| From the Webmaster. I would like to thank Mr. Jim Strickland
for straightening this out. I receive all kinds of letters from Veterans
that tell me about where our country is heading and how government and
corporations are destroying our basic morals. Sometimes I publish the
articles and sometimes I don't. Is the Target story true, this is why I
put on the heading above "Is this true about Target Stores?" because I
want your answers. This is why Mr. Strickland sent me this letter and I
would like to thank him again. If you receive any emails that talk about
the Target Store, read the letter below. |
Jeff,
| This is just one of those d - - - - d urban legends circulating the net. The
only truth is that original author Dick Forrey, did (5 years ago in 2002)
ask a local Target Store for a cash donation and was refused because local
stores cannot contribute cash, only gift cards. He admits he never applied to
Corporate HQ. Target was a National Sponsor of "The Wall that Heals", the same
exhibit for which Forrey was requesting a local donation. |
The "letter" has been added to at about every stop by people that need to get a
life, this 2007 version bears little resemblance to Mr. Forrey's original
letter.
Mr. Dyrek should never have published it and most especially not commented on it
until he authenticated it. It degrades the entire site. IMHO he should publish
a retraction and include what Target actually does to support Veterans.
Target is NOT
a French owned company. Target is as American as Apple pie and Ice Cream,
founded in 1902 as Dayton Dry Goods Company it is now publicly traded on New
York Stock Exchange (Symbol: TGT) and owns the Marshall-Field chain, the
Mervyn's chain, the Rivertown Trading Company and Associated Merchandising
Corporation. Although the Target discount chain was started in 1962 the name
was not changed to the Target Corporation until 2000. For the Target history
see
Target Story
(A French-based financial institution, AXA, does now hold about 42 million
shares of Target stock, but that holding constitutes less than 5% of Target
Corporation's outstanding shares. Such shares were purchased on the open market
just as you or I could.)
Because of Legal reasons (blame the shyster lawyers for this), Target does not
participate in the in-store collection of toys for the USMC's Toys for Tots
campaign, however, their subsidiary Marshall Field is one of the national
sponsors.
Not only did
Target sponsor the 2003 tour of "The Wall that Heals" — the same exhibit for
which Forrey was soliciting donations — but it also donated to World War II
Memorial, the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association and the Disabled American
Veterans Auxiliaries.
I cannot comment on the continuation of insurance benefits for employees called
to active duty (this is a new addition to the rumor) but I doubt its factuality
since Target is one of the corporations paying their employees the difference
between their military pay and their civilian pay while they are on active duty.
The first paragraph (the original letter was in paragraphs
not the one run-on paragraph like the one now circulating) represents
either a misunderstanding on the part of the author or a misinformed employee or
both. Large outfits such as Target must have procedures and controls over their
charitable gifts, otherwise they could easily donate themselves right out of
business.
Dick Forrey, a member of the Indiana-based Howard
County Vietnam Veterans organization, rashly penned the original message in March 2002 after failing to secure a 100 sponsorship for a
travelling Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Wall exhibit from his local Target
store. Mr. Forrey was rebuffed, because Target does not give out cash
donations through local stores; they donate money only at the corporate
level. Mr. Forrey has since apologized for his mistake and issued a
retraction:
"I made a mistake on this one, and
I've learned a hard lesson — that's for sure. What started out as a
message for the members in our organization has turned into a hate-type
thing. I never wanted to start any national boycott. I just wish it
would all stop.
Some people have used my words and perpetuated lies. It's sad that some
of these people would use veterans as a way to push their own political
views. I've sent out a retraction, and no one pays any attention."
Target also explained their side of the story:
"We want to clearly and completely apologize for any misunderstanding
regarding Target's support of the Vietnam Wall and our corporate giving program.
Giving back to the communities where our stores are located is something we're
proud to do. In fact, nationwide, Target Corporation gives more than 2 million
a week to the communities in which we serve.
In March of 2002, a veteran approached one of our stores seeking a 100 donation
for a display of the "moving wall" in his area. Target does support events in
the communities in which our stores are located. While each store determines
which events to sponsor, any contribution is limited and is made in the form of
a gift card. The stores are not able to give cash contributions to any
organization. Stores are also able to donate volunteer hours to community events
and projects.
