Ace of Spades HQ

November 01, 2009

An American Hero Was Honored Today
— Dave in Texas

Someone most of us (including me) likely never heard of. Officer Leslie W. Coffelt gave his life fifty nine years ago defending the President of the United States.

Major Garrett of Fox noticed dozens of Secret Service agents outside Blair House this morning, at 6:30am, in the rain.

In 1950, Coffelt, 40, was a member of the White House Police Force, the fore-runner to the US Secret Service Uniformed Division. On Nov. 1, of that year, he was standing post with three other officers (Floyd Boring, Donald T. Birdzell and Joseph H. Downs). At the time, city buses dropped off passengers on Pennsylvania Avenue near Blair House.
The Trumans were living in Blair House during White House renovations. On the afternoon of Nov. 1, Truman was upstairs taking a nap.
Two Puerto Rican nationalists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, approached Blair House from opposite directions and opened fire. Coffelt, stationed inside a guard booth, suffered three gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. Coffelt rallied enough to exit the booth, brace himself against it and, from a distance of about 30 feet, shoot Torresola to death with a single shot to the head.

The last line of defense was another officer in the house, armed with a Thompson submachine gun. Because of Officer Coffelt's actions, mortally wounded though he was, the last line was not approached.

May he rest.

tip andylevy via Twitter.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:49 PM | Comments (53)
Post contains 245 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Back when men were men and women were proud of it.

Posted by: Wilhelm Klink at November 01, 2009 04:56 PM (bjqWr)

2 Some gave all. That is all that can be said.

Posted by: Mallamutt at November 01, 2009 05:06 PM (V9SYy)

3 Wikipedia: "In 1952, Collazo was sentenced to death, but President Truman commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. He was sent to the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kansas. Collazo's sentence was commuted to time served by President Jimmy Carter on September 6, 1979, after spending 29 years in jail. President Carter also commuted the sentences of Collazo's fellow nationalists Irving Flores, Rafael Cancel Miranda, and Lolita Lebrón. Collazo had been eligible for parole since April 1966, and Lebron since July 1969." But wait, it get's better! Guess where Collazo went right after Jimmuh pardoned them! "In 1979, Collazo and the other nationalists were decorated by Cuba's President Fidel Castro. In the Puerto Rican Cultural Center of Chicago, Illinois, there is a mural painted honoring Puerto Rico's independence leaders which include the images of Collazo and Torresola." Sickening...

Posted by: Realist at November 01, 2009 05:06 PM (7M8kd)

4 Ugh. Jimmah strikes again.

Posted by: RushBabe at November 01, 2009 05:07 PM (LKkE8)

5 Why the hell did Truman commute the sentence?

Posted by: Britt at November 01, 2009 05:08 PM (DcWbe)

6 Go boil your head, Jimmah.

God rest you, Officer Coffelt.

Posted by: Fallen Sparrow at November 01, 2009 05:13 PM (poGcm)

7 Jimmy Carter should get elephantiasis of the penis.

Posted by: Unclefacts, Meteor Summoner, Lover of Bacons at November 01, 2009 05:13 PM (erIg9)

8 Griselio? thats a new one for me. glad on the head shot.

Posted by: society strata lowest the at November 01, 2009 05:22 PM (SY5ST)

Jimmy Carter, like a liberal, always takes the side of the bad guys. Asshole.

Posted by: Crusty at November 01, 2009 05:22 PM (qzgbP)

Posted by: captain_obamerica at November 01, 2009 05:26 PM (l71WL)

11 I'm confused. Why did they give the Nobel Peace Prize to Obama when this freedom fighter was still available?

Posted by: captain_obamerica at November 01, 2009 05:28 PM (l71WL)

head shot while wounded. Good work

What is a Puerto Rican nationalists. They live on a tropical island, what the hell do they have to be mad about

Posted by: Ben at November 01, 2009 05:29 PM (bftbi)

13 Now that's a man. Rip Mr. Coffelt.

Posted by: winewife at November 01, 2009 05:29 PM (OnM4p)

14 And by freedom fighter, I obviously meant St. Collazo.

Posted by: captain_obamerica at November 01, 2009 05:29 PM (l71WL)

15 anyone see the lastest hoffman poll? up 15 on Owens without Scuzaball in the race, up 17 if she is

Posted by: Ben at November 01, 2009 05:29 PM (bftbi)

16 That is really something. It seems this hero should be better known. Thanks for pointing this out.

Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at November 01, 2009 05:33 PM (r1h5M)

Collazo's sentence was commuted to time served by President Jimmy Carter on September 6, 1979, after spending 29 years in jail. President Carter also commuted the sentences of Collazo's fellow nationalists Irving Flores, Rafael Cancel Miranda, and Lolita Lebrón. Collazo had been eligible for parole since April 1966, and Lebron since July 1969."

