travisab1
02-11-2004, 06:46 PM
This is that 15 year old Veteran of Veteran's;
From: Nikki mendicino.usa@verizon.net
I know that most of you read the article about the POW/MIA Flag that
was in the Chicago Sun Times, written by Neil Steinberg...here it
is, just in case you didn't received it.
target=_blank>http://www.suntimes.com/output/steinberg/cst-nws-stein04.html (http://www.suntimes.com/output/steinberg/cst-nws-stein04.html)
Mr. Steinberg began to receive more emails than he could count
(good!) and he started to send out a "form email" as his reply.
Several people sent this to me, so I know he sent the some one to
different people. Here is a copy of it.
"This is about as clear as I can say it. I took aim at what I see is
a certain view about the government, and seem to have hit a lot of
proud vets and grieving relatives, and for that I am truly sorry.
What tears me up is that I already firmly believe the things you and
your fellows are telling me. I'll be revisiting this topic in my
column next Wednesday.
Until then, I want to pass this along -- I'm on the editorial board,
and it's the editorial that I wrote the year before last.
'Today is observed as Veterans Day, the first since Americansoldiers
once again found themselves fighting a war far from home,once again
were called to that duty that is neither welcomed norshirked. It is
always important to mark the day, to acknowledge theenormous
sacrifice required to protect our beloved country from along line of
enemies, from George III to Osama bin Laden. But todayit is extra
important. Because today we must honor not only thosewho fought in
the past, but those who fight now. Who might be dyingas you read
these words. Fly the flag. Explain to your children thesacrifices
that were made--are being made--for them. There hasalways been evil
in the world, and those serving in ourmilitary--men and women,
Americans of all nationalities, races,creeds and religions--have
always stood strong between our homesand the thrusting dagger of
destruction. Honor them.'
I waited until today because I really wanted to see just what type
of column that Mr. Steinberg printed today...I wasn't impressed.
Here is the link to today's column.
target=_blank>http://www.suntimes.com/output/steinberg/cst-nws-stein11.html (http://www.suntimes.com/output/steinberg/cst-nws-stein11.html)
Well, just like the title of my last email, this is about all I can
take and I did email Mr. Steinberg...this is my email to him and
these are my thoughts!! I'm hoping that you send me an email to let
me know what you think!! Here goes...it's long, but I hope I've said
what needed to be said!! Send me an email and let me know what you
think!! (I've just uploaded the photo of John Kerry and me that I
mention in the email to the Photos section in case you want to see
it, let me know if you would like to hear the story behind it!!
My email is long, hope you don't mind!!
Mr. Steinberg:
My name is Nikki Mendicino, I am 15 years old and for five years
now, I have been an advocate for our troops, our Veterans and our
POW/MIA's. I have been given the title of "The World's Youngest
Veteran-POW/MIA Advocate" from Veterans all around the world and it
is a title that I wear very proudly. This is my web site:
target=_blank>http://www.nikkiusa.com (http://www.nikkiusa.com/) and even though it isn't updated because of
school (I do have a 3.8 GPA and I am involved in everything that my
school offers) and all of the events that I attend, but I do hope
that you visit it. Maybe this will help you realize that the POW/MIA
Flags will not disappear one by one, because there are kids just
like me who do care about these issues and we will not let this
legacy die. Just for the record Mr. Steinberg, I will not "move on"
for you or anyone else and I certainly won't "move one" because
someone from the media, or even our government tells me that I
should. That is what is really the good thing, maybe not for you
and the media/Hollywood types like you who can throw their opinions
out to everyone in America or maybe not for our government
officials, but for our country, it is a good thing.
