To the Editor:
Sometime prior to July 16 of this year Sully Plantation Historic Site, a Fairfax County park, hosted what it called a World War II "Bivouac." This re-enactment would have been harmless enough except that some of the re-enactors portrayed members of the 1 SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, a notorious and fanatic NAZI unit that served as Hitler's bodyguard. The commander of this unit was found guilty at Nuremberg of having committed war crimes and served prison time. The unit itself was reported to have killed thousands of POWs during the war. Portraying members of this unit is an insult and a slap in the face to the many men and women who served during World War II, yet the Fairfax County Park Authority allowed it to take place. What most concerns me is that I have sent two emails each to Supervisor Gerry Hyland and to County Supervisor Board Chair Sharon Bulova, and I have yet to hear from either one of them. What is needed from them is an apology for having allowed this event to take place and assurances that it will not happen again. What I have received instead is a response from a county PR flack who says it was not their intention to have offended anyone. What an inappropriate and inadequate response.
I was down on the Mall on July 18 at an event at the World War II Memorial at which 30 World War II veterans were honored, and to see these veterans in their wheelchairs saluting when the "Star Spangled Banner" was played brought tears to my eyes. My dad, now deceased, was a combat veteran of WWII, and he and all others who served in that great war deserve better than to be insulted by people who apparently do not know what true evil looks like.
Col. James T. Currie
Alexandria