| U.S. Marines Refused Service by Gas Station Attendant in Gun Barrel City, TX | |||
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| Netlore Archive: Email describes alleged rude treatment of U.S. Marines by Arab owners of a Shell gas station in Gun Barrel City, Texas | |||
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Email example contributed by Michelle P., 9 February 2006:
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Seamus reports to All hands: Our neighbor, Bob Angleovich, here in Gettysburg, sent this, and I checked to see if this is on any search engines. It is not! So I called the number listed below, and spoke with Chief Petty Officer Ray Haas, in Marietta, TX, and he assured me, with the word of a retired Navy CPO, that this happened just as he wrote it. I also asked him if I should remove his address and telephone number, and he said to leave it right where it is. The newspaper in Gun Barrel, TX is now trying to find the names of these two Marines. I would expect this story to get "legs" quickly, and the "list" just got longer, but certainly not with our mainstream media. CPO Ray Haas is now locked on the All Hands and I am sending him a jug of Gung Ho. Thanks Bob, Seamus ---- Marines Refused Service Happened on Jan. 31, 2006 In Gun Barrel City, TX two US Marines in Dress Blues walked into a Shell Station and were told they would not serve them and told to leave. So they went to the Fina Station across the street and told them that they were refused service at the Shell. At this time a women went over to the Shell Station and ask why they refused service to the two Marines and were told that they are over there killing their people. The Shell is owned & operated by Arab people. As this information went out the News Paper in Gun Barrel wanted to know the names of the Marines. They are going to run an article on this incident. As I see it this is a long way from being over knowing the mind and heart set of Texas people. All this happened on the 31st. on Jan. and my daughter, (who was married to a former Marine, now deceased, and has a daughter in the Marines) is on top of trying to get this info. , and all the while here at home we have a granddaughter in the Marines, One in the Army Reserves, and a grandson HM3,in the Navy. Therefore, my wife, US Navy, myself US Navy Ret. all this hits very close to home, and me a Shell card holder, me call Shell, got that right. From me the word is going out to all Military people I know and the list is getting longer.
Raymond R. Haas
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Comments: I checked with the Cedar Creek Pilot, Gun Barrel City's weekly newspaper, and was told that this rumor has been duly investigated and found to be groundless. "I did confirm one such incident did indeed occur in Fort Worth in December 2004," said the paper's editor, Janice Arnsdorff, "but nothing of the sort happened here."
I have also been in contact with Shell Oil spokesperson Karyn Leonardi-Cattolica, who responded with the following statement:
We take this type of allegation very seriously and immediately launched an investigation in Gun Barrel, Texas. However, after interviewing the email author, the site operators and reviewing four days' worth of security video footage, we found no evidence to confirm the incident occurred at a Shell site.Such behavior would not be tolerated and should an allegation of this nature be confirmed, Shell would take action up to and including the removal of the Shell brand from the site.
Similar rumor disproved in Pontiac, Illinois
A contemporaneous rumor claiming that the "Pakistani" owner of a Marathon gas station in Pontiac, Illinois refused service to uniformed National Guard personnel has also been determined to be untrue. A National Guard spokesman said no such incident had been reported by soldiers stationed locally. Reporters investigating the rumor found no one who could confirm the contents of the email firsthand.
Satvinder Singh, the Indian-born U.S. citizen who owns the Marathon station, expressed shock and dismay at the accusation. "I wouldn't refuse service to anyone," Singh was quoted as saying in the Bloomington Pantagraph. "I don't want to lose any of my business. All people are welcome at my store."
'Spurned soldier' motif common in post-9/11 folklore
Hearsay reports of discrimination against American service personnel have become common currency since the terror attacks of 9/11. Though generally discredited, a few such tales have been confirmed true, as in the case of a U.S. Marine who was refused service at a Fort Worth, Texas convenience store, and that of two National Guardsmen who were discriminated against by convenience store clerks in Sparta, Tennessee in 2004. Both incidents elicited apologies from the business owners and resulted in the firing of the employees involved.
Sources and further reading:
Internet Email Charges False, Business Owners Say
Pontiac Daily Leader, 24 February 2006Station Owner Taken Aback by Rumor Spread in Email
The Pantagraph, 25 February 2006Store Fires Employee Who Refused Service to Marine
NBC5i.com, 12 January 2005Protesters Rally to Support Military
Sparta Expositor, 10 June 2004
Last updated: 02/28/06
