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White, Punt Submit Gettysburg Resolution
National Park Service Urged to
Repair Damage, Prosecute Vandals
HARRISBURG -- State
Senators Don White, R-41st District, and Terry Punt, R-33rd District, introduced
a Senate Resolution calling on Congress to provide funds to the National Park
Service to expeditiously repair damage caused by vandalism at Gettysburg
National Military Park on February 15.
The legislators also urged
the NPS to work with federal, state and local law enforcement officials to
apprehend and prosecute to the fullest extent available under statute the
perpetrators of the vandalism.
Senator White is Chairman of
the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee. Senator
Punt's Senatorial District includes Gettysburg.
On February 15, 2006, unknown
individuals vandalized three Civil War monuments and stole a 120-year old sword
at the Gettysburg National Military Park; and,
The vandals desecrated the
monument for the 4th New York Battery, also known as "Smith's Battery," which
was dedicated on July 2, 1888. A bronze statue of a Zouave infantryman was
pulled from the pedestal of the 114th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Monument,
which was dedicated on July 2, 1886. And, the top stone and sculpture of the
11th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Monument, dedicated on October 8, 1885,
was dislodged and its sword taken.
"These acts of vandalism are
a malicious and heinous attack of the sanctity of the Gettysburg National
Military Park and the memory of the men who fought there and it is essential
that the National Park Service take whatever steps necessary to repair the
monuments and prosecute the offenders," Senator White said.
"The Gettysburg National Military Park and its
cemetery, monuments and memorials is a treasured and sanctified landmark for
Pennsylvania and the nation honoring the men who fought valorously and those who
made the ultimate sacrifice," Senator Punt said. "I hope law enforcement
officials find those who desecrated the memorials and make them fully answer for
the damage they caused."
 Sen.
Don White
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