Didn't Bill Clinton pardon some other Puerto Rican nationalists/terrorists in 2000? I think so.

In the Puerto Rican Cultural Center of Chicago, Illinois, there is a mural painted honoring Puerto Rico's independence leaders which include the images of Collazo and Torresola."

Chicago honors some nasty people (Ayers, William). Some folks need to honor the radicals and liberate that painting.

Posted by: CJ at November 01, 2009 05:34 PM (JQtNT)

Bill Clinton pardoned FALN terrorists in a transparent attempt to give Thunder thighs Rodham aid in her New York Senate campaign.

This is how LIBTARDS make decisions. WHAT WILL HELP ME.

Clinton did not say, IT WILL BE WEEKS before I make this decision.

I completely understand LIBTARDS.

Posted by: gus at November 01, 2009 05:34 PM (MaqIC)

CJ, Obama is from Chicago. Bill Ayers is "just a guy in the neighborhood".

What confounds me, is that these DISHONEST LIBTARD hacks are not OBVIOUS to everyone.

Posted by: gus at November 01, 2009 05:36 PM (MaqIC)

OT - sorry.

This is pretty important before the elections. If it could get legs, it might change things (yeah - I know - G L with that.)

Terrible oppressive insurance corporations raking in an obscene 6% profit margins.

http://tinyurl.com/yha5v8s

Why won't these dot connect?

Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at November 01, 2009 05:37 PM (r1h5M)

Why won't these dot connect?

See, the first thing you need to understand here is the insanely high profit-to-earnings ratio.

Posted by: B.H. Obama, Super-genius at November 01, 2009 05:46 PM (EW49d)

Ditherer-in-Chief is about to take some decisive action.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal has released reports that Rush is hiding in Afghanistan, Hannity is in the N. Pakistan badlands, and FoxNews has moved to Tehran.

Smoke if you've got 'em, and then hunker down. This could be a long war.

Posted by: Rewrite! at November 01, 2009 05:47 PM (UaSIe)

23 17

In the Puerto Rican Cultural Center of Chicago, Illinois, there is a mural painted honoring Puerto Rico's independence leaders which include the images of Collazo and Torresola."

Chicago honors some nasty people (Ayers, William). Some folks need to honor the radicals and liberate that painting.

Posted by: CJ

A few years ago Chicago tried to name a street after Black Panther cop-killer Fred Hampton.

Posted by: Crusty at November 01, 2009 05:52 PM (qzgbP)

Obama needs weeks and weeks and weeks to make a SINGLE decision on Afghanistan. What happens when this dimwit needs to make MANY decisions?

Posted by: gus at November 01, 2009 05:57 PM (MaqIC)

It would be pretty hard to take a shot for marxist Obama.

Damn shame that rabbit didn't kill Jimmy.

Posted by: dagny at November 01, 2009 05:59 PM (5tUne)

26 "Chicago honors some nasty people (Ayers, William). Some folks need to honor the radicals and liberate that painting." I think paintballs would be appropriate myself (it is a mural). I have been in a mainline Protestant church in Chicago that has a tapestry honoring, in part, the FALN (the Puerto Rican terrorists). I can only imagine what the rank-and-file Secret Service thinks having to guard a man who pardoned a murderer of a presidential guard, and then let the murderer go to Cuba to get a medal for it. "Why the hell did Truman commute the sentence?" Probably wouldn't have if he knew that the perp would walk in less than thirty years. Back in benighted 1950, a life sentence meant that you left the prison in a pine box.

Posted by: Realist at November 01, 2009 05:59 PM (7M8kd)

27 24 He couldn't give a rat's ass about Afghanistan. He's busy partying. I'm torn between wanting him to do something to help the men in Afghanistan and not wanting him to anything since it will be the wrong thing. I guess continued golfing, speechifying, dithering, dating, gardening, basketball playing, tv starring, and campaigning is the safest thing for the country.

Posted by: dagny at November 01, 2009 06:01 PM (5tUne)

Dagny, the PROBLEM is that the TEMPLATE or Conventional Wisdom, is that OF COURSE our President salutes and supports our troops.

AGAIN, What the f@#k evidence is there that Barack Hussein Obama, DOES NOW, or EVER HAS, respected our ARMED SERVICES?

Posted by: gus at November 01, 2009 06:07 PM (MaqIC)

29 Most probably never heard of this attempt to kill a US President because the the 2 people trying to commit the crime were flaming Leftists.

God Bless Officer Coffelt; who made an incredible shot under duress that saved a President's life.

Posted by: manofaiki at November 01, 2009 06:14 PM (uSh7j)

30 THE problem with libtards is their inability TO speak WITH emphasis.

Posted by: Reverse GUS at November 01, 2009 06:16 PM (SL3qo)

To commute sentences or to pardon criminals involves knowing whom and what these motherfu43ers did.

LIBTARDS learn what they did, but it DOESN'T BOTHER THEM.

