This Is What Happens When People Not Familiar With The Military Try To Honor Our Military

Yesterday’s Navy Times posted a story about the tribute to veterans that took place at the Democratic National Convention. It seems that the patriotic display of military power taking place on the screen behind retired Adm. John Nathman, a former commander of Fleet Forces Command, as he spoke was of Russian ships. Oops.

The article reports:

“I was kind of in shock,” said Rob Barker, 38, a former electronics warfare technician who left the Navy in 2006. Having learned to visually identify foreign ships by their radars, Barker recognized the closest ship as the Kara-class cruiser Kerch.

“An immediate apology [from the committee] would be very nice,” Barker said. “Maybe acknowledge the fact that yes, they screwed up.”

The background — featured in the carefully choreographed hour leading up to the president’s Sept. 6 speech accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination — showed four ships with radar designs not used in the U.S. fleet.

A follow up article in the Navy Times today reports:

Democratic officials apologized Wednesday for mistakenly displaying an image of the Russian Navy during a tribute to America’s veterans at last week’s Democratic National Convention.

This is the text of the DNC statement:

“Due to vendor error, incorrect images appeared briefly on screen behind fifty-one veterans during the convention and the DNCC apologizes for this mistake,” the statement said. “This error should not distract from the words of Admiral Nathman and others who spoke to President Obama’s strong record on issues that impact those who have served our nation. We’re proud of the service and sacrifice of our veterans and military families, and while they were an important and active part our of convention, Mitt Romney failed to even mention them in his speech in Tampa.”

Notice that it was ‘ “vendor error.” They are not taking responsibility for the mistake. That is just too typical.

Enhanced by Zemanta