Our corporate giving program that does incorporate cash donations is handled
through a process called grants. Unfortunately, the veteran and his organization
were not provided the proper information to facilitate consideration of a grant
from either the store or our corporate office. The initial response of the team
member at the store and the reply from our corporate office are inconsistent
with the respectful manner in which we want all of our guests to be treated. We
are truly sorry for this oversight and the resulting confusion that has taken
place.
We accept all applications for grants from January 1 to September 30 of each
calendar year. Any guest can request a grants application brochure at their
local store, called "Grant Guidelines." Veterans programs may be considered for
grants if the subject matter falls into one of our three general areas of
giving: education, arts and family violence prevention.
This is certain: Target appreciates the dedication and service of all our
veterans. Thank you again for your interest."
In fact, the Target Corporation donates a tremendous amount of money to
charitable causes every year, and in both 2002 and 2003 they topped Forbes
magazine's list of "America's Most Philanthropic Companies." Among the many
organizations to which Target donates are veteran-related causes, including
exhibits like the one for which Mr. Forrey was seeking a contribution:
In the Greater Cleveland area alone, Target has recently donated more than
95,000 to such worthwhile causes as the Museum of Art, the Rape Crisis Center,
the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and the Cleveland Reads literacy
program.
The company has been no less generous toward veterans. Not only did Target
contribute to the World War II Memorial and sponsor the 2003 tour of "The
Wall that Heals" — the same exhibit for which Forrey was soliciting donations
— but it also donated to the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association in New York,
the Hays County veterans in Texas, and the Disabled American Veterans
Auxiliaries in Michigan and California.
As the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) noted on their website:
"Although there has been a resurgence of patriotism
and support for our nation’s veterans, there have been various messages
posted on the Internet that would lead people to believe that corporate
America, specifically retail department stores, are falling short in
supporting our nation's veterans.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars would like to remind all
that the Internet culture weaves rumors and misinformation. Simply put,
don't believe everything you read. For example, an e-mail message urging
veterans to boycott Target has been circulating on the Internet because a
solicitation request to support "The Moving Wall" was denied."
Target has a long-held corporate policy regarding donations. And in all
fairness, Target contributes more than 2 million weekly to charitable causes
and was one of the corporate sponsors for the 2003 tour of the Vietnam Veteran's
Memorial Fund's "The Wall That Heals." "The Wall That Heals" is a traveling
Vietnam Veterans memorial and museum that has a strong educational component for
schools and serves to honor all our veterans.
Since the anti-Target message first began to circulate, several other claims
have been tacked onto it by those seeking to make Target look bad: that Target
responds to charitable requests by stating they only support 'gay and lesbian
causes,' that Target is French-owned, and that Target does not contribute to the
Toys for Tots program sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps, and that Target
refused to allow reservist employees who had been activated to continue their
health benefits:
Target's stated policy is that they provide grants at the corporate level for
programs involving the arts, education, and family violence prevention, and
donates at the local level to a variety of charitable causes. The line about
Target's responding to inquiries by stating that they provide corporate grants
only for 'gay and lesbian causes' is a falsity added to later versions of the
message.
Check out what the Veterans of Foreign Wars has to say at
http://www.vfw.org/news/target.htm
Unlike the urban legend, everything
I say above can be Copyright Dates with a little research.
It is my thought that they have done enough to deserve the support of veterans,
their families and those of us that support our military.
Because of their lopsided contributions to racist and gun control
organizations the two that I boycott are Penny's and K-Mart.
JMS
Jessie H.Riggs Jr. wrote:
A letter sent to the webmaster of Yellowairplane.com. I had heard
something about this, but didnt know specifics....
Dick Forrey of the Vietnam Veterans Association wrote:
"Recently we asked the local TARGET store to be a proud sponsor of the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall during our spring recognition event we
received the following reply from the local TARGET management:
"Veterans do not meet our area of giving. We only
donate to the arts, social action groups, gay &
lesbian causes, and education." So I'm thinking, if the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial Wall and veterans in general, do not meet their
donation criteria, then something is really wrong at this TARGET store.