I must tell you, that I was one of the first people to "break" your
column to the Veteran Community and even though you may not have
liked some of the responses that you received, I am very glad that I
sent your column through my lists because I know it hit all over the
world (including to our troops in Baghdad) in minutes!
target=_blank>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nikkiusa/message/13 (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nikkiusa/message/13)
I really wanted to be the first one to send you an email about your
column, but I waited because I thought it would be best to see if
you responded to any of the Veterans that I knew would send you
email. As I see it, you have responded twice, the first was a
form "email" that you sent to quite a few people and the other is
your column today, but it is now my turn Mr. Steinberg, because your
are very wrong on your comments and actually, I think your column
today is almost as bad. I certainly won't call you names or threaten
you because I don't need to do those types of things and I do not
work that way, but by the time I am done, I'm sure that you won't
know what to say to me either, just like many of the politicians
that I've met....including Senator Kerry who even stuttered trying
to answer a question that I had asked him face to face (I'll attach
the picture for proof, just look at his face)!
You stated that there are better ways to honor our U.S. service
personnel and I would like to ask when or how you have ever done
that?? Mr. Steinberg, I have been in Washington D.C. every Veterans
Day and every Memorial Day for the past five years and it is an
honor for me just to be able to be there with so many of our
nation's Veterans, just to say thank you. Have you ever been to
Washington D.C. for either of these holidays, just to be with our
Veterans, to say thank you or to just show your support? I didn't
think so.
Have you ever visited our Veterans in our Veterans Centers and
Hospitals? Have you ever sat with a Veteran and listened to the
story that he has to tell and watch him cry because what he went
through for our country still causes him pain.....a pain that you or
I will never understand? Have you ever fought our government and
politicians to get them to cosponsor bills that will support our
Veterans because our Veterans cannot have their benefits cut
anymore? Have you visited any of our injured troops that have
returned from Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi
Freedom? Have you been there to welcome home any of our troops when
they returned? Once again, I didn't think so!
There are also ways to honor our POW/MIA's and one is by flying that
Flag that you seem to think has "negative overtones." Have you ever
been to a POW/MIA event to remember those that we left behind Mr.
Steinberg? Have you ever dealt with the DPMO to find out what they
are doing to bring our POW/MIA's home? Have you ever had the family
of a POW/MIA thank you for giving them hope? Have you ever talked
with a family member whose only representation is that "black flag
with the negative overtones"? Have you ever read any of the
evidence from our own governmental archives stating that POW/MIA's
have been seen alive? Have you ever had a family member missing,
just to be declared dead a few hours, days or months later, even
though no trace or body had been found? Have you ever been to the
Central Identification Lab in Hawaii and seen the tables upon tables
of remains that are waiting to be identified even though their
families don't even know that their remains may be there? Have you
ever read the classified intelligence reports on Captain Michael
Scott Speicher, that state he was alive in Iraq before the war
started? target=_blank>http://www.nikkiusa.com/Speicher.html (http://www.nikkiusa.com/Speicher.html)
For the third time....I didn't think so.
Well Mr. Steinberg, I have done all these things and more, not
because I come from a military family, but because I care about the
men and women who have defended our nation.....past, present and
FUTURE!
I have been asked to speak all over the country at Veterans-POW/MIA
events, just because I said "thank you" and through all of my
awards, medals and recognitions, that is the biggest honor for me
that I have ever received. Have you ever been invited to speak at a
Veteran event Mr. Steinberg? If you haven't, you will never know the
feeling, the pride or the honor of being able to stand on a stage
and tell every Veteran there thank you and welcome home. Those few
words mean more to them than any other thing that I could ever do.
I would bet you everything that I have, that if a family member of
yours was sent to Iraq and suddenly disappeared off of the face of
the earth, that you would want answers and I would also bet that you
would never give up hope until you had those answers. Or would you
just believe the government when they told you that your family
member was Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered. Would that be good
enough for you? Do you have a son or a daughter Mr. Steinberg? Would
you give up on them if they were MIA just because the government
told you to? I also would bet Mr. Steinberg that if you did have a
son or daughter MIA in Iraq that you would think a lot differently
about that black flag with negative overtones, because it would be
the only thing that you had to honor your loved one who so proudly
served, but never came home. And what if there are POW/MIA's in Iraq
that we don't bring home, doesn't that flag represent them also??
Should they not be remembered?? Should we not try to help America
learn about them by using the POW/MIA Flag to represent them too?
