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| This photo of Ashley Joppa-Haggeman was taken right before she was thrown out. |
The widow of a U.S. Army Ranger was ejected from a book signing event after confronting former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Ashley Joppa-Haggeman’s husband Staff Sgt. Jared Hagemann took his own life after struggling with another upcoming deployment to Afghanistan following multiple previous deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Rumsfeld was at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Friday, August 26th for a book signing event to promote his new book “Knowns and Unknowns.”
According to The News Tribune Joppa-Hagemann, who was accompanied by Jorge Gonzalez, executive director of Coffee Strong, a local veterans support organization, “introduced herself [to Rumsfeld] by handing a copy of her husband’s funeral program to Rumsfeld, telling him that her husband joined the military because he believed the lies told by Rumsfeld during his tenure with the Bush Administration.”
Rumsfeld is reported to have responded, “Oh yeah, I heard about that.”
Security agents and military police officers forcibly removed (“dragged”) Joppa-Hagemann and Gonzalez from the Post Exchange, the venue for the book signing event.
Joppa-Hagemann spoke just three days earlier at the State of the Soldier forum in Tacoma where she told the story of her husband’s struggle.
Besides the event at the military base, Rumsfeld made no public appearances. According to the book’s publisher, The Penguin Group, “The Known and Unknown tour will stop in Chicago, D.C., The Gerald Ford Museum, Fullerton, CA, The Nixon Library, The Reagan Library and the David Horowitz Freedom Center. There are two stops in Chicago and the DC event is at the Heritage Foundation.”
References:
Ranger’s widow ejected from book signing, posted by Matt Misterek on August 27, 2011 in The News Tribune: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/military/2011/08/27/rangers-widow-ejected-from-rumsfeld-book-signing/
Video of Ashley Joppa-Hagemann’s testimony at the State of the Soldier forum in Tacoma on August 23, 2011, taken by Todd Boyle: http://youtu.be/QsuNhDeK48Y
Video by Todd Boyle of news story on Joppa-Hagemann: http://youtu.be/fr85iXFpVvo
Contact: Leonard Eiger
Coordinator – Puget Sound Nuclear Weapon Free Zone
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