[1]Gone, but never forgotten. SGM Woodall, US Army Special Forces
On the wall, in front of my desk- I have a lot of things taped up. A full page ad remembering David Ogilvy, a full page ad recognizing Lee Clow for getting into the Advertising Hall of Fame, Kurt Vonnegut’s eight rules for writing fiction, Seth Godin’s “Where ideas come from” and some of my ads- that may or may not have been produced.
Then there is the front page of the Wednesday, July 29, 2009, Dayton Daily News- “Veteran of 3 wars, 85, dies in home invasion.”
It’s been
a year(2 years). The killer of Sgt. Maj. North E. Woodall is still missing.
It still bothers me. SGM Woodall served in WW II, Korea and Vietnam- in my former unit, Special Forces. Two Silver Stars. Shot dead by some punk- like the following guy:
Especially today- while a bunch of “ministers” scream about the “killing of Kylan English” [3] and people accuse the police of tasering the statutory rapist (English was 20- the girl whose apartment he was trying to kick in the door of, was 16 [4]) and ignore the video evidence of English saying “Do you believe you go to heaven if you kill yourself?” Where were those ministers for SGM Woodall?
We have a genuine American hero- whose murder is still unsolved- yet, a whole ruckus going on about a punk kid who did a hands-tied-behind-the-back swan dive to meet his maker at the bottom of a bridge?
Something is screwed up in the African American Community in Dayton, Ohio.
Bishop Richard E. Cox, head of the Dayton chapter of the SCLC, said he did not believe the coroner’s determination that the death was the result of suicide….
The Rev. Jerome McCorry, head of the faith-based Adam Project that works with ex-convicts, joined Cox in denouncing police and the coroner’s report following the news conference.
Cox and McCorry called for police Chief Richard Biehl’s resignation.
Where are Cox and McCorry when it comes to SGM North Woodall? Silent.
Now, it turns out that a pedestrian not only saw English do exactly what the evidence said- he posted it to his Facebook account. [5] Which was seen by friends and family- who didn’t report it immediately to the police.
The investigation into the possible wrongdoing of the punk is now closed.
I call for the resignation of Bishop Cox and the Reverend McCorry. There should be an investigation into what they knew, while pushing their hateful agenda against our police department.
The Dayton Daily News has actually done a pretty good job of reporting this dog and pony show. Making the video available to the public is what the paper should be doing (that it’s in Flash- instead of an HTML5 compliant format will be overlooked). However, it still bugs me that Kylen English got more press than and attention than SGM Woodall- and that’s a crime.
Now that we’re done glorifying a suicidal punk- let’s get serious about finding a decorated war hero’s killer.
Until the killer is found, and brought to justice, I’ll still have the article, with the SGM’s scowl- looking over my monitor. I’ve not forgotten you, Top. We’ll get the bastards.
Facebook page posting from Dayton Citizen Michael Tolliver, who has confirmed that he witnessed the Kylin English death on the Salem Avenue Bridge.
Reverend Jerome McCrorry accuses the Dayton Police Department of homicide in the case of Kylin English at the :34 second mark.
I was completely floored to see all the up-roar over this from the Black ‘Leadership’. Until these hucksters are called out for this crazy behavior while they don’t say a word about yet another 18 year old getting gunned down on West Third http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/18-year-old-who-was-shot-on-porch-tuesday-afternoon-dies-1217450.html. I wish that Chief Biehl would call a press conference and say that he is sorry for the death of Mr. English but is glad to have saved the life of the 16 year old girl and her aunt by taking Mr. English off the street when he was trying to break into their apartment. The Police have done nothing wrong.
Of course the Dems won’t hold the ‘Black Leadership’ to such a standard because they are afraid to lose the cushy kingdom of patronage jobs they have created and David has chronicled at length.
Are the Bishop Cox and Rev. McCrorry among the black professing Christians who spoke out so intolerantly against Dayton’s ordinance regarding equal treatment for all regardless of gender orientation?
If so, this is another time they’re narrow-minded and concerned with slandering decent people in a lame attempt to promote their personal agendas. If not, then maybe it’s the first time.
I don’t see the need to label the deceased a”punk.”
He was obviously very loved. i know one of his Aunt’s very well. Wonderful woman. I see no need to denigrate his memory with name calling. I’m sure if she read that comment she would be upset, on top of being already heartbroken.
