With thousands expected in Washington today to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War, scores of Marines – both retired and active duty – gathered Friday to honor an unlikely, little-known hero from the conflict.
In a ceremony where tears were shed and old comrades shook hands for the first time in more than half a century, they dedicated a life-size bronze statue of a horse.
But not just any horse, say many men who served alongside her during a desperate firefight in the last year of the war. This was Reckless – a Korean-born mare that the old leathernecks say was a comrade in arms who saved their lives.
The McDonnells: The Gift that Keeps on Giving
RICHMOND — Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell bought nearly $9,800 in clothing with money from her husband’s political action committee and tapped into his campaign and inaugural funds to buy $7,600 in mostly unspecified items, according to records and a representative for the PAC.
The spending is legal under Virginia’s lax campaign finance laws, which prohibit the conversion of political funds for private use only when a PAC or campaign committee disbands — not while it is operating.
But the purchases are unusual in Virginia, where campaign finance records indicate that candidates do not routinely dip into political funds to buy personal items such as clothing for themselves or their spouses.
Maureen McDonnell’s use of political donations comes to light at a time when she and her husband, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R), are under intense scrutiny for accepting luxury items and $120,000 in loans from wealthy Virginia businessman Jonnie R. Williams Sr. Federal and state investigators are probing the Star Scientific executive’s ties to the McDonnells, who promoted his firm’s nutritional supplement, Anatabloc. Last week the governor apologized for embarrassing the commonwealth and repaid the loans.