We were not asking for thousands of dollars, not even hundreds, just a
small sponsorship for a memorial remembrance." As a follow-up, I
E-mailed the TARGET U.S. Corporate Headquarters and their response was
the same. That's their national policy. Then I looked into the company
further. They will not allow the Marines to collect for 'Toys for Tots'
at any of their stores. And during the recent Iraq deployment, they
would not allow families of employees who were called up for active duty
to continue their insurance coverage while they were on military
service. Then as I dig further, TARGET is a French-owned corporation.
Now, I'm thinking again. If TARGET cannot support American Veterans,
then why should my family and I support their stores by spending our
hard earned American dollars! And, have their profits sent to France.
Without the American Vets, where would France be today?
"They, most likely would be speaking German and trading in Deutsche
Marks" "
Sincerely,
Dick Forrey,
Veterans Helping Veterans
Please send this on to everyone you know to let Target know what we
think of Target.
|
|
This is the letter below that was sent to me
from a United States Veteran.
Even Dick Forrey claims that it was changed. Then someone placed it
in a mass mailing. |
All about Target Stores From Dick Forrey.
(You need to read this)
Wasn't it last Christmas that Target refused to let the Salvation Army ring
their bells in front of their stores?
Dick Forrey of the Vietnam Veterans Association wrote:
"Recently we asked the local TARGET store to be a proud sponsor of the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial Wall during our spring recognition event we received the
following reply from the local TARGET management:
"Veterans do not meet our area of giving. We only donate to the arts, social
action groups, gay & lesbian causes, and education." So I'm thinking, if the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and veterans in general, do not meet their
donation criteria, then something is really wrong at this TARGET store. We were
not asking for thousands of dollars, not even hundreds, just a small sponsorship
for a memorial remembrance." As a follow-up, I E-mailed the TARGET U.S.
Corporate Headquarters and their response was the same. That's their national
policy. Then I looked into the company further. They will not allow the Marines
to collect for 'Toys for Tots' at any of their stores. And during the recent
Iraq deployment, they would not allow families of employees who were called up
for active duty to continue their insurance coverage while they were on military
service. Then as I dig further, TARGET is a French-owned corporation. Now, I'm
thinking again. If TARGET cannot support American Veterans, then why should my
family and I support their stores by spending our hard earned American dollars!
And, have their profits sent to France. Without the American Vets, where would
France be today?
"They, most likely would be speaking German and trading in Deutsche Marks" "
Sincerely,
Dick Forrey,
Veterans Helping Veterans
Please send this on to everyone you know to let Target know what we think of
Target. |
| Below are my comments and I retract the
statement about Target stores putting others above the Veterans, but still read
the rest of the letter because it's true and has nothing to do with Target
Stores. Just look at the cross above the Korean War Veterans memorial in
San Diego. The cross was placed there in 1954 and now some atheist doesn't
like and it has to be torn down. Arlington Cemetery has millions of
crosses above it's soldiers, will these be torn down too. This is what is
happening to our country, step by step, inch by inch, we are being torn apart
from within. I'm just wondering why our veterans and our churches don't
have a lobby as powerful as the ACLU. The more I read, the more I see, and
the more I travel, we are losing our country and I can see it happening.
But it's going to happen, the fall of the American Empire. Then we will
lose our new cars, our boats, motorcycles, houses, jobs and everything.
When the Pledge of Allegiance was removed from the schools, our teaching of
unity was lost and our country is drifting apart. Just wait and you will
see the truth. C. Jeff Dyrek. |
Webmasters Comments.
Dear Ken and Annette.
Thank you very much for the letter. It's interesting how veterans rate lower
than gay and lesbians at Target Stores. I will make sure that I never go to a
Target store. It is interesting about France and most of the European countries
that they are terribly anti religious just like the U.S. is. But the homosexuals
are treated like Gods gift to the earth. I really believe that the
Tsunami was the first action of God against the Worldly ways of mankind. Katrina
was also an attack against a filthy city. We have not seen anything yet. I am
interested to see what 2006 brings.
In the past several weeks I have had several people come up to me and, totally
out of the blue, say that they did not believe in God. It's interesting to see
that all of these people who made this remark to me do believe in cheating on
their wives, using foul language, short changing people and basically doing what
ever they want. The thought that has been going through my mind is that "It is
easy to not believe. You don't have to be a responsible person, you don't have
to be an honest person and you can just do anything you want because, as one man
puts it, when you're dead, you're dead." What a shame.