Should we just allow the POW/MIA Flag to disappear because none of
the MIA's matter anymore?
There is no memorial to honor those who never came home, they have
no grave where their families can go to place flowers or say a
prayer. Their loved one is gone and they have no idea where they
may be or what happened to them and you are hoping that the only
symbol that they have to help them guarantee that the sacrifices and
freedom that their loved one's lost is never forgotten, disappears
one by one. Mr. Steinberg I can't tell you how sad and misinformed
your comments really are.
I'm sorry to continue this much, but because of your article today,
I have to, this means way too much to me. Even though you did
apologize (I will give you credit for the "I'm sorry" even though
I'm not sure how sincere it really was), the rest of your article
today turned as negative as you think that flag is. Yes, Mr.
Steinberg, you were the person that the Veterans were attacking,
even if you don't think so, because you attacked something that is
very close and personal to them, telling them to "move on." What
you really did, without saying it, is told every Veteran who every
served our country to get over the experiences that they had and to
forget everything they had to endure just to get home, no matter how
bad or traumatic it may have been. That flag is a part of their
history and Mr. Steinberg as long as I am alive and until every
POW/MIA, alive or not, is returned to the United States where they
belong, that flag will never disappear and I will guarantee you
that!! I'm really glad that you take your kids onto the front porch
on Veterans Day to say the Pledge of Allegiance, and on Veterans Day
that is very patriotic, but do you fly the American Flag 24/7 like
most of us? Do you teach your children to actually Pledge their
Allegiance to our Country? Have you taught them what that means?
Have you ever taken your kids to a Veterans Day Ceremony to help
them learn or to a Veterans Center to visit with our disabled or
elderly Veterans who have also become forgotten??
In the year 2024, I will become the President of the United States
and we will once again become one UNITED nation under God, with a
government of the people, by the people and for the people, the way
that it is suppose to be. When I get to Washington, I will never,
ever be labeled a politician, because I will always serve America
and her people, not some political party. And NO person who serves
our country will ever be left behind on my watch! Because of your
column, when I do get to Washington, I will make sure that the
POW/MIA Flag flies at every building and every place that it is
suppose to according to Public Law 105-85 and if that Law is ever
changed I will take the POW/MIA Flag and place it on every flag pole
myself if I have to!!!
Columns like yours and columnists like you make me very pleased that
I have chosen to get involved the way that I have, because I know
that it will be people like me who make a difference in this world.
I only wish that right now, I had the platform and opportunity just
like you do in the Chicago Sun Times, to reach all of America....the
difference between you and I would be that I would never put
opinions of mine about something that I know nothing about in a
column for the whole country to think it is Gospel just because it
is in the paper.
Finally, (I'm sure that you are glad!), I want to leave you with a
thought on your comment about designing the "Doncha Know There's a
War On" flag (from the first column). Just in case you have never
noticed Mr. Steinberg, we already have one of those it's called the
American Flag!! It proudly flies every day all throughout our
country, during times of peace and during war. It will always be
there, as a symbol of our freedom, just as it has during every war
that we have ever been in...the same people we have to ask "doncha
know there is a war going on" are the same people who don't
understand the true meaning of our Flag anyway.
I'm sending a copy of this email to Mr. Richard Roeper also, because
he did a wonderful story on me a few years ago
(target=_blank>http://www.nikkiusa.com/roeper.html) (http://www.nikkiusa.com/roeper.html)) and I wanted him to know that
I am working harder than ever and learning more every day. I also
wanted him to know that I am really thankful that all columnists
aren't like you, some of them research their issues before writing
adverse opinions.
"It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us freedom of the
press" and you, Mr. Steinberg, will always have freedom of the
press, because a soldier fought or died for our country....or maybe
they are still listed as Missing in Action.
I'm curious to see if you do read this whole email and I am really
interested in your response....if you send one!
~Nikki~
A friend to all Vets
and PROUD of it!!
Brother's/Sister's, I told you about this 15 year old Lady.
