University of Florida and Emory University fraternity members visiting Panama City, Florida, last weekend allegedly harassed wounded veterans in ways reminiscent of Vietnam War-era protests.
“They actually spit on me and my service dog as well. That’s just so disrespectful,” veteran Nicholas Connole told a local NBC affiliate Thursday.
Mr. Connole and other veterans were in town for its biannual Warrior Beach Retreat. Suspected fraternity members were also said to have poured beer on veterans and urinated on the American flag.
“They’re a total disgrace for our military,” said Linda Cope, founder of Warrior Beach Retreat, the station reported. “They were urinating on the American flag. They were throwing things off of the balconies.”
Zeta Beta Tau fraternity members from the University of Florida and Emory University were staying at the Lake Town Wharf Resort when the alleged incidents occurred.
University of Florida suspended the fraternity, The Associated Press reported Friday afternoon.
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Emory University released a statement Thursday by email denouncing the harassment of veterans but said an investigation revealed no evidence to implicate its students.
“There were too many students from Emory for none of them to be involved. It is hard for me to believe that no Emory student was a part of this. This denial is a slap in the face of veterans,” Ms. Cope told a CBS affiliate in Atlanta on Friday.
The station said that Warrior Beach Retreat received an apology letter from the University of Florida’s Zeta Beta Tau president, Tyler Drescher. The apology included the assurance that an investigation would take place.
“I said do your investigating, but I want to know what you’re going to do. What are you going to do? said Ms. Cope, the station reported.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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