Independent)
