Senators White, Punt Submit Gettysburg Resolution

National Park Service urged to repair damage, prosecute vandals

State Senators Don White, R-41st District, and Terry Punt, R-33rd District, introduced a Senate Resolution calling on Congress to provide funds to the National Park Service to expeditiously repair damage caused by vandalism at Gettysburg National Military Park on February 15.

The legislators also urged the NPS to work with federal, state and local law enforcement officials to apprehend and prosecute to the fullest extent available under statute the perpetrators of the vandalism.

Senator White is Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee. Senator Punt's Senatorial District includes Gettysburg.

On February 15, 2006, unknown individuals vandalized three Civil War monuments and stole a 120-year old sword at the Gettysburg National Military Park; and,

The vandals desecrated the monument for the 4th New York Battery, also known as "Smith's Battery," which was dedicated on July 2, 1888. A bronze statue of a Zouave infantryman was pulled from the pedestal of the 114th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Monument, which was dedicated on July 2, 1886. And, the top stone and sculpture of the 11th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Monument, dedicated on October 8, 1885, was dislodged and its sword taken.

"These acts of vandalism are a malicious and heinous attack of the sanctity of the Gettysburg National Military Park and the memory of the men who fought there and it is essential that the National Park Service take whatever steps necessary to repair the monuments and prosecute the offenders," Senator White said.

"The Gettysburg National Military Park and its cemetery, monuments and memorials is a treasured and sanctified landmark for Pennsylvania and the nation honoring the men who fought valorously and those who made the ultimate sacrifice," Senator Punt said. "I hope law enforcement officials find those who desecrated the memorials and make them fully answer for the damage they caused."