VET-NET
Vietnam Combat Veterans, Ltd.
P.O. Box 1032, Pilot Point, Texas 76258-1032
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TO: Distribution List: ALPHA
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FILEREF: WALL0515.-96
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SUBJ: Further on Suspected Misinformation/Disinformation
REF: Replicas of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
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BACKGROUND:
�Two (2) prior phone conversations have occurred with Subject in this same matter and have been reported separately.
�On the 15th of May, 1996, at 1624 hrs, a TELCON was initiated by me, to Stan Adler of Lake County VetZ, (Waukeegan, IL).
�NOTE: I do not certify the following to be a verbatim reproduction of the subject phone conversation. However, in that it is being transcribed shortly after the conversation and in that this transcription is being made from copious notes taken during said conversation, I do certify that the essence, context and by-in-large the phrases and terminology are accurately maintained and are reproduced without variation from the original verbal conversation.
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THE CALL: [NOTE: SA = Stan Adler; MD = Mike Davis]
�Ringing....
SA: Hello
MD: Hey Stan, yeah Mike Davis here!
SA: Yeah
MD: How the hell ya' doin'?
SA: Oh...pretty good.
MD: Say, I wanted to touch base with ya' 'bout a few things
SA: Oh?
MD: One, I have a friend here with me who's a member of the Viet Nam Veterans Motorcycle Club, uh, his..
SA: Uh-huh...
MD: ...folks live, uh, just a few blocks down from me, uh...
SA: Uh-huh...
MD: ...he travels quite a bit, but I just happened to run into him here and uh, uh...we was talkin' `bout you'all's replica and he said the Club might be interested in finding out about it and wanted to get directions if somebody wanted to come up and visit with you'all....how in the hell would they find ya'?
SA: (laughs) We're in uh...we're in the phone book. Uh...we're in Waukeegan.
MD: Okay, but they, ya' know, drive to Waukeegan and then....and then what?
SA: 105 South Genessee Street
MD: 105 South Genessee Street. Okay if ahhh, if we're comin' in off ahh....I don't know...if we're comin' in ...I don't know I'm not lookin' at a map, but if we're comin' in off whatever the main road is out of ahhh...like...
MD: (To [name withheld for privacy considerations] at my location: "Where is it they would be coming from...like Chicago or somewhere like that?" [Received an affirmative nod in response.])
MD: ...Okay if they're coming from Chicago where would they go?
SA: Head East.
MD: Head East on Genessee?
SA: Yep.
MD: And it's got a Genessee exit off the...
SA: No. Uh-uh. No, you gotta' get into Waukeegan.
MD: Uh, oh, okay...East?
SA: You gotta' go into downtown Waukeegan. And then, when you get to downtown Waukeegan, you head East.
MD: Okay...so..
SA: And if you go too far you drive into the lake.
MD: Ah, okay...okay...and, uh, so once they turn off the main highway 'bout how far is it? A little bit or quite a bit?
SA: About 4 miles....5 miles.
MD: 4 or 5 miles. Okay...okay, I'll tell them that. Ah...hey, I wanted to check with you, when we talked the other day, about the confusion of uh...uh...you'all's structure and the structure of those guys out there in San Jose...
SA: Um-huh
MD: ...uh, about using the name The Moving Wall? Ah...didn't you tell me that you never use the name "The Moving Wall"?
SA: No, we don't. Our's is called...uh...ummm...what we used to call ours is "The Traveling Wall".
MD: The traveling...you never have called it "The Moving Wall"?
SA: I don't think so. Not that anybody can remember.
MD: Huh! Well...one of the guys...
SA: Uh...ya' know a lot of people...we don't control what the press does or what other guys do but most of them call it "The Moving Wall" because everybody....that's what they do. We don't control what people call it.
MD: But YOU never have called it "The Moving Wall"?
SA: Not to my recollection and not to ANYBODY that's on the board...we talked about it and NOBODY can recall ever having called it "The Moving Wall".
MD: I'll be darned! Ah...but your organization is, uh...the Lake County VetZ?
SA: Yep.
MD: "V-E-T-Z"? [Each letter spelled out individually]
SA: Yep.
MD: Uh...
SA: Uh...I mean they...he...the...they never...they never copyrighted the name anyhow...did they?
MD: Well..l..l, I don't know...well, ahh...
SA: 'Cause if they had they would have sent us a Cease and Desist Order a long time ago...
MD: uh...
SA: And if we happened to have used it, I...nobody recalls doing it...I mean there's a possibility maybe we did. Ya' know...but nobody can remember calling it "The Moving Wall".
MD: Huh! Well, apparently somebody is...uh, let me shuffle through this shit....that got forwarded over to me....let's see if I can get the right pile of stuff here....uh...somebody sent me some, oh, copies of stuff from...uh, some...where the hell is it....oh! It was those people that we first made the contact with the Chamber of Commerce in...in..how the hell you say...Munnuminee?
SA: Yeah
MD: Uh...and somebody apparently visited there and talked with this guy...uh...[name withheld for privacy considerations]...or something like that?
SA: Something like that...
MD: Yeah, and uh, they apparently made some copies of things that, uh...and one of them, here...let's see... well it looks like a tri-fold brochure.
SA: Uh-huh.
MD: Ya' know? eight and a half by eleven, folded twice so that it's three separate panels...
SA: Yeah.
MD: ...front and back. And the cover page of it says "The New Traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall owned and managed by Lake County Vetz."
SA: Uh-huh.
MD: And when you open it up it's a...got a little picture...let's see, it looks like it's a picture of the Wall. The copy's not too good here but that's what it looks like. And "Questions and Answers....Here are some answers to the most commonly asked questions." And it comes to things like "When did construction of "The Moving Wall" begin?"...
SA: Yeah...well I...
MD: ..."When was "The Moving Wall" completed?"...
SA: Well....uh...that...there's a possibility...
MD: ..."Who paid for "The Moving Wall"?"...
SA: Well....there's....that...that's...
MD: ..."What are the dimensions of "The Moving Wall"?"...
SA: Well...so...okay maybe we did use it....ya' know....as far as I remembered we didn't.
MD: And...
SA: Like I said, I don't think they copyrighted it or trademarked the name or anything else.
MD: Well then over here is a note...uh....it's printed and it says "Week of April 27, 1996 is okay. $!,000 donation for use. Our donation barrel must be put out. Property damage i-n-s..." - I guess that's insurance... "for $100,000 with Lake County Vetz named as"...c-u-r-t...c-e-r-t, I guess..."certificate holder." And then a signature that says "Stan Adler."
SA: Okay.
MD: And that looks like you!
SA: It probably is...
MD: And it sounds like some time not too terribly long ago! And when I talked to you the other day, I told you that I'm working with a group of guys who, uh...have a tendency to investigate things where it looks like somebody's not shootin' straight about things that are important and critical. And this is something that's important and critical to a number of people.
SA: Like I said, I don't think they copyrighted it, I don't think they trademarked it...so...
MD: Whoa...are we talking about copyright and trademark or are we talking about somebody lying to somebody? That's...
SA: Ya' know what...
MD: ...what I was talking about.
SA: Why don't you put it in writing. Send me a letter and then we'll talk about it. I'll let my attorney handle it.
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At this point Stan Adler hung up and the connection is broken.
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CONCLUSIONS:
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In that this matter is currently under (ongoing) investigation, I refrain from making any conclusions at this point. I do, however, pose the following observations:
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VET-NET
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-----Signed-----
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Michael J. Davis; SS, DFC, PH
Director; CWO-2, U.S. Army (Retired)