Vandalism to the Bristow VFW Post 3656
Dear Editor,
I want to start off by introducing myself before I get into the subject at hand. My name is Scot Thompson, I am a retired Army veteran of 29 years and have lived in Bristow since 2004. I have been an active member of the Bristow VFW since my retirement in 2018 and have been the commander since 2019. Now enough about me, I want to address some things that have been a point of contention on the Bristow Facebook Opinion and Discussion page for the last several days. And just to let everyone know I do not have a Facebook account, nor do I want one, other people keep me posted on discussions that may be of interest to me. Just so I am clear, this is not about Facebook, but what has taken place about the vandalism at the VFW post. The original post about the vandalism was about someone doing donuts in the parking lot, this somehow turned into vandalism on the rocket. The vandalism on the rocket is from some white paint that appears to have been sprayed on there and has faded with time. I do not know when this occurred, but as stated before, the paint is fading and was probably done several years ago and was not the original topic of the vandalism.
Now to address the vandalism that was posted on Facebook about the person(s) doing donuts in the parking lot. Around the 16th of February 2021, someone in a pickup was caught on camera doing donuts in the parking lot, and this is not the first time, nor will it be the last, although I hope it is. But that case has been turned over to the Bristow Police department with the description of the vehicle and we trust that the person(s) responsible will be dealt with. Some may wonder why we look at this as vandalism, well we were able to get some asphalt chip brought in to make our parking lot a lot better for anyone that uses our facility or just wants to visit the memorial and when people do the donuts it causes ruts and bad spots in the parking area and it also splatters rocks and gravel on the marble markers causing damage and undue wear. This is the only Wake Island Memorial in the Continental United States (CONUS), and we at the VFW Post are the caretakers of this memorial and we take great pride in doing this as our duty for those that served on the island and gave so much for their country.
I want to give my two cents about what has been said about our local newspaper. There have been some things said on Facebook about the employees at the Bristow newspaper, and not all were kind. I can only speak for myself when talking about the employees. In my experience with the dealings I have had with them, they have been respectful, helpful, and willing to put anything in the newspaper that I have taken to them to be published. And I am sure that if they had known of any vandalism at the post from any of the members, they would have contacted us to see if there was a story that could be printed. I cannot speak for them, but I am fairly sure that they do not troll the Facebook pages looking for something to publish. The fact is, there is not a story to be printed, the rocket “vandalism” is in fact something that happened a while back, as stated prior, and the person(s) doing the donuts is now a police matter. If there is a story concerning the donuts in the parking lot, I am sure the Bristow Police will share that with them.
And lastly, I do not want anyone to think I am picking on or chastising someone about their opinions on Facebook, I just ask that everyone proceeds with clear heads and gathers truthful information or evidence prior to rallying the troops. When I read the remarks on Facebook, I honestly believe that there are some very well-intentioned and patriotic people that want to take care of the town they live in as well as their veterans and the symbols that represent the struggles that those veterans dealt with in defending this great nation of ours. If anyone needs to contact me about joining the VFW or Auxiliary or if there are any questions, I can be reached by email at vfwbristow@gmail.com or call me at 918-856-8395.
Scot Thompson
Commander
VFW Post 3656