Here she is doing her job for us.
Travis:a:
From: Nikki mendicino.usa@verizon.net
I know that most of you read the article about the POW/MIA Flag that
was in the Chicago Sun Times, written by Neil Steinberg...here it
is, just in case you didn't received it.
target=_blank>http://www.suntimes.com/output/steinberg/cst-nws-stein04.html (http://www.suntimes.com/output/steinberg/cst-nws-stein04.html)
Mr. Steinberg began to receive more emails than he could count
(good!) and he started to send out a "form email" as his reply.
Several people sent this to me, so I know he sent the some one to
different people. Here is a copy of it.
"This is about as clear as I can say it. I took aim at what I see is
a certain view about the government, and seem to have hit a lot of
proud vets and grieving relatives, and for that I am truly sorry.
What tears me up is that I already firmly believe the things you and
your fellows are telling me. I'll be revisiting this topic in my
column next Wednesday.
Until then, I want to pass this along -- I'm on the editorial board,
and it's the editorial that I wrote the year before last.
'Today is observed as Veterans Day, the first since Americansoldiers
once again found themselves fighting a war far from home,once again
were called to that duty that is neither welcomed norshirked. It is
always important to mark the day, to acknowledge theenormous
sacrifice required to protect our beloved country from along line of
enemies, from George III to Osama bin Laden. But todayit is extra
important. Because today we must honor not only thosewho fought in
the past, but those who fight now. Who might be dyingas you read
these words. Fly the flag. Explain to your children thesacrifices
that were made--are being made--for them. There hasalways been evil
in the world, and those serving in ourmilitary--men and women,
Americans of all nationalities, races,creeds and religions--have
always stood strong between our homesand the thrusting dagger of
destruction. Honor them.'
I waited until today because I really wanted to see just what type
of column that Mr. Steinberg printed today...I wasn't impressed.
Here is the link to today's column.
target=_blank>http://www.suntimes.com/output/steinberg/cst-nws-stein11.html (http://www.suntimes.com/output/steinberg/cst-nws-stein11.html)
Well, just like the title of my last email, this is about all I can
take and I did email Mr. Steinberg...this is my email to him and
these are my thoughts!! I'm hoping that you send me an email to let
me know what you think!! Here goes...it's long, but I hope I've said
what needed to be said!! Send me an email and let me know what you
think!! (I've just uploaded the photo of John Kerry and me that I
mention in the email to the Photos section in case you want to see
it, let me know if you would like to hear the story behind it!!
My email is long, hope you don't mind!!
Mr. Steinberg:
My name is Nikki Mendicino, I am 15 years old and for five years
now, I have been an advocate for our troops, our Veterans and our
POW/MIA's. I have been given the title of "The World's Youngest
Veteran-POW/MIA Advocate" from Veterans all around the world and it
is a title that I wear very proudly. This is my web site:
target=_blank>http://www.nikkiusa.com (http://www.nikkiusa.com/) and even though it isn't updated because of
school (I do have a 3.8 GPA and I am involved in everything that my
school offers) and all of the events that I attend, but I do hope
that you visit it. Maybe this will help you realize that the POW/MIA
Flags will not disappear one by one, because there are kids just
like me who do care about these issues and we will not let this
legacy die. Just for the record Mr. Steinberg, I will not "move on"
for you or anyone else and I certainly won't "move one" because
someone from the media, or even our government tells me that I
should. That is what is really the good thing, maybe not for you
and the media/Hollywood types like you who can throw their opinions
out to everyone in America or maybe not for our government
officials, but for our country, it is a good thing.