Posted by: gus at November 01, 2009 06:21 PM (MaqIC)

32 Didn't Bubba Clinton pardon some of their compatriots to get move votes for Hillary!

Posted by: Holdfast at November 01, 2009 06:27 PM (Gzb30)

Mortally wounded, and yet squeezes off a well placed shot to take down a would be assassin.

I am more upset that this act of heroism isn't heralded more openly and publicly. He did his duty to THE END. We cannot ask for more. Officer Leslie W. Coffelt should always be remembered in this nation's pantheon of heroes.

Less would have been acceptable- simple service is something we should all commend, dying in the line of duty is highly worthy of respect and honor.

But fighting to the last breath to fulfill one's mission is an action that cannot be taught, that comes from one's soul.

It is fitting to discover a new hero on All Saints' Day. RIP and a long overdue Godspeed.

Posted by: Gerry Owen at November 01, 2009 06:31 PM (jy9MO)

34 Keep paying attention to Obama's golf game. That could be a very good "grim milestone" to hang around his neck.

Posted by: sexypig at November 01, 2009 06:51 PM (COZI9)

35 what a difference a half-century makes. Today, Collazo and Torresola would have been carrying invitations.

Posted by: mark c at November 01, 2009 06:57 PM (SBIko)

36 Attempting assainations Americans wont attempt.

Posted by: The Drizzle at November 01, 2009 06:59 PM (PEr+c)

what a difference a half-century makes. Today, Collazo and Torresola would have been carrying invitations.

..and PhD's from Harvard.

Posted by: mark c at November 01, 2009 07:00 PM (SBIko)

38 but WATERBOARDING is WRONG.

Posted by: gus at November 01, 2009 07:09 PM (MaqIC)

39 Awesome story DiT!!

Rock on Officer Leslie W. Coffelt!!!

Posted by: JarvisW at November 01, 2009 10:58 PM (8yPsP)

40 I have some interesting info on this business. Stephen Hunter wrote a book on this attempt - "American Gunfight". You might know Hunter from his series of novels featuring Earl Swagger and Bob Lee Swagger. (Ignore the movie, Point of Impact. It kept some of the plot elements and changed all the politics way waaaaay to the left). (to be clear, Hunter isn't saying that Coffelt didn't do what was claimed. It's the rest of the incident that he sheds new light on) I have the book but haven't read it yet. However, the blurb points out that the attempt came a lot closer to succeeding than the standard govt. press release lets on. From the book's blurb. The story was of course gigantic news -- for about a week. What's remarkable about it is not how big a story it was but how quickly it went away. Today, few Americans even remember it... ... losing its detail and meaning and settling sooner rather than later into a kind of comforting folk narrative. For Americans, it always encompassed the following points: ... Americans believed they were a little crazy. The evidence is clear: the assault was thrown together on the run by these two men of no consequence and no meaningful cause. One of them didn't even have a gun, so the other had to go out the day before and buy him one. ... ... They had no plan and no understanding of tactics. In the actual fight itself, the Secret Service and the White House policemen essentially brushed them aside. The two never came close to getting into Blair House. And even if they had, it would have made no difference, as an agent with a tommy gun was waiting just inside the door. Harry Truman was never in any mortal danger. In the end, many Americans concluded, it was more a joke, a farce, an opera buffa, than anything else. There is only one trouble with assigning these meanings to the 38.5 desperate, violent seconds of November 1, 1950. Every single one of them is wrong.

Posted by: Comrade Arthur at November 01, 2009 11:53 PM (m7fvM)

41 What? No official ceremony nor any speech/photo-op by the President? How strange -- I wonder why not.

Was the President too busy developing a detailed strategy to win the Global War on Terror (oops -- make that "Ongoing Contingency Operations") in Afghanistan?

Or perhaps more likely it might be that protecting an "old dead white guy" against leftist revolutionaries is politically incorrect in today's White House?

Posted by: deMontjoie at November 02, 2009 02:04 AM (rQCNu)

42 #40, VERY good book. Clint Smith, the owner and training director of the Thunder Ranch shooting school, helped Stephen out with some of the technical aspects of ballistics and combat shooting.

Posted by: SGT Dan at November 02, 2009 03:52 AM (GgXZc)

43 "Coffelt, stationed inside a guard booth, suffered three gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. Coffelt rallied enough to exit the booth, brace himself against it and, from a distance of about 30 feet, shoot Torresola to death with a single shot to the head."

Wow. Amazing bravery and consummate professionalism. He did his duty until the end. Rest in peace Mr. Coffelt.

Posted by: RickS at November 02, 2009 04:49 AM (hKB1N)

44 Balls of solid steel. Sadly, good men and women of the Secret Service today would be expected to make the same sacrifice for "Renegade" and Worf... and would. Dear God. Who would want to be the last man to die for Rahm Emanuel?

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