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Knoll: I'm Sorry
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| By DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press Writer |
July 26, 2005 |
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Lt. governor apologizes to Marine's family
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PITTSBURGH - Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll apologized to the family of a Marine killed in Iraq for showing up uninvited for his funeral last week and giving out a business card.
Knoll went to the July 19 funeral of Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, 32, of Westwood, who died July 10 in Hit, Iraq. Family members said she left a business card and made a remark about "our government" being against the war.
In a letter dated Monday to Goodrich's widow, Amy, Knoll said she left a card in case the family wanted to contact her "and as a sign of my willingness to help the family through this difficult time in any way I can. To do anything that was deemed insensitive was completely counter to my intent."
"We asked for an apology and that's what we got," said Rhonda Goodrich, Joseph Goodrich's sister-in-law, who has been speaking on behalf of the family. She said the apology was accepted, although the family had also wanted Knoll to apologize to the Marine Corps.
"Probably, in all honesty, she didn't even know she was acting inappropriately, she's so out there," said Goodrich, of Indiana. "The business card, I will always believe, was handed out as campaign fodder."
Knoll said in her letter that she arrived too late to offer her personal condolences. That rankled Rhonda Goodrich, who said she believed Knoll came to get publicity.
"She didn't have time to be with Amy or Joe's parents, but she made time for the TV cameras," she said. "That's where I'm still a little bitter."
Goodrich said Knoll remarked to Joseph Goodrich's aunt that "our government" was opposed to the war.
Kate Philips, spokeswoman for Gov. Ed Rendell, said Pennsylvania "supports men and women serving in Iraq," and the governor hopes that Knoll's letter will put the matter to rest. The governor also planned to send a letter to Goodrich's family, Philips said.
"Sergeant Goodrich's service was beyond the call of duty," Knoll's letter continued. "If my regard for his family's grief was seen another way, it is thoroughly regrettable. The fact that you have been offended deserves and receives my most profound apology.
"I will continue to support our troops in my role as Lt. Governor and support our President as an American. That I somehow conveyed an impression that was interpreted as other than that will forever be saddening and upsetting to me," the letter said.
Knoll said she has attended "dozens of funerals to offer my sympathy and condolences to the families of soldiers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice."
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