FIVE-O CREW DISGRACEFUL TO WWII PEARL HARBOR SURVIVORS
By · Comments**Note: Since linking this FB note of Mr. Tubbs’ on the main page at Complete, we’ve heard from several users that they couldn’t get the link to connect properly. So, I’m reposting the essay from Tubbs in its entirety below. Sorry for any inconvenience prior. As many of you know, I worked with Steffan for a couple of years at KOA, and I’m grateful for his passion for “The Greatest Generation Foundation” and the veterans that it serves.
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December 9, 2011
(NATIONAL CEMETERY OF THE PACIFIC – HONOLULU)
It looked strange from the moment we pulled up to the Punchbowl, a sacred Hawaiian site once the location for human sacrifice before Cook’s arrival to the islands. Our tour bus, filled with 23 WWII Pearl Harbor survivors as part of The Greatest Generations Foundationcame to the beautiful location in an old crater above downtown Honolulu for a closing ceremony and presentation. The National Cemetery of the Pacific pays tribute to those veterans of all faiths who served their country, many who lost their lives during WWII.
I admit I was not happy two days earlier on the morning of December 7 at the Pearl Harbor Memorial service. Thousands of people in attendance, yet President Barack Obama – born just a few miles from the USS Arizona memorial – was not only a no-show, but did not bother to send a written or videotaped greeting of thanks to these men. And then there was no-show Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, his bio and picture listed in the program and scheduled to deliver remarks in person. The president I can slightly understand, but the former Colorado senator? What was going on that was so important he couldn’t make it on a private government jet to attend the last and final major Pearl Harbor survivors gathering? I am not aware of the circumstances, and perhaps there was a truly legitimate reason for Salazar’s absence, but I have yet to hear it. Instead, the National Park representative on site read a bizarre partial statement from the Secretary and then stopped mid-sentence, paused awkwardly, and said, “Thank you.”
As we drove in to the Punchbowl site with thousands of graves, large U-Haul-type trucks were lined along the boulevard as people with headsets scurried about acting busier than they really were. It took me just a few seconds to realize this was a production crew from the CBS series Hawaii Five-O. Their scene had something to do with lead character McGarrett visiting his father’s grave, which in reality was surrounded by the real graves of WWII heroes. It didn’t seem right. But I let it go.
Within 30 minutes of our arrival, we conducted a small ceremony that began with the presentation of the Colors by the University of Hawaii Army ROTC. The National Anthem followed. I emceed the event and looked out on men who had been injured December 7, 1941 – they represented the USS Arizona, Tennessee, St. Louis, Pennsylvania, Lexington,Medusa, Sacramento, Antares, Maryland, West Virginia, Stoddard, Tanney, Vestal and Pyro. This group of men also represented Ft. Kamahameha, Kanehoe Naval Air Station, Hickam Field, Schofield Barracks, Fort Shafter and Ford Island. At least eight were in wheelchairs. Average age: 91. The others sat in plastic chairs underneath a large, temporary tent. The cemetery representatives could not have been more respectful and there to assist.
Three hundred yards away and clearly visible to them, no one on the CBS production stopped for the anthem or any part of our program. This included the ending of our presentation – Taps and the moment of silence. I was perturbed, but because our veterans faced me, they couldn’t see the disrespect. The ceremony ended and several men hopped on golf carts to visit their fallen comrades buried in other parts of the cemetery.
I decided to take a closer look at the production area from the public thoroughfare and walked closer to see catering trucks, grips, associate directors, production assistants, lighting workers, countless minions and the lead director – a Hollywood-looking middle-aged man wearing a black “AD/HD” t-shirt, a play off the rock band “AC/DC.” I stopped well behind the cameras and out of view when a local production assistant politely told me to keep moving. I was not happy and told her we had WWII vets who would likely be in the area. I was told, “Sorry, sir. We rented this part of the cemetery today.” My blood started to boil, but I remained calm and moved on. As I stood behind the tent, the director yelled at everyone to: “Get out of the line of sight! If you don’t belong here, clear out!”
I made sure to go where I was basically invisible, 40 yards from the nearest camera when the director heatedly walked to me. He was not happy.
“Can you please move?” he said sternly.
“OK,” I said. “Where would you like me to go? I have Pearl survivors who are here visiting their fallen comrades at a public cemetery.”
He couldn’t have cared less and told me that if we stood behind a tent, that would be fine. He walked away completely frustrated and yelled at a local assistant: “I am doing YOUR job! You wanna come back here again? Do your job!” I felt sorry for her. It wasn’t her fault a group of vets actually came back for a real reason to this cemetery. Having been around a few movie sets, I knew this was how they were especially if the scene was behind schedule, etc. Keep in mind at this point I was alone. It wasn’t as if our entire entourage was milling about. There was only one veteran anywhere near me and was walking toward me from up the road.
