Hungarian Heritage Review, 1991 (20. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1991-01-01 / 1. szám
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - He wanted to go. He was re-trained and ready to go. But he wasn't permitted to go. Now, "Operation Desert Shield" will just have to do what it may yet have to do, without him! A reserve Captain in the U.S. Marines attached to the 4th Civil Affairs Group of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, he was called up for active duty and assigned for refresher-training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. After 21 days of retraining, he and his unit were ordered to get ready for shipping out to Saudi Arabia. Then came the thunderbolt. He was notified by his Commanding Officer that the Code of Federal Regulations prohibited him from serving in the military "during a national emergency or mobilization". So, U.S. District Court Judge, Alfred Lechner, Jr., has re-donned his black robe again and is now dispensing justice in his courtroom! Thinking back on his unusual military experience, he said: "I wanted very much to be a part of this thing, especially after I got the callup. It was a priority thing with me." In fact, U.S. District Court Judge and Reserve Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, Alfred Lechner, Jr., had asked for a waiver of the Code of Federal Regulations in his case, but it was denied. Now, this son of a World War II veteran, who served with the U.S. Marines and was wounded in the Battle of Okinawa, had been placed on "standby reserve"! NEW YORK, N. Y. - About 43 years ago, when the Greek Royalist Government was engaged in a civil war against communist guerrillas, the body of CBS correspondent, George Polk, was found floating in Salonika Bay. His hands and feet were rope-bound, and he was shot in the head. It was a clearcut case of assassination. The Greek Government at the time blamed the communists, the communists blamed the Greek Government, and the U.S. sided with the ruling junta in Athens. To "pull-the-plug" on the case before She unraveled the Threads of a Conspiracy and Produced a Best-Seller: KATI MARTON it got out of hand, the Greek police, under governmental pressure, finally found a scapegoat, tortured him into signing a confession, and, when the case was adjudicated, he was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment - only to be released in 1961. Meanwhile, the assassination of the American correspondent had become "yesterday's news" and was buried in deep cover. That is, until Kati Marton, the former ABC News Bureau Chief in Bonn and the wife of TV Anchorman, Peter Jennings, started to dig into it. —continued next page JANUARY 1991 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 7
