Sunday, November 9, 2008
Fly Your Flag on Veteran's Day - November 11, 2008
Here's a little history on Veteran's Day: On November 11, 1918, World War I was ended by the implementation of an armistice between the Allied Forces and Germany, which was essentially a temporary cessation of hostilities until the Versailles Peace Treaty could be signed. On November 11, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first Armistice Day with the following words: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations….” Each year thereafter the President declared Armistice Day by proclamation. However, on May 13, 1938, Congress passed legislation making Armistice Day a legal Federal holiday and designated November 11 as the date of celebration. Finally, on June 1, 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower signed legislation changing the name of Armistice Day to Veteran's Day. Since WWI many wars have been fought and many men and women have died in service of our country – fighting for the ideals of freedom and democracy. We are urged to fly our flag on this day to honor all who have served. For without these fine men and women, we would not be the great country we are today.
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3 comments:
As Veteran's Day approaches, 67 Year Old Tony Rose and his lawyer are wondering what additional rocks they have to look under to find his lawful Social Security Pension.
He was born in Canada and his family moved to New York when he was a child and became dual Canadian and US Citizens. After Tony's Navy discharge he worked in the US for over 3 decades, paying state and federal taxes and Social Security.
In 2006 when Tony applied for his pension he was informed that the US Department of Homeland Security had revoked his US citizenship and did not recognize his Canadian citizenship. He has attempted to resolve this matter for over 2 years and has been without a pension during that period.The Social Security Administration will not begin his pension payments until his citizenship issue is resolved. He has been trying to work this matter through a lawyer, the VA, his local representatives in government (congressional level) and directly through the Social Security Office.
No one seems to know what to do, who should take action and who has responsibility. Letters directly to the presidential campaign received no response. The Inspector General of the US has been notified and Tony has camped out in his local Congressional Representative's Office on numerous occasions and been turned away.
The veteran has lived in the United States since 1946 having moved from Windsor, Ontario, Canada to Detroit Michigan with his family that year at the age of 5 years old. He attained dual citizenship in Canada and the United States and received a valid US Social Security Number. Tony served in the Armed Forces of the US honorably and has paid state and federal taxes to include social security from 1963 to the present in the United States of America. He is still paying those taxes at his current part time jobs.
At this writing, Mr. Rose has been given no indication by the US Government that his case is being examined by anyone who can take a responsible course of action, schedule a hearing or otherwise determine the bottom line in this matter. His lawyer, who is working pro bono, is totally frustrated and each of the agencies involved has stated the other should be responsible to do something.
Tony lives at the Hastings Minnesota State Veteran's Home and works locally at the 2nd Street Coffee Shop and the Animal Ark.
I am not familiar with the facts regarding Mr. Rose's situation; however, it seems that based on your post there is something missing.
Homeland Security cannot arbitrarily or unilaterally revoke someone's citizenship, especially without the knowledge of the affected individual. Revocation proceedings are usually commenced by the Department of Justice or the USCIS and are handled in Federal Court. Mr. Rose would have been given the opportunity to defend himself and the US Goverment would have had the burden to prove that he either fraudulently obtained his citizenship or committed some enumerated act that results in revocation of citizenship as punishment.
I recommend that he seek the advice of an experienced immigration attorney (and if his current attorney is an immigration attorney, that he obtain a second opinion).
I found the following webpage regarding losing your US citizenship informative. http://www.newcitizen.us/losing.html
I hope this helps.
Nice. I posted this one for my dad and son
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