I knew about this because one of my friends from Belgium had notified me regarding the said atrocity. Today it's actually in the newspapers, so it is more than heresay or opinion. All I can say is what a damned shame. Hope this gets worked out...
Ill veteran ordered to attend his hearing on theft charges
By Kathleen Brady Shea
Inquirer Staff Writer
The attorney for an 82-year-old World War II veteran said his client was too ill to attend his preliminary hearing on theft charges yesterday, an excuse the judge rejected.
The decision by Magisterial District Judge John Anthony to require Earle R. Hart of Berwyn to make an appearance may have been influenced by the presence of half a dozen other octogenarian veterans. Despite obvious health issues, they traveled from as far away as Red Bank, N.J., to confront the man they say ripped them off and betrayed their trust.
Police say Hart's criminal behavior arose from his membership in Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, a nationwide organization of about 7,500 lifetime members who fought in the largest land battle of World War II in which the United States participated.
Acting as an executive board member for VBOB's Delaware Valley chapter, Hart organized a trip to Belgium and Luxembourg to commemorate the battle's 60th anniversary in 2004 and pocketed more than $80,000 that belonged to other veterans, police said. Detectives said Hart used the money for purchases such as a Mini Cooper for his girlfriend, Holly McCord, whom he later married.
Anthony told Hart's attorney, Mark Much, that Hart could not waive the hearing over the phone, and about a half-hour later, Hart walked into the courtroom with two women who were not identified.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert L. Miller said Hart had agreed to a conditional waiver. In exchange for giving up his right to a hearing, Hart received a reduction of his various theft charges from 10 to three. If the case goes to trial, the charges will be reinstated, Miller said.
Hart, his attorney, and his supporters declined comment after the hearing, but his accusers had plenty to say.
Stanley A. Wojtusik, the past national president of VBOB, said the case is about more than money. He said Hart's daughter, Peggy Hart Earle, the founder of the Hartstrings clothing line, had offered to pay the debt to make the case disappear.
"This was such a betrayal; money alone is not going to satisfy them," said Wojtusik of the 200 veterans who made the trip. "We would like to have a letter of apology."
Wojtusik said Hart left Belgium and Luxembourg without paying bills for hotels and services after people in those countries had rolled out the red carpet for their American liberators.
"It's an international embarrassment," said Edith T. Nowels, a VBOB official.
Hart, who once served as an advisory board member for the Pennsylvania Veterans Museum, has described action on the front lines in publications ranging from an Embassy of Belgium newsletter to online military sites.
He was a principal in Chester County's Strasburg Landfill, a controversial 22-acre dumping ground for toxic chemicals that became a Superfund site in 1989.
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Contact staff writer Kathleen Brady Shea at 610-701-7625 or kbrady@phillynews.com.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080...ft_charges.html
