Kaliko Estates, LLC and its Property Manager Douglas Pochini want to evict the widow of a career military non-commissioned officer

The French preacher Lacordaire once said that the vocation of a soldier is next in dignity to the priesthood, not only because it commissioned him to defend justice on the field of battle and order on the field of peace, but also because it called him to the spirit and intention of sacrifice.

It is the soldier's high calling to the defense of justice and freedom which makes him (or should) so loved.  It was a soldier who first spoke the words recalled by the Church during every Mass at Holy Communion: "Lord, I am not worthy to have Thee come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed." (Mt 8:8).

The Breviary, which priests pray daily, praises Judas Machabeus, who refused to surrender to superior enemy forces and died saying: "Far be it from us to do such a thing as to flee from them.  If our time has come, let us die bravely for our brethren, and leave no cause to question our honor." (1 Macc 9: 10).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that, "Those who are sworn to serve their country in the armed forces are servants of the security and freedom of nations.  If they carry out their duty honorably, they truly contribute to the common goodof the nation and the maintenance of peace." (2310).

One soldier who served his country selflessly for twenty years was Camille "Joe" Melanson, my father, a non-commissioned officer who served in two wars - the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.  See here: http://www.leominsterhigh.com/lhs-military00.htm

During peacetime, he was always accompanied by his loving wife Rita, who, as with other military wives, also sacrificed so much for both country and family.

Joe Melanson passed away on September 19, 2000.  My mother has been a widow for nearly fourteen years now.  She should be enjoying her remaining years in peace and security.  But instead she has been served an eviction notice from her landlord (she sold her home in 2001 to make life easier - or so she thought) simply because she has stood up for her rights.  The Notice to Quit was signed by Douglas Pochini, a real estate broker who serves as the Property Manager for Kaliko Estates. 

Kaliko Estates, LLC, a landlord management company which owns and operates townhouses in Athol, Massachusetts, has served her with a Notice to Quit because she found it necessary to file complaints with the local Board of Health because of maintenance needs which were not being addressed and because Kaliko Estates was billing her [in violation of Massachusetts law - M.G.L., Chapter 186, Section 22] for water and sewer services without a written rental agreement.

The Athol Board of Health charged Kaliko Estates for various issues such as mold growth over her shower and a toilet which would back up.  And they charged Kaliko Estates a second time for billing for water and sewer without a written rental agreement.  When my mother asked for the monies back, Mr. Pochini, a truly despicable individual, replied, "I'm not going to refund the monies."  She took him to Court and won the monies back.  Such was the animus agianst my mother that Kaliko Estates made her go without a working stove for nine months.  In order to cook, she found it necessary to purchase a griddle and a steamer.  Mr. Pochini also accused her falsely of "pounding on walls" in retaliation for her legitimate complaints - in essence: for wanting to live with some dignity.

And so a military widow, whose husband received a letter of commendation from President George W. Bush which reads: "This certificate is awarded by a grateful nation in recognition of devoted and selfless consecration to the service of our country in the Armed Forces of the United States," is being threatened with eviction by Kaliko Estates and Mr. Douglas Pochini.  This company wants to make a military widow homeless. 

This is not gratitude for selfless service to the United States of America.  This is ingratitude.  And it is shameful!

Update: Eviction failed, see here.

MacArthur: Appeasement but begets new and bloodier war

Update.

"...I now turn to the Korean conflict. While I was not consulted prior to the President's decision to intervene in support of the Republic of Korea, that decision from a military standpoint, proved a sound one, as we -- as I said, proved a sound one, as we hurled back the invader and decimated his forces. Our victory was complete, and our objectives within reach, when Red China intervened with numerically superior ground forces.

This created a new war and an entirely new situation, a situation not contemplated when our forces were committed against the North Korean invaders; a situation which called for new decisions in the diplomatic sphere to permit the realistic adjustment of military strategy.
Such decisions have not been forthcoming.

