AMERICAN GOLD STAR BITCHES

US Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Lagman was killed in Afghanistan last year. His mother, Ligaya Lagman, a Filipino who has lived in the United States for over 20 years, was recently denied membership by American Gold Star Mothers Inc., because she is not a US citizen. Oddly, it was not Mrs Lagman who initiated her application for membership:

Lagman's application was initiated by Ben Spadaro, a veteran from Yonkers, who said he learned about the citizenship rules of the American Gold Star Mothers while working on a national cemetery committee of the Veterans Administration. When he learned of Anthony Lagman's death and saw Lagman was a citizen but his mother was not, he thought, "He's buried in a military cemetery, with full honors. She should be able to join."

"We decided to tell the absolute truth on the application," he said. "We put down, `I am not an American citizen.' It was a ploy to get them to reject her, and then we said they should change the rules."

But the organization's 12-member executive board voted against any change.

There's something that needs to change alright, Mrs Lagman, having lived in the US for over 20 years, should take up US citizenship if she wants to join a private group that restricts its membership to Americans.

If you follow the link, you'll see that the photo provided by the Lagman family is of a marine, not a soldier. Odd.

Also, the loons at Democratic Underground are screaming xenophobia.