Walter Maciejowski, 90, from Massachusetts soon caught up and I quickly tried to run interference so he wouldn’t get yelled at as he stood there in his cream-colored Pearl Harbor Survivors cap. Walter was clueless and was just amazed at the technology. He whispered in my ear as the scene was about to begin 75 yards away. We both stood exactly where the director had told me to stand.
Two minutes later, another guy with an earpiece came up and simply asked us to leave. Period. He was polite, and I politely retorted: “This is a public place and its Pearl Harbor week. These men have made it possible for you to shoot here today. Plus, this is where your director placed us.”
He told me he agreed but to please leave with Walter. Oh, he did offer to get us a water or soda to enjoy as we left. We declined.
I told Walter we had to go, and we started to walk away as lead actor Alex O’Laughlin and Terry O’Quinn from Lost did their scene. As we moved out, yet another woman came up to us and with a fake smile told us Walter couldn’t take any pictures.
“Our actors get very skiddish around still cameras, sir.”
“Funny, and yet they act in front of them,” I said, ticked off because we were already leaving.
I wish he hadn’t done it, but Walter asked if they by chance had a hat for him. To his face, she said, “I doubt it but I will try.” She never did.
We continued to walk down the road and now 300 yards from where we had stopped previously. At that moment, yet another production assistant, this one in his 20s and with frizzy blonde hair, told us we couldn’t stand near the graves because we were in “the line of sight” of the actors. This was physically impossible. We were back near the podium where our ceremony had been held, and oh, we were behind a tree. I let this kid have it with a few select, powerful adult words and basically told him what he could tell his director. I give you my word we were NEVER in the way, NEVER loud and followed every instruction.
It gets worse.
The TGGF program had brought 24 red roses to place at the gravesites on the opposite side of the Punchbowl. The program crew actually had one of their men wearing a backpack and earplug walk through – infiltrate – our rose-laying ceremony hushing everyone.
It was a disgrace.
He ruined the somber mood and my blood was now beyond boiling. Thankfully most of our vets were so focused on placing their roses they didn’t catch what was going on. This moron laughed as he communicated with some other crewmember on the other side of the cemetery via his cell phone headset. About this time, a caterer walked over grass and flat headstones, through our vets gathering, with a plate of blackberries and salmon for the actors to snack on.
We loaded our bus after the roses were placed and the vets climbed on and took their seats. Our oldest Pearl veteran 96, youngest 88. One of our crew guys asked the production guy in the backpack if, as we left, one of the actors could take two minutes to hop aboard during a break in shooting to say hello to our veterans as we drove past. Word came about three minutes later via an earpiece, “No.”
That didn’t surprise me.
I stayed at the front of the bus with Tim Davis, president and founder of TGGF. He told me to let the vets know what had happened, but I’d already made up my mind I most certainly would. I took the bus microphone and informed the vets in a nutshell what happened. Many of them booed, and then I told them as we drove by, if they felt the urge, to give the CBS crew a one-fingered military salute.
We rolled past and about half our veterans flipped everyone off as we rolled out of the Punchbowl. We all had a good laugh and most agreed we should write CBS and boycott the show and its sponsors.
Having been in the news business nearly 22 years, I understand how the crew was just doing a job and there’s big money involved. Shows have to be shot, actors coddled and issues down to rain and daylight come into play. And then, there’s common sense and respect.
It would have been an issue if all 24 veterans and 10 staff had come near their “set” (again, on tops of graves of fallen soldiers) and were loud and in the way. Instead, it was just one or two that went to see the on-location production. They didn’t speak, and of course were much friendlier than I was. However, I know many of them were upset. I also thought about the tax incentives this production much receive from taxpayers!
Perhaps you side with the production team, simply trying to film a scene at an historic location. Regardless, I hope I’ve conveyed how this is just how it is at the end of 2011: people, often consistently, do not show their elders the proper respect they deserve. Of all the weeks of the year – Pearl Harbor week – where fewer than 200 arrived on Oahu for their final goodbye, this was the time for CBS, Hawaii Five-O and the average American to rise up and go the extra mile to accommodate these men. To show respect. To say thank you.
Production on such a grand scale isn’t free. To that I say: neither is freedom.
In honor of these men and to show your support, I urge you to share this on Facebook, Twitter, at church, at your poker game, at schools, at work. This shouldn’t be a quiet little island secret. Let people know via social networking. Stealing a line from a colleague: Hawaii Five-No!
