Letter on Warrior’s Fund for Pendleton Marines
BY Herschel Smith
17 years, 10 months ago
I received this letter from the president of the “Warrior’s Fund” supporting the Marines currently under detention at Camp Pendleton. The letter speaks for itself, so without any further from me:
Help us spread the word.
Thank you,
Rick Van Luvender
The Warrior Fund
With the recent news regarding the incident in Haditha, and Hamdania Iraq,
a group of former and retired Marines decided to take action to ensure that
our military men are treated like American citizens and considered innocent
until proven guilty.
We have formed the “Warrior Fund” as a designated mission of United American
Patriots (an IRS 501 ( c ) 3 organization) which is run by Major Bill
Donahue USMC (RET). Our goal is to raise funds to defray legal fees incurred
by members of our armed forces as a direct result of their service in
combat. At this time our board of directors consist of me, Captain Don
Greenlaw USMC (RET) and Frank Albano. Certified Public Accountant William H.
Porterfield is our treasurer and he will handle the accounting issues of the
Warrior Fund.
They fought for us, now we shall fight for them.
Please take the time to visit our website and review our bylaws, biographies
of the Board members and the petition for assistance which must be completed
prior to any funds being disbursed.
Even though charges were formally filed, in the Hamdania case, an Article 32
investigation will now begin. It is imperative that the public is made aware
that the filing of charges in no way indicates that these men are guilty,
rather there remains the belief that all men are innocent until proven
guilty, which is a pillar of the American system of justice and a core
principle of the Warrior Fund.
The fact that any service member can be accused of a “war crime” by a
questionable source (We do not intend to disrespect the Iraqis that brought
charges, only to illustrate that we have no idea who they are, or their
level of integrity), and these allegations are taken seriously speaks
volumes about our American system of justice and our belief in the rule of
law. However attempts by the media and a certain irresponsible member of
congress to proclaim the guilt of these Marines without having seen a final
report from the investigators is sickening.
In closing, if you believe that these men deserve to be treated the same as
an average American citizen, please take the time to make a charitable
contribution which you may deduct from your income taxes. Any amount you can
spare will directly benefit these fine American warriors. In addition to
financial support we also need assistance in spreading the word about the
fund. Donations may be made online through paypal, or mailed to the address
on http://warrior-fund.org
Very Respectfully,
Rick Van Luvender
President
The Warrior Fund
http://www.warrior-fund.org
P.S. We would also like to invite all American’s who claim to “hate the war
but support the troops” to prove themselves by donating to the Warrior Fund,
which is a direct method to show that they do indeed support our troops and
their claims are not merely the empty rhetoric it appears to be.
On July 6, 2006 at 5:01 pm, Dianne said:
Please note that donating to this fund does not guarantee that ANY funds will go to those for which the letter solicits funds — either Haditha or Hamdania. If you wish to donate to those involved, you should contact them directly through their lawyers. That way 100% of the funds go directly to the fund, not 90%, and you know it is going to exactly whom you want it to. Neal Puckett is the lawyer for Sgt. Wuterich, and funds for Hamdania can be sent to innocentmarine.com or defendrob.com.
On August 16, 2006 at 9:55 am, Major Bill Donahue USMC Ret said:
Dianne wrote, “Please note that donating to this fund does not guarantee that ANY funds will go to those for which the letter solicits funds — either Haditha or Hamdania.”
That statement is simply not true; I do not have any idea of where she got such informsation, or perhaps she is trying to divert all fund raising towards a particular fund she favors.
The Board of Directors for the Warrior Fund acts upon each and every solicitation for legal aid once the Petition for Assistance is received(available for download on the Warrior Fund website). We have a deliberate process in place to (1) determine the validity of claims for assistance and (2) to expedite any legal billing requests. Until and unless the Petition for Assistance has been completed and sent to the Warrior Fund, the Warrior Fund cannot open any Case File to help. This is but one of the processes we’ve put into place to ensure the validity of each claimant.
We are in constant contact with each military member accused as well as many of their families and attorneys.
Statements like the one quoted hurt EVERY effort to raise funds to help our military folks, not just the Warrior Fund.
Every legal document relative to the legitimacy of the Warrior Fund is posted on the UnitedAmericanPatriots website (www.UnitedAmericanPatriots.org) as UAP ( a 501(c)3 non-profit organization) is the parent of The Warrior Fund.