This was an enormous tragedy for his family that no sane person would ever wish upon them. Name calling is insensitive, in poor taste and just completely unneeded. I doubt that David would be calling the kid a “punk” if that were his nephew or son.
Criticism of the public figures such as the Reverend McCrorry is totally fair game though.
That said, the reason for the uproar of questioning was natural. Everyone said “What the?”, and the police department and other city leaders acknowledged that this was a natural reaction, since the details of the case were literally outrageous.
What the reverends were capitalizing on politically is the constant harassment that African-Americans have have to endure in the never-ending failure we call the war on drugs. They are right too. Young African Americans in cities all across America do face constant searches of their cars when a policeman smells too much air freshener, etc… The laws that lead to this harassment have also led America to having the highest prison population on the planet, a disproportional number who are African Americans (something else that sours many towards the justice system). African Americans are pissed off about how they are treated in America, and often they are completely justified.
To me, those are the issues that fuel people being angry, and questioning of the police. While they are unrelated directly to the English case, they are the larger fuel that adds energy to the fire. The constant and often militarized policing that goes on in African American communities in the name of the WOD.
Legal Scholar Michelle Alexander, who recently spoke to McCrorry’s Adam Project, has written a book about it called “The New Jim Crow“. In it, she argues that America did not end Jim Crow, it merely redesigned it through mass incarceration of blacks and other minorities, usually for non-violent drug crimes.
@David Sparks- here we go again. Now, because I called Kylen English a “punk” we’re moving off topic- much like Mr. Lacey and his focus on the word “screaming” in this post: http://esrati.com/dayton-board-of-ed-votes-4-3-to-donate-taxes-to-geud/7022/
I used the word “punk” because, in comparison to SGM Woodall- that’s all English was- a punk. A punk, who thought that kicking on the door of an underage girl was OK (and btw- had it been SGM Woodall doing the kicking, at 85- the door would have been broken down – but I bet his reason for going in would have been to help someone, not to molest them).
I don’t want to get focused on Kylen English. I want to know why the murder of an American Hero has gone basically, ignored.
I want to know where were the ministers when SGM Woodall was killed?
That’s all.
If you don’t want the conversation to veer off course, then you shouldn’t put forks in the road of said conversation that allow the conversation to veer off.
I get your point David, somehow our society can bluster on about supposed racism, and yet ignore tragedy. And tragedy is exactly the word that illustrates the lack of interest by the African-American community to SGM Woodall’s murder, as well as DPD Patrolman Kevin Brame’s murder. Yet they seek to exploit stories like English’s suicide as police brutality to gain power.
Dave Sparks, I had a incident during a traffic stop where they searched my car without permission as well. And I’m a white grandfather who is 57 years old. Maybe sometimes cops get power trips? Was told by the cop that he didn’t want to have to “taze” me while handing me the citation, and I had offered no resistance to him, had complied with all his orders, and displayed no attitude towards him. I showed him WELL more respect than he showed me.
The inordinate numbers of African-Americans in jail for non-violent drug charges stems from the community itself demanding harsher penalties for drug offenders. Had the people of the neighborhoods not demanded harsher laws for “crack” cocaine, in an effort to clean up their neighborhoods, perhaps the reality would be different.
Anyone know the lastest updates on this case, I wasn’t able to find much? Is it a cold case now? Is a Black or White person suspected?
Solving any murder case should not be stretched into a Black or White thing … Obtain evidence at the scene, gather witnesses, motives, etc.
The bottom line in crime is, Did the suspect know right from wrong? Bam! What sort of upbringing did the suspect have? ( Or to use a phrase from Criminal Minds, the unsub.) Then the case becomes grey, not black and white.
Maybe the unsub was that Gator dude who killed 13 others around the same time … Gator has been executed in OH, so I’m not really causing a liability here, hope not David …
Drexel Dave you are clouding the issue, the War on Drugs has nothing to do with Mr. English’s actions and law breaking. You (and so many white liberals) are so afraid of offending the African-American Community that you change the topic when the obvious issue is too embarrassing to confront.
This reminds me of parents who have poorly behaved children, every time they get called into school for discipline issue or have a beef with the coach about playing time they blame everyone else and everything else in the world but their child’s actions. And why do these parents deflect blame away from their kids? Because it’s really a reflection on them. These pastors should be ashamed, instead they are trying to win support for a broader (biased-filled) agenda.