Delbert Belton.
Paul Monchnik.
Albert Loehlein.
Lawrence "Shine" Thornton.
What does these four men have in common?
All were white men who served the United States Military in World War II.
All were white men who were murdered by black people in the last eight years.
We'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge George Greaves, a white World War II who was murdered in 2010 as he arrived home. [Teens Being Questioned in Elderly Man's Murder: Man shot in his driveway as he arrived home, NBC Philadelphia, August 20, 2010]:
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Barely even a local story was the murder of white World War II veteran George Greaves back in 2010. He was murdered by two blacks - one who attend Martin Luther King Jr. High School - a mere 12 miles from the location of the Starbuck's in Philadelphia where two blacks were arrested triggering an international incident |
Myrtle Ryan is Greaves closest living relative. She had the grim task of identifying her cousin -- a man she describes as a private and kind person.
"It’s sad," she said. "You work your entire life, you retire and have to have something like that happen."
She says the former body builder, who was a World War II veteran serving as a Seabee in the Navy, was anything but frail -- even at age 87. She’s convinced he would have fought back and it appeared his killers got away with no money.
"They didn’t get in the house apparently because the wallet was there, and the keys to the car were there, and yet the door was open… it wasn’t open, but it was unlocked," Ryan said.
His home was located 12 miles from 1801 Spruce Street, the Philadelphia address where two black males were arrested for loitering in a Starbuck's and failing to cooperate with police nearly eight years later.
They became an international story, generating massive outrage, while the murder of 87-year-old George Greaves is but a tear lost in the rain. [2 Teens Charged in Elderly Man’s Murder: Investigators say 17-year-old girl used grandfather's handgun, NBC Philadelphia, August 22, 2010]:
Two teenagers were charged in connection with the murder of an 87-year-old Cedarbrook man earlier this week.
Philadelphia homicide detectives say a 17-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy confessed to killing George Greaves outside his home on Wednesday.
Police sources tell NBC Philadelphia's Monique Braxton the pair gave statements confessing to the crime on Friday night. Investigators say the girl pulled the trigger and told police she used her grandfather's handgun in the fatal shooting.
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Two blacks murdered George Greaves 12 miles from the Starbuck's where two blacks were arrested for loitering and failing to cooperate with the police |
But the suspect's grandfather told Braxton his granddaughter did not use his handgun in the shooting. He said she was picked up by police at his home. He also says the 17-year-old is a student at Martin Luther King, Jr. High School and has never been in trouble with the law before.
NBC Philadelphia is not releasing the grandfather's name because police have not released the name of the 17-year-old suspect.
Police say the teen suspects live just a few blocks away from Greaves and said they planned to rob him. Investigators also say the suspects told police they snatched a ladies purse not far from Greaves' home.
Greaves was found with a bullet through his chest in his driveway on the 7900 block of Pickering Street Wednesday afternoon.
Witnesses say they saw a woman wearing a Muslim headscarf and a man in a black shirt and shorts run from Greaves' house shortly after hearing shots fired.
Neighbors say Greaves, who many knew by his nickname, “Bud” was living out his golden years and enjoying life. Some say the arrests bring a sense of relief.
"My 5-year-old didn't want to come outside. Everyone was staying in..some people didn't want to go to work," Denyse Morgan said.
Greaves was a World War II veteran and Navy Seabee.
Delbert Belton.
Paul Monchnik.
Albert Loehlein.
Lawrence "Shine" Thornton.
George Greaves.
Five white World War II veterans murdered by blacks in the past eight years.
What was it they fought to preserve again?