Tonight I was watching TV. The commercials were terrible. "Sex in the City. I
must have be on Ecstasy. The kids are gone and you are practically naked," the
commercials said. Almost every commercial is pushing sex and drugs. When I
was in the Navy we took fire fighting courses. They said, " Don't spray the
flames, spray the source of the fire." Yet, our people are so stupid that they
can't even see the source of the fire. Our people yell and scream bloody murder
about the crimes and don't do a thing about the source. They never studied
psychological warfare. The source of the fire is intentional psychological
warfare against our country, in the form of intentional, by smart alec copy
cats, and by unintentional programs just trying to make their ratings better.
About ten years ago I went back to college. I had most of my upper division
courses completed but I had to take a lot of lower division courses. When I
mentioned about the degeneration of our country, in a sociology course, the kids
were in an uproar. They yelled, "Why do you think you can tell us what to
think." was one of the statements. Most of the kids had the same opinion as the
one that made this original statement. These kids were mostly freshmen and were
about eighteen years old. They never experienced any responsible part of life.
They never had a full time job, rented an apartment, paid for their own cars,
bought their own food, raised any kids themselves or ever had hard times. They
were just repeating what the national media had taught them, just like they were
parrots. Yet, they were ready to fight to the end for their right to be filthy
regardless what the consequences of their filth was. This is the
real reason for the 18 year old vote. It is so that unqualified voters can
make crucial decisions about our countries future.
We are now seeing the massive effects of brain washing on our country and other
countries as well. Everything is filthy and violent right from the music to the
TV to the video games. These things are the source of the fire and most of the
Veterans don't even see it because it comes disguised as, FOX Kids, Simpsons and
Family Guy programs. Watch Fox Kids next Saturday morning and see how filthy it
is. I watched it for less than five minutes and the screen went blank, then a
voice came on and said, "We need a massive all girl sex orgy, we're all turning
gay." This didn't increase the kids interest in the program or
even increase the networks sales, it was blatant brainwashing.
Is that freedom of speech? Is that legal to tell someone's kids? I
went to the former Chief of Police and asked him what would happen if I said
this to a ten year old girl. He stood up and almost hit me, just for asking.
I had to suddenly yell that this was an exact quote off of a Saturday morning
FOX Kids program.
We have already lost. A preacher on the short wave radio explains it like this.
The lightning is seen long before the thunder is heard or its effects are felt.
Most people can't see the lightning because they are blinded by the words,
"Freedom of Speech" or "Civil Liberties." But when the thunder hits they all run
and hide and cry to mommy to help them. We are now seeing the lightning every
day, but we will hear the effects of the thunder soon when our country breaks
down.
I think that God left me disabled so I can sit and watch what is really going
on. If I was not disabled, like I was when I was claiming to be an
atheist, more than twenty five years ago, I probably would have been sucked up
by the terrible mess that we are all getting ourselves into right now, myself.
But God made sure that I can see the truth, and guess what! Once I started
writing about the woes of our country on my website, God sent me to the North
Pole to be healed.
Webmasters
Story.
I'm not really completely healed but I'm in a lot better shape than I have been
in 25 years. Please read the link above to find out what really happened with
that deal. It's interesting that the doctor couldn't heal me but 1st Timothy
5-23 says exactly how to heal a problem like mine. The link above will tell you
how this really happened.
I inadvertently and unknowingly followed the verses of the Bible, which will
heal all if we would just read them and listen. This is why the governments are
pushing against the Bible and God so hard. They make money by us not being
healed just like what that doctor did to me. He didn't look for the source of
the problem, he just sprayed the flames and got paid for it, if you want to
think of it that way.
But our whole world is following the ways of Satan because it's fun and easy and
we don't have to be concerned about the consequences. But the world
doesn't look for the clap of thunder that we are going to hear as a result of
our ways.
It appears that Target stores are right on target, when it comes to the ways of
the world. They don't want to help the world, they just want its money, but they
will never get mine.
Thank you very much,
C. Jeff Dyrek, Webmaster. |
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