Post-Gazette - Veterans Exert Right to Visit Closed World War II Memorial
By Tracie Mauriello, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Tears filled John Lichko's eyes as he thought of the Army Air Corps comrades he served with in England and France. The memories flooded back as he posed for a picture under a pillar at the World War II Memorial that commemorates the contributions of Pennsylvania veterans.
"Being here really makes you miss your buddies. Some of the guys I served with for three years," said Mr. Lichko, 90, who grew up in Vandergrift and now lives in Flatrock, Mich., just south of Detroit.
The government shutdown that began 10 days ago nearly robbed him of the chance to remember them and to see the towering pillars of granite and the Freedom Wall's 4,048 gold stars, each representing 100 Americans who died in the war. . . .
That's also a concern of the American Center for Law and Justice, a civil rights firm in Washington, D.C. that has been working to get the memorials fully open for everyone to visit.
The memorials normally are open 24 hours a day without round-the-clock staffing, so it's unreasonable to restrict access because of the shutdown, center director Jordan Sekulow said in a telephone interview. It cost more for the Park Service to erect barricades around the memorials and send over security guards, who wouldn't normally be there, to keep people out, he said. . . .