Mahalo,
Steffan Tubbs
Newsradio 850 KOA, Denver. Colorado’s Morning News co-host
Board member, The Greatest Generations Foundation (www.tggf.us)
steffantubbs@clearchannel.com
Twitter: @tubbskoa
Newsroom: 303-713-8500
Complete Colorado Sports
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CompleteColorado.com would like to initiate conversations with individuals who might be interested in running (with partial ownership and profit-sharing negotiable) a Colorado-based sports news aggregator. The site would closely mirror CompleteColorado.com in style, each site would promote the other, and would offer the editor the possibility to editorialize/blog to a wider audience. Interested parties should email CompleteColorado@gmail.com with name, phone number, and any relevant work experience. Please use the subject line “sports aggregator.”
If you’ve landed here from a search engine…
By · Comments…then welcome to Complete Colorado! HOWEVER…
THIS is the “companion” blog to the MAIN site that most mainstream media outlets refer to as the “Complete Colorado blog.” So, you’ve actually ended up on the blog of the blog, if that makes sense.
SO…please CLICK HERE to go to our main site, CompleteColorado.com, a Drudge-style news aggregator for Colorado statewide news.
And if you were looking for our original report on Michael Hancock, click here.
Thanks for stopping by, and please give us a Facebook “like” in the upper left corner of the page. (We won’t spam your FB inbox, and we only post to FB once or twice a day during the weekdays, so we try not to be too intrusive to your regular FB habits and feeds. OR, you can just “like” us to show your support, then remove us from your newsfeed, while remaining a fan of the site.)
Quick shots from today’s WSJ
By · CommentsInteresting nuggets from today’s Wall Street Journal:
Lead story, “The Pentagon has concluded that computer sabotage coming from another country can constitute an act of war…”
Germany on Monday said it would close all of its 17 nuclear reactors by 2022.
In 2008, Libya gave Goldman Sachs about $1.3 billion to invest. GS lost almost all of it. Then, “In an effort to make up for the losses, Goldman offered Libya the chance to become one of its biggest shareholders, according to documents and people familiar with the matter.” WOW.
Page A5, “Economists Downgrade Prospects for Growth.”
Berlin, Greece, still fighting over how to restructure Greece’s mountain of debt, page A6.
Canada’s GDP expands 3.9%…”…the fastest clip in a year and more than double the rate in the U.S.”
Think Ohio State football has problems? Try FIFA World Cup Soccer, as their governing body is embroiled in a bribery and influence peddling crisis.
In 2010, the Mexican economy grew by 5.5%….Trade with the U.S. reached an all-time high of $400-billion.
Harvard Professor Harvey “C-minus” Mansfield says “soft” degrees (think sociology, art history, political science, and gender studies) are for “Meatheads,” in the Archie Bunker meaning.
And finally, on page A14, an editorial called “Off the California Rails,” making note of how “even West Coast liberals are now doubting the federal train to nowhere.”
Even as the world changes slowly, it also changes quickly. As I’ve said hundreds of times over, if you’re interested in news and world affairs, get yourself a subscription to the Wall Street Journal.
Dean Singleton makes soft allegations against McInnis
By · CommentsJust dropping this post in quickly, but this minor unreported story needs to be memorialized in “print” somewhere.
On Monday, 630 KHOW’s Caplis and Silverman program was at its best, discussing the new developments in the Scott McInnis story.
Besides scoring the big interview of Seeme Hasan, producer Brad Lopez also nailed down an interview with Dean Singleton. Three elements of this interview blew me away. CLICK HERE to listen to the approximately 10 minute interview with Mr. Singleton.
What stunned me most was that Mr. Singleton made “soft” allegations against McInnis, suggesting that he was not only a plagiarizer, but also someone who now forges documents.
At 2:50 of the audio, Singleton says, “So, where were these emails that suddenly appeared, where were they back in August? Or back in July? Where were they? If he had these emails in July, why wasn’t he waving them to the press? Which, which makes one wonder if they were created after the fact.”
At 7:44 of the audio, Singleton moves past the impersonal pronoun allegation of “one wonders,” and instead puts his own opinion firmly on the line. ”But why didn’t Scott produce those emails back in July? You know, I suspect he didn’t produce them because they probably didn’t exist.”
Umm, wow.
Finally, at 9:17 of the audio, Singleton says, “…and you wonder, if you have a defense that he (McInnis) didn’t mount, did he have the defense? Or did it come later?”