I must tell you, that I was one of the first people to "break" your
column to the Veteran Community and even though you may not have
liked some of the responses that you received, I am very glad that I
sent your column through my lists because I know it hit all over the
world (including to our troops in Baghdad) in minutes!
target=_blank>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nikkiusa/message/13 (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nikkiusa/message/13)
I really wanted to be the first one to send you an email about your
column, but I waited because I thought it would be best to see if
you responded to any of the Veterans that I knew would send you
email. As I see it, you have responded twice, the first was a
form "email" that you sent to quite a few people and the other is
your column today, but it is now my turn Mr. Steinberg, because your
are very wrong on your comments and actually, I think your column
today is almost as bad. I certainly won't call you names or threaten
you because I don't need to do those types of things and I do not
work that way, but by the time I am done, I'm sure that you won't
know what to say to me either, just like many of the politicians
that I've met....including Senator Kerry who even stuttered trying
to answer a question that I had asked him face to face (I'll attach
the picture for proof, just look at his face)!
You stated that there are better ways to honor our U.S. service
personnel and I would like to ask when or how you have ever done
that?? Mr. Steinberg, I have been in Washington D.C. every Veterans
Day and every Memorial Day for the past five years and it is an
honor for me just to be able to be there with so many of our
nation's Veterans, just to say thank you. Have you ever been to
Washington D.C. for either of these holidays, just to be with our
Veterans, to say thank you or to just show your support? I didn't
think so.
Have you ever visited our Veterans in our Veterans Centers and
Hospitals? Have you ever sat with a Veteran and listened to the
story that he has to tell and watch him cry because what he went
through for our country still causes him pain.....a pain that you or
I will never understand? Have you ever fought our government and
politicians to get them to cosponsor bills that will support our
Veterans because our Veterans cannot have their benefits cut
anymore? Have you visited any of our injured troops that have
returned from Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi
Freedom? Have you been there to welcome home any of our troops when
they returned? Once again, I didn't think so!
There are also ways to honor our POW/MIA's and one is by flying that
Flag that you seem to think has "negative overtones." Have you ever
been to a POW/MIA event to remember those that we left behind Mr.
Steinberg? Have you ever dealt with the DPMO to find out what they
are doing to bring our POW/MIA's home? Have you ever had the family
of a POW/MIA thank you for giving them hope? Have you ever talked
with a family member whose only representation is that "black flag
with the negative overtones"? Have you ever read any of the
evidence from our own governmental archives stating that POW/MIA's
have been seen alive? Have you ever had a family member missing,
just to be declared dead a few hours, days or months later, even
though no trace or body had been found? Have you ever been to the
Central Identification Lab in Hawaii and seen the tables upon tables
of remains that are waiting to be identified even though their
families don't even know that their remains may be there? Have you
ever read the classified intelligence reports on Captain Michael
Scott Speicher, that state he was alive in Iraq before the war
started? target=_blank>http://www.nikkiusa.com/Speicher.html (http://www.nikkiusa.com/Speicher.html)
For the third time....I didn't think so.
Well Mr. Steinberg, I have done all these things and more, not
because I come from a military family, but because I care about the
men and women who have defended our nation.....past, present and
FUTURE!
I have been asked to speak all over the country at Veterans-POW/MIA
events, just because I said "thank you" and through all of my
awards, medals and recognitions, that is the biggest honor for me
that I have ever received. Have you ever been invited to speak at a
Veteran event Mr. Steinberg? If you haven't, you will never know the
feeling, the pride or the honor of being able to stand on a stage
and tell every Veteran there thank you and welcome home. Those few
words mean more to them than any other thing that I could ever do.
I would bet you everything that I have, that if a family member of
yours was sent to Iraq and suddenly disappeared off of the face of
the earth, that you would want answers and I would also bet that you
would never give up hope until you had those answers. Or would you
just believe the government when they told you that your family
member was Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered. Would that be good
enough for you? Do you have a son or a daughter Mr. Steinberg? Would
you give up on them if they were MIA just because the government
told you to? I also would bet Mr. Steinberg that if you did have a
son or daughter MIA in Iraq that you would think a lot differently
about that black flag with negative overtones, because it would be
the only thing that you had to honor your loved one who so proudly
served, but never came home. And what if there are POW/MIA's in Iraq
that we don't bring home, doesn't that flag represent them also??
Should they not be remembered?? Should we not try to help America
learn about them by using the POW/MIA Flag to represent them too?
