In Repose Blog

John Kopchinski, You are My Hero

I love reporting GOOD news!

John Kopchinski, a former Gulf War Army veteran and former sales rep for Pfizer lives just down the road from me in San Antonio. In 2003 Kopchinski had a baby, and a wife who was expecting twins when he decided to speak the truth, become a whistleblower, and take on one of the biggest drug giants in the world.

"In the Army I was expected to protect people at all costs," Kopchinski said in a statement. "At Pfizer I was expected to increase profits at all costs, even when sales meant endangering lives.

His decision to be true to himself and to continue to protect others cost him six years of his life as a player in a legal battle. Just imagine the severe stress upon his young family. Plus, he emptied his retirement.

His efforts led to Pfizer having to pay $2.3 billion (thats BILLION with a B) in civil and criminal penalties and it also plead guilty to a felony charge for promoting Bextra and 12 other drugs for unapproved uses and doses.

Kopchinski was just awarded $51.5 Million by a federal court.

Take a vacay John. And thank-you. What you did was amazingly brave, honorable and harder than most people will ever know. So many would have, and did of course, just keep quiet and keep their heads down like sheep. Not YOU. Your wife must be so proud of you. I know I am!

You can read the whole story HERE.

Funeral Protesters Revisited

Long time readers of In Repose Blog might remember my post of June 6. 
Coming from a military family, it is very hard for me to stomach the activities of these "god-fearing" people.

Today guest blogger Jamie Sue Austin links us to some current news, and gives us her thoughts on these utterly contemptible people.

I really really truly do believe in the freedom of speech. I really, really do...

But these people make my skin crawl.  While our collective paranoia fears Muslim extremists, islamofascist, and poorly armed terrorist cells in arid third world countries...we have people like this brewing little cauldrons of hate in our own country. Celebrating the death of  the good and righteous.  They are grief vultures swooping down on the wounded and plucking out their eyes.

I have always believed that the greatest threats are  not those we imagine exist outside our borders, but those we let fester and rot in our own backyards.

Anyways,  lovely verdict.  Nice that it will be overturned.  It's like getting your cake and eating it too. The courts get to show their disdain for this kind of inflammatory hate mongering and at the same time protect the first amendment by assigning a punishment so ridiculous that it can not be upheld.

-Jamie Sue Austin

Read the USA today story HERE.

Go Ahead, Trash My Funeral, This is America!

Hundreds of people came to the town of Bellevue Nebraska Tuesday morning to pay their respects to a firefighter and soldier.

Spc. Bill Bailey was serving in the National Guard in Iraq when he was killed by a roadside bomb.

This woman, Shirley Phelps-Roper, came to Bellevue too. She came because Spc. Bailey was gay. Her church group received a permit to protest the funeral from 300 yards. This church REGULARLY conducts anti-homosexual picketing at funeral services for U.S. soldiers. She and her friends came to protest at this man's funeral because of the sexual preference he held in his life.

No matter that the man was DEAD. No matter that he willingly gave up his last breath in this world for America.

No matter that Spc. Bailey gave his only LIFE, in part, to protect this country and to protect what we Americans hold so dear. Our very FIRST amendment, free speech... was guaranteed to Phelps-Roper because of men like Spc. Bailey who were and are willing to pay the ultimate price to protect this most precious right for all the free people who are citizens of this country.

The man was having his funeral! His friends and family and others came to pay tribute to him, his life and what he sacrificed, but Phelps-Roper had other things to think about. More important things than life and liberty and freedom in America...she had the sexual habits of a dead man to occupy her thoughts. She had a United States flag that needed stomping on by a child. She had GOALS.

One could say that Spc. Bailey died so that Phelps-Roper would have the right to come and trash his funeral.

Even in death, Spc. Bailey has more real and lasting humanity than Phelps-Roper can ever hope, or pray, to have herself.

Bugles Across America

As the daughter of, and also the wife of, former Air Force fighter pilots, I was happy to learn about Bugles Across America from Tim at Finalembrace.com.

Congress passed legislation in 2000 stating that Veterans had a right to at least two uniformed military people to fold the flag and play Taps on a CD player for final services.  Tom Day thought that Vets deserved something a little better and founded Bugles Across America.

Tom has found over 5000 volunteer bugle (or trumpet or cornet or flugelhorn) players willing to play Taps at a funeral or memorial service. The volunteer can be male or female and any age, as long as "they can play the 24 notes of Taps with an ease and style that will do honor" to the Veterans, their families and the burial detail performing the service.

You can go to Bugles Across America and either volunteer or request a bugler.

What a great idea Tom!