Lt. gov. crashed Marine's funeral, kin say

[travis2]

You gotta be kidding me...

Lt. gov. crashed Marine's funeral, kin say

Saturday, July 23, 2005

By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau



The family of a Marine who was killed in Iraq is furious with Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll for showing up uninvited at his funeral this week, handing out her business card and then saying "our government" is against the war.

Rhonda Goodrich of Indiana, Pa., said yesterday that a funeral was held Tuesday at a church in Carnegie for her brother-in-law, Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, 32.

She said he "died bravely and courageously in Iraq on July 10, serving his country."

In a phone interview, Goodrich said the funeral service was packed with people "who wanted to tell his family how Joe had impacted their lives."

Then, suddenly, "one uninvited guest made an appearance, Catherine Baker Knoll."

She sat down next to a Goodrich family member and, during the distribution of communion, said, "Who are you?" Then she handed the family member one of her business cards, which Goodrich said she still has.

"Knoll felt this was an appropriate time to campaign and impose her will on us," Goodrich said. "I am amazed and disgusted Knoll finds a Marine funeral a prime place to campaign."

Goodrich said she is positive that Knoll was not invited to the funeral, which was jammed with Marines in dress uniform and police officers, because the fallen Marine had been a policeman in McKeesport and Indiana County.

"Our family deserves an apology," Rhonda Goodrich said. "Here you have a soldier who was killed -- dying for his country -- in a church full of grieving family members and she shows up uninvited. It made a mockery of Joey's death."

What really upset the family, Goodrich said, is that Knoll said, 'I want you to know our government is against this war,' " Goodrich said.

She said she is going to seek an answer from Gov. Ed Rendell's administration if it opposes the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Knoll was traveling yesterday, away from the Capitol, and couldn't be reached. But an aide said she "extends condolences to all families who have lost loved ones" serving in the military.

Without having talked to her, the aide, who asked not to be named, said, "The family members of fallen soldiers are in our hearts and prayers. Our prayers go out to their loved ones in their hour of grief."

Asked to comment on Goodrich's complaints about Knoll's conduct at the funeral, the aide said that "would be inappropriate."

[travis2]

She says she's sorry. I think she's a lying .

Knoll apologizes to Marine's widow

Lieutenant governor says she regrets her appearance at funeral upset family
Tuesday, July 26, 2005

By Tom Barnes and Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



HARRISBURG -- After setting off a swirl of protest over her appearance at a slain Marine's funeral last week, Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll yesterday apologized profusely for unintentionally causing the Marine's family any additional pain or distress.

Her appearance, and an article about it in Saturday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, generated an outpouring of letters, e-mail messages and Web log entries from around the country ("Lt. gov. crashed Marine's funeral, kin say," July 23).

Writers were angry about Knoll showing up at the funeral in Carnegie of Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, who was killed in action in Iraq July 10. She handed out a business card, appeared to a relative of the soldier to be campaigning and made a puzzling remark that was interpreted as criticism of the U.S. military action in Iraq.

"It was an outrageous and insulting action by an insensitive politician," said one writer. Protests came from as far away as California, Texas and Utah, as word about the incident spread on the Internet.

Knoll yesterday wrote to Amy Goodrich, widow of Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, saying she was "incredibly upset" after learning through press reports that the Goodrich family was offended by her actions.

"I wanted to assure you once again that my intention was not to add to what must be a tremendously heartbreaking, difficult period," Knoll wrote. "I have attended dozens of funerals to offer my sympathy and condolences to the families of soldiers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice."

Gov. Ed Rendell, during appearances in Pittsburgh yesterday and throughout the weekend, came to Knoll's aid, saying he has confidence in her ability to perform her job.

Knoll said she offered a business card to a Goodrich family member "as a sign of my willingness to help the family through this difficult time in any way I can. To do anything that was deemed insensitive was completely counter to my intent."

Knoll said that Sgt. Goodrich's military service "was beyond the call of duty. If my regard for his family's grief was seen another way, it is thoroughly regrettable. The fact that you have been offended deserves and receives my most profound apology."

The letter was released by Knoll's office in Harrisburg. She was said to be away from the Capitol and not available for comment.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, Rendell insisted Knoll was not campaigning when she gave out a business card at the funeral.

Knoll wanted to give the soldier's family a way to contact her if they needed help, he said.

Rendell, a Democrat who is expected to run for re-election next year as is Knoll, said, "Nobody can tell me Catherine Baker Knoll is not a caring and decent person. I know she apologizes for any misunderstanding that her actions caused."

Rhonda Goodrich, sister-in-law of the slain Marine and the one who raised the issue of Knoll's conduct in a letter to the Post-Gazette, said yesterday she was still puzzled by Knoll's handing out her business card to a Goodrich family member and then doing television interviews outside the funeral home.

"If she wanted to offer the family help, why didn't she go talk to Joey's wife Amy or his parents?" Rhonda Goodrich said. "She handed a card and introduced herself just like a politician handing out fliers."

Rhonda Goodrich said Knoll's action showed "a big lack of judgment" and said she should apologize to the Marines also.

According to Rhonda Goodrich, Knoll told the family that "our government" is against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Not so, Knoll insisted. "I will continue to support our troops in my role as lieutenant governor and support our president as an American," she wrote. "That I somehow conveyed an impression that was interpreted as other than that will forever be saddening and upsetting to me."

Rendell emphasized that his administration has no official position on the fighting, beyond showing support for U.S. troops.

"We join with every Pennsylvanian in supporting our young men and women who are fighting this global war on terrorism," he said.

Rhonda Goodrich said she had no political motive in raising concerns about Democrat Knoll's appearance and statements at the funeral.

Goodrich said she's a registered Republican but added, "If [Republican U.S. Sen.] Rick Santorum or President Bush had showed up, I would be all over them, too."

Goodrich, who lives in Indiana, Pa., was part of a protest in October about an appearance by liberal, anti-Bush filmmaker Michael Moore at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

She said the program should have included a conservative spokesman to offset Moore, who had just released a film harshly critical of Bush.

"I wanted balance in the IUP program," Goodrich said, but strongly denied she had raised complaints about Knoll for political reasons.

[desflood]

I would like to go blow up her house (how's that for "compassionate conservatism").

[SWC Bonfire]

Shameless grandstanding by an elected politician? What next, you'll be telling me that death & taxes aren't going to go away?

[MannyIsGod]

I read that and it pissed me off.