The irony of these statements is that they come in the same interview in which Mr. Singleton repeatedly says he’s friends with Scott, but also very happy that Scott was not disciplined, and he’s glad that McInnis will be able to practice law unhindered. But did Mr. Singleton think through the consequences of his soft allegations, as they relate to McInnis? If Mr. Singleton’s theories are correct, that McInnis forged documents in his defense, then that means McInnis is not only is more culpable for the plagiarism fiasco, but it also means he lied to the ethical body assigned to investigate his ethics! Certainly, someone guilty of the latter is deserving of discipline from the Supreme Court Attorney Regulation Counsel. Does Mr. Singleton really believe someone who commits forgery in their own defense before an attorney regulating body should remain a practicing lawyer?
Mike Rosen, May 23rd, ICYMI, Karl Rove
By · CommentsGreat interview today with Karl Rove on the Mike Rosen Show, 850 KOA, talking presidential politics, Obama’s middle east map and the American-Jewish vote, union politics in Wisconsin, and much more. Great insight. CHECK IT OUT.
A million here, a million there…
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…and pretty soon, you’re talking real money!
Kudos to CBS4 investigative reporter Brian Maas for shining some light on a City of Denver health insurance audit, specifically looking for “free riders.” By finding false or fake dependents, or finding spouses who really weren’t spouses at all, the city estimates it will save between $1.5 and $2 million dollars. As Maas reports:
For decades, the city relied on the honor system, never asking for documentation verifying dependents. If an employee identified someone as their spouse or child, they got on the city medical plan, but no longer.
Not too long ago, the University of Colorado performed the exact same kind of audit, using the same auditing company. The results?
The audit found nearly 1,000 ineligible dependents, or 5.6 percent of those covered by the university. Removing them from coverage, as the university did July 1, will save $2 million to $4 million annually…
Who knows how much was wasted/stolen over the years, but it certainly makes you wonder who should be next? School districts? More municipalities like Aurora, Colorado Springs, Lakewood? Or…dare we suggest…state government?
DIA solar installation / photo by Todd Shepherd, all rights reserved
In 2004, Colorado voters approved Amendment 37, requiring certain (larger) utility providers to obtain 10 percent of their energy from “renewable” sources, like wind or solar power. And since then, the General Assembly has twice voted to raise that limit, so that it now stands at 30% renewable by the year 2020.
And no doubt, whether the required renewable percentage is 20, 30, or even 60 percent in Colorado, you’ll always find a group of people who will tell you that the percentage should be higher.
Let them have more renewables, I say! But let me have my own choice as well. So may I propose this: What if your Xcel bill came to you with 11 price options?
The lowest price could represent zero percent renewables. From there, your next option is a price based on a 10% renewable portfolio. 20%. And et cetera, until we reach the 100% renewable option, which of course, would be the highest price available. Immediately, you’ve removed the regressive punitive nature of higher renewable standards for lower income individuals and families.
What could be more democratic? Your vote ALWAYS counts, and you ALWAYS win! You just won’t have the right to force your neighbor to spend the same way you do. Furthermore, we also already know that XCEL has a fetish for tiered rates, so they should cotton to this idea as quickly as any other.
The real beauty of the idea is that now, esoteric theories (precisely what Amendment 37 was at the time it was approved) now take the form of concrete dollars and cents. There’s nothing wrong with voting with your wallet.
Naturally, after a couple of years of data and with the help of some actuaries, Xcel will begin to understand the real percentage of renewable energy Colorado wants by taking the temperature of ratepayers each and every month.
The question about renewables has never been about whether solar and wind should be developed. The question has always been about how much are we willing to pay for it? With a tiered rate system like this proposal, we can comfortably say, “To each his own.”
Yours truly on KBDI
By · CommentsYour humble servant, Todd Shepherd, with Joe Hanel from the Durango Herald on Jon Caldara’s show “Devil’s Advocate” on KBDI. Talking about this years session at the General Assembly, and media coverage in general of state politics under the gold dome.
Ritter debating renewable energy
By · CommentsHope you had the chance to read Vincent Carroll’s excellent piece from April 2, “Ritter Drubbed in Green Debate.”
For those of you who may have been looking for a link, look no further.
Debate: Clean Energy Can Drive America’s Economic Recovery (iq2us.org) from Intelligence Squared US on Vimeo.
This link will take you to a home page with other audio options.
The debate centers on the proposition, “Green energy can drive America’s recovery.” It’s notable that before the debate, 21% disagreed with the statement. By the time the debate was over, 47% disagreed with the statement, a major shift, showing that oftentimes, the debate isn’t whether or not we should “go green,” but how much should we pay and what other things should we sacrifice to make “going green” worth it?