While no man in his right mind would advocate sending our ground forces into continental China, and such was never given a thought, the new situation did urgently demand a drastic revision of strategic planning if our political aim was to defeat this new enemy as we had defeated the old.
Apart from the military need, as I saw It, to neutralize the sanctuary protection given the enemy north of the Yalu, I felt that military necessity in the conduct of the war made necessary: first the intensification of our economic blockade against China; two the imposition of a naval blockade against the China coast; three removal of restrictions on air reconnaissance of China's coastal areas and of Manchuria; four removal of restrictions on the forces of the Republic of China on Formosa, with logistical support to contribute to their effective operations against the common enemy.

For entertaining these views, all professionally designed to support our forces committed to Korea and bring hostilities to an end with the least possible delay and at a saving of countless American and allied lives, I have been severely criticized in lay circles, principally abroad, despite my understanding that from a military standpoint the above views have been fully shared in the past by practically every military leader concerned with the Korean campaign, including our own Joint Chiefs of Staff.

I called for reinforcements but was informed that reinforcements were not available. I made clear that if not permitted to destroy the enemy built-up bases north of the Yalu, if not permitted to utilize the friendly Chinese Force of some 600,000 men on Formosa, if not permitted to blockade the China coast to prevent the Chinese Reds from getting succor from without, and if there were to be no hope of major reinforcements, the position of the command from the military standpoint forbade victory.

We could hold in Korea by constant maneuver and in an approximate area where our supply line advantages were in balance with the supply line disadvantages of the enemy, but we could hope at best for only an indecisive campaign with its terrible and constant attrition upon our forces if the enemy utilized its full military potential. I have constantly called for the new political decisions essential to a solution.

Efforts have been made to distort my position. It has been said, in effect, that I was a warmonger. Nothing could be further from the truth. I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more revolting. I have long advocated its complete abolition, as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes. Indeed, on the second day of September, nineteen hundred and forty-five, just following the surrender of the Japanese nation on the Battleship Missouri, I formally cautioned as follows:

Men since the beginning of time have sought peace. Various methods through the ages have been attempted to devise an international process to prevent or settle disputes between nations. From the very start workable methods were found in so far as individual citizens were concerned, but the mechanics of an instrumentality of larger international scope have never been successful. Military alliances, balances of power, Leagues of Nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. The utter destructiveness of war now blocks out this alternative. We have had our last chance. If we will not devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature, and all material and cultural developments of the past 2000 years. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.
But once war is forced upon us, there is no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end.

War's very object is victory, not prolonged indecision. In war there is no substitute for victory. There are some who, for varying reasons, would appease Red China. They are blind to history's clear lesson, for history teaches with unmistakable emphasis that appeasement but begets new and bloodier war. It points to no single instance where this end has justified that means, where appeasement has led to more than a sham peace." (General Douglas MacArthur, Farewell Address to Congress, April 19, 1951).

General MacArthur was warning that unless we achieved decisive victory against North Korea, we would face a "new and bloodier war" with that nation in the future. Was he wrong? I don't believe so. Time will tell.

Joe Melanson (my father) believed that we would return to Korea. Here.

A land threatened in its peace...

"A land threatened in its peace and unity. This people has, in fact, become separated and divided. It has borne the weight and the bloody trial of a fratricidal war, and still today, great is the danger which threatens its tranquility and peace."

-Our Lady to Father Gobbi, Seoul, Korea, October 31, 1996.





My father served as a Tank Commander in Korea. He always believed that Korea would once again become a threat to world peace. And I agreed with him. There is more at work here than sabre-rattling. There is a spiritual component. Will North Korea be permitted to strike the United States with a nuclear weapon as part of a chastisement?

Photo taken in 1952 by Camille "Joe" Melanson and showing North Korean women (prisoners of war) being sent to internment camps. Many of these women would cut their wrists and write in blood on the train windows.

Related reading here.