2 Marines Kicked Out of Graduation for Wearing Uniforms

[John Bennett]

[more leftist PC BS]


2 Marines kicked out of graduation

School officials say the Elkhart High grads, in military uniforms, failed the dress code.

Associated Press
June 08, 2001

ELKHART, Ind. -- Two Marines were turned away from their high school graduation ceremony because they arrived wearing military uniforms.

Elkhart Memorial High School officials said Pfc. David Hobbs and Pvt. Josh Beam violated responsibility agreements for graduation both had signed that described what students were to wear.

The agreement states that males must wear socks, a shirt with collar, tie and slacks, said school Superintendent Fred Bechtold.

"We didn't mean any disrespect to the uniform. (The military) is an honorable undertaking. But we have a uniform too for about an hour and a half (at graduation)," Bechtold said.

Hobbs and Beam recently finished three months of basic training in San Diego and returned to Elkhart to graduate with their peers.

Hobbs said when he and Beam entered the Joyce Center at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend for the graduation ceremony Tuesday night, neither expected a problem.

Hobbs said he thought his uniform would be acceptable.

"I thought I was wearing what was in the dress code. They were going for a respectable look under the gown. I had a respectable look under the gown," Hobbs said.

But Hobbs said he was pulled aside by school officials and given a choice on his attire.

"They said I either had to take my (jacket) off and put on a shirt and tie or put a tie on my military uniform."

Hobbs said he told school officials that neither one would be possible because military personnel can neither wear an incomplete uniform or add anything to it that is not part of the uniform.

"I told him several times that I was going to wear the cap and gown," he said. It was at that time Hobbs said he and Beam were asked to leave and escorted out of the Joyce Center.

Carolyn Cook, Elkhart Memorial High School's principal, said although she was not present at the time, the students' removal was not directed by Memorial personnel.

"They did not get forcibly removed, but if they (were asked to leave) we didn't direct it. If it happened it was Notre Dame and not at our direction," she said.

Both students have yet to receive their diplomas.

Some area Marines were angered by the decision.

"In the Marines, dress blues are a very dressy uniform. It's about as dressy as you can get," said Sgt. Jared Cobb, an Elkhart recruiter with the Marine Corps.


from: http://www.indystar.com/print/cityst...marines08.html

[YeLLa-TiGeR]

Thats so f ucking petty.

[aikidoka]

yeah what a ball of shit

[bobby_steeles]

no it's not. they signed the papers stating what they need to wear. if they just assumed they could wear a military uniform just because it's a military uniform, then they were the ones who made a mistake.

[Scott Harper]

a way they could have worn a uniform was to wear their class "A" uniforms instead of their dress blues (which I assume is what they did).

[Maxximus]

The Marine dress uniform is an extremely respectable looking piece of attire and their wearing it just shows the pride they have in being a member of this nation's armed forces, which is highly commendable. If you want to get technical, okay fine maybe its not in the dress code but for chrissake is it really that big a deal? If anything it adds something to the graduation by showing what some of this class has accomplished. For them to be turned away is just extremely unnnecessary and an insult to the Marine Corps. The bottom truth is that their principal is one of those clueless liberal dumbfukks who has some inexplicable hate for anything having to do with the military. Hell, I'd love to be the one to kick his a$$

[Hookah Smokin Caterpillar]

You know, for some reason I'm glad those two kids didn't get to graduate. EVERYONE must look the same at graduation. You may get some extra crap on your cap if you're a 3.0 student or whatever but thats an accomplishment during school. Why should some kids that joined the Marines get special treatment? What does that have to do with high school?

[aikidoka]

wtf...this is really gay.

[bobby_steeles]

yes.

[Rippedfat]

I agree these people are short sighted and dim witted, but what the hell has this got to do with the subject matter on this forum?

[Kim Smith]

Originally posted by bobby_steeles
no it's not. they signed the papers stating what they need to wear. if they just assumed they could wear a military uniform just because it's a military uniform, then they were the ones who made a mistake.

I absolutely agree. Of all people, Marines should understand and respect the need for rules. My take is they knew what they were doing and just wanted to attract attention to their petty little cause. To them, their 15 minutes is worth more than the ceremony itself. This story has nothing to do with direspecting the Marines.

Memo to John Bennett- what the fudge has this got to do with MMA?

[KyGJJ]

What in God's name is going on with this country? I'm fired up about this... my old man is a Korean War Vet and was in some heavy s-it over there in 1950. Besides his children, the thing he prides the most was his service given to America. Wearing the uniform is a statement about being PROUD. I would have like to seen some of the "acceptable" shirt & ties others had on. I have a feeling some looked liked dog crap with slap together clothing... Sorry to rant but this is nuts.

[Hookah Smokin Caterpillar]

I thought the kids were wearing their outfit instead of the cap and gown. I misunderstood, this is definitely damn stupid.

[Maxximus]

Kim Smith,

What the hell do you mean by "respect the need for rules"? That's such a cop out. What's the damn point of this rule? It's not like they were wearing an oversized jersey with "pimp4life" stenciled on the back. Okay maybe you were right that they wanted some attention. So what?? So does everyone else, including yourself, or else you wouldn't have provided a convenient link to your little hello kitty page and some touched up amateur studio glamour photo of yourself! They are simply proud of the fact that they made it through their training so hell, i say they deserve a little recognition. In any high school graduation the varsity athletes, honor society students, etc almost always get a little extra pin or ribbon on their gowns that the rest of the average student nobody doesn't. I doubt it was any different for this particular high school. So if a couple boys want to wear their uniforms underneath their gown to show their worthy accomplishment, what's wrong with it? This rich b!tch stuck up double standard liberal mentality is just getting worse and worse in this country and it just makes me want to puke. Alright now this has nothing to do with jiu jitsu or mixed martial arts so i'm not saying anything else about it. But once i read it, I had to say what I felt.

[Mad Dog]

I'm a former Marine, but, hey, the rules are the rules.