Should we just allow the POW/MIA Flag to disappear because none of
the MIA's matter anymore?
There is no memorial to honor those who never came home, they have
no grave where their families can go to place flowers or say a
prayer. Their loved one is gone and they have no idea where they
may be or what happened to them and you are hoping that the only
symbol that they have to help them guarantee that the sacrifices and
freedom that their loved one's lost is never forgotten, disappears
one by one. Mr. Steinberg I can't tell you how sad and misinformed
your comments really are.
I'm sorry to continue this much, but because of your article today,
I have to, this means way too much to me. Even though you did
apologize (I will give you credit for the "I'm sorry" even though
I'm not sure how sincere it really was), the rest of your article
today turned as negative as you think that flag is. Yes, Mr.
Steinberg, you were the person that the Veterans were attacking,
even if you don't think so, because you attacked something that is
very close and personal to them, telling them to "move on." What
you really did, without saying it, is told every Veteran who every
served our country to get over the experiences that they had and to
forget everything they had to endure just to get home, no matter how
bad or traumatic it may have been. That flag is a part of their
history and Mr. Steinberg as long as I am alive and until every
POW/MIA, alive or not, is returned to the United States where they
belong, that flag will never disappear and I will guarantee you
that!! I'm really glad that you take your kids onto the front porch
on Veterans Day to say the Pledge of Allegiance, and on Veterans Day
that is very patriotic, but do you fly the American Flag 24/7 like
most of us? Do you teach your children to actually Pledge their
Allegiance to our Country? Have you taught them what that means?
Have you ever taken your kids to a Veterans Day Ceremony to help
them learn or to a Veterans Center to visit with our disabled or
elderly Veterans who have also become forgotten??
In the year 2024, I will become the President of the United States
and we will once again become one UNITED nation under God, with a
government of the people, by the people and for the people, the way
that it is suppose to be. When I get to Washington, I will never,
ever be labeled a politician, because I will always serve America
and her people, not some political party. And NO person who serves
our country will ever be left behind on my watch! Because of your
column, when I do get to Washington, I will make sure that the
POW/MIA Flag flies at every building and every place that it is
suppose to according to Public Law 105-85 and if that Law is ever
changed I will take the POW/MIA Flag and place it on every flag pole
myself if I have to!!!
Columns like yours and columnists like you make me very pleased that
I have chosen to get involved the way that I have, because I know
that it will be people like me who make a difference in this world.
I only wish that right now, I had the platform and opportunity just
like you do in the Chicago Sun Times, to reach all of America....the
difference between you and I would be that I would never put
opinions of mine about something that I know nothing about in a
column for the whole country to think it is Gospel just because it
is in the paper.
Finally, (I'm sure that you are glad!), I want to leave you with a
thought on your comment about designing the "Doncha Know There's a
War On" flag (from the first column). Just in case you have never
noticed Mr. Steinberg, we already have one of those it's called the
American Flag!! It proudly flies every day all throughout our
country, during times of peace and during war. It will always be
there, as a symbol of our freedom, just as it has during every war
that we have ever been in...the same people we have to ask "doncha
know there is a war going on" are the same people who don't
understand the true meaning of our Flag anyway.
I'm sending a copy of this email to Mr. Richard Roeper also, because
he did a wonderful story on me a few years ago
(target=_blank>http://www.nikkiusa.com/roeper.html) (http://www.nikkiusa.com/roeper.html)) and I wanted him to know that
I am working harder than ever and learning more every day. I also
wanted him to know that I am really thankful that all columnists
aren't like you, some of them research their issues before writing
adverse opinions.
"It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us freedom of the
press" and you, Mr. Steinberg, will always have freedom of the
press, because a soldier fought or died for our country....or maybe
they are still listed as Missing in Action.
I'm curious to see if you do read this whole email and I am really
interested in your response....if you send one!
~Nikki~
A friend to all Vets
and PROUD of it!!
Brother's/Sister's, I told you about this 15 year old Lady.
Here she is doing her job for us.
Travis:a: