At first I was reluctant to post this story as it seemed beyond the realm of possibility even in the America of today. But after investigation, especially at the site of the newspaper which published an account of the original ceremony, it appears to be true, despicable but true.

The newspaper in question with accompanying letters to the editor.
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2013/jan/1...istan/#comments

The original letter which sparked the outrage:

Target,

I am stationed in Washington State and shop often at the Target Store on Silverdale Way in Silverdale, WA as do most of my Brothers and sisters in arms. On May 30, 2012 my husband, MA2 (EXW) Sean
E. Brazas was Killed in Action while serving in Afghanistan. Today, we hung a Gold Star Banner in his honor on the street light on the corner of your store. We called weeks ahead of time to let the store manager know that we would be having this ceremony. The street light is on city property so we were just doing it as a courtesy call to let the store know there would be a lot of traffic on the corner infront of the store. We also informed the manager that the parking lot may have additional cars parked in it due to the ceremony. The ceremony was from 1030 am to 1100 am. The manager told us we were absolutely NOT aloud to use there parking lot for any part of our ceremony, to include parking our vehicles. We politely reminded her he was KILLED IN ACTION protecting our freedoms. She once again denied the request and told us it was "Target Policy". We went ahead and used the parking lot to park our cars anyway. We had several mayors, county commissioners, and service members in attendance along with myself, Seans wife. We utilized the very very BACK of the parking lot to park our cars then gathered near the street corner. While people were pulling up and gathering 2 target employees approached me and asked me what was going on. I explained to them that we were having a public ceremony on the street corner for my husband and we were simply parking our cars and gathering on city property. The gentleman told me this required written permission. I explained that I had asked for permission and was denied.. But this was city property where we were gathering and as far as parking was concerned I did not see any "No Trespassing" signs. I also explained it was 1030 in the morning and there were tons of open parking spaces available for customers. They continued to give me a lecture about how we could not utilize the parking lot. By this time the sheriff had arrived to attend the ceremony and said he'd take Care of it and said we were in no way violating any laws. Thankfully, the rest of the ceremony went flawlessly, no thanks to Target.

I was VERY disappointed in the way things were handled. It's unfortunate that your company is not more supportive of the military, especially of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. I hope someone somewhere reads this and fixes this so called "policy" you guys have in place. Its truly Unacceptable

Thank you for your time

Very Respectfully, Allie Brazas

Allie Brazas and her daughter with a picture of Sean in the background.



The memorial banner:



Damn those people at Target. I quit going there after they gave the boot to the Salvation Army, decided to change my mind, but I if I don't read this situation has been rectified and apologies extended to this widow of one of our soldiers who gave his life for our country I will never shop at a Target again.

At first I wasn't going to post this picture either as I felt the story itself said it all and this pic might be a bit excessive, but my wife strongly encouraged me to add it for, as she said, "it ties the whole story together." The pic explains itself.

I hate Target for the way they treat people. Are they owned by the United States or France?

To add fuel to this smoldering fire ..

Zitat

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Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel said: “Let me be very clear,” Steinhafel wrote in a note to employees at headquarters. “Target’s support of the GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender] community is unwavering, and inclusiveness remains a core value of our company.”

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JustMe, I want to thank you for finding that Facebook page about the protests occurring in Silverdale over this event. The postings there are very informative about the community reaction, the lack of media coverage, and the letters of apology from Target. I cannot believe that store manager could have been so stupid, especially given Silverdale and the surrounding area has a large military presence, but there you are.

Freeperjohn also makes a good point about Target's vocal support of the pervert movement. Just too bad their "inclusiveness" doesn't seem to extend to one of the families who lost a husband in the service of our country.