Talk:Wade Zirkle

2007 Political Contributions

 * 2007 VPAP: Zirkle, William Denman; Edinburg, VA; Stockbrokers/Financial Advisors: contributed $2,000 to Jill Holtzman Vogel (R-S027) (2 $1,000 cash transactions) and $500 to Mark Obenshain (R-S026)

Conflict of Interest
In 2008 the New York Times exposed Zirkle in yet another neo-con republican scandal when his attack group was caught in bed with the McCain campaign, which is in clear violation of federal election law. As a result, neo-con senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham resigned from Vets for Freedoms "Advisory Board" and Zirkle was forced to resign from McCain's "National Veterans Steering Committee." But wait....according to The Politico Zirkle was never removed from McCains Virginia Leadership Team, showing that both oagnizations are at best, in half compliance with the law....Well, it's a start!  

Connections

 * Warren E. Zirkle, partner at McGuireWoods LLP with Frank J. Donatelli.


 * November 15, 2003: The Winchester Star: "Wade Zirkle of Emerald Isle, N.C."


 * "Wade" is definitely a family name with the Zirkle family.


 * "William Wade" is also a family name with the Shenandoah, Virginia, Zirkles.


 * In February 2006, Jim Patrick wrote in My Shenandoah County: "Wade's now recovered and living in Shenandoah County again. He's active in politics, but also actively promoting this nonpartisan effort to give balanced reports on conditions in Iraq."


 * Zirkle family territory: Historic Zirkle Mill.


 * Zirkle's complete web of war propaganda deceipt can be found in Sourcewatch's complete investigative profile of Vets for Freedom.


 * Though Zirkle's group often claims to represent "mainstream" vets, the cofounders of his organizations are more elitist than they are ordinary vets. See SourceWatch investigative profiles of each "founder" here David Bellavia, Chris Niedziocha, Kevin Knox Nunnally, Mark Seavey, Owen West, and Joe Dan Worley.  Mark Seavey has never even been to Iraq, but still thinks the war is great! Go figure.

W. Denman Zirkle

 * W. Denman Zirkle may be "Wade Denman" Zirkle, but it could also be "William Denman" Zirkle ...


 * W. Denman Zirkle: "Graduate, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Retired Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Reserve. Most recently chief executive officer of Carret and Company, a New York-based advisory firm sold in 2004. Previously affiliated with Lynch & Mayer, Inc. as senior vice president of marketing and Franklin Templeton Investments as executive vice president. Trustee of Randolph-Macon Woman's College."


 * W. Denman Zirkle, WG’62, was named CEO of Carret and Company, Inc. (Newswire, 6/3/02) Wharton Alumni


 * Mr. W. Denman Zirkle, Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Profile.


 * Member, Army Historical Foundation: LTC W. Denman Zirkle, Edinburg, VA


 * Zirkle Mill Foundation c/o W. Denman Zirkle, 12097 S Middle Rd, Edinburg, VA 22824-3847


 * Total USDA Subsidies in Shenandoah County, Virginia, 2004: W Denman Zirkle Edinburg, VA 22824 $21,171; Summary for 1995-2004.

Campaign Money

 * According to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, Zirkle’s group, Vets for Freedom has ties to prominent neoconservatives Bill Kristol (Editor of the Weekly Standard) and Dan Senor (former Bush administration official and Iraq occupation spokesman). However, funding for Vets for Freedom is sketchy, at best, since the whereabouts of requisite FEC filings are unknown.  At one point, Zirkle refers to Kristol simply as a “friend” but when pressed further by Mark Pazniokas of the Hartford Courant on September 7, 2006 he admits that Kristol and Senor are actively organizing his fundraising efforts.  See full outline of neo-con relationships here


 * Campaign Money: Zirkle, W Denman, Templeton Investment Coun, $500, 10/19/1999, AMERICAN RENEWAL PAC


 * William W. (Wade Denman) Zirkle may also be the same William Zirkle of Edinburgh, VA, which a Federal Election Commission receipt dated October 21, 2004, shows contributing $2000 to California Republican candidate "Bill Jones for U.S. Senate". On the receipt, William Zirkle gave his occupation as "Military Officer."


 * Three days earlier, on October 18, 2004, Jones received another $2000 contribution from a "William Denman Zirkle" residing at the same address in Edinburg, VA, although this receipt lists his Occupation as President of Shenandoah Valley Holdings LLC.
 * On October 19, 2004, the "Jones Senate Victory Committee" received an additional $10,000 contribution from "W. Denman Zirkle" of the same Edinburg, Virginia, address. No employment information is noted on this receipt.


 * These records all post-date Zirkle's injuries sustained in Iraq on Labor Day 2004. Athough Zirkle's address stated for contributions is Virginia, and Jones was a California candidate, it could be explained by the fact that Zirkle's unit was stationed out of Camp Pendleton in California and Zirkle's home of record is Virginia.


 * Newsmeat Campaign Contribution Search: January 25, 2000: "Zirkle, Wade Mr. ... Columbia, SC 29201" contributed $400 Primary to McCain, John S. (R) President MCCAIN 2000 INC.
 * Newsmeat Campaign Contribution Search: February 27, 2006: "Zirkle, Wade ... Woodstock, VA 22664 ... Paradise Diner/Owner" contributed $1,000 Primary to Republican Party of Virginia Inc. (R) (which is connected with "Friends of George Allen" ).


 * "Denman Zirkle" was $1,000 fundraiser with Kilgore's 2005 campaign.

Woodstock, VA

 * Mark Seavey, like Wade Zirkle, comes from the Woodstock, VA, area:


 * "Mark Seavey, Co-Founder Mark Seavey is a former Army Sergeant and recently returned from Afghanistan where he served with the Third Battalion, 116 Infantry, based in Woodstock, Virginia. He resides in Alexandria, Virginia." --VFF. website.


 * Woodstock, VA is where Seavey's unit was based out of. It is also the location of the current PO box for VFF. What is up with woodstock, VA?


 * No doubt, Woodstock appears to be a connection point for both Zirkle and Seavey. Why? Don't know yet.

Bigotry
Zirkle demonstrates a pattern of anti-muslim bigotry in his comments to the press:

Note: Material has been transfered to the main article under 2005 Comments.


 * Zirkle's bigoted dehumanization of Muslims is commonplace in the US Marines, and was exposed in 2006 when a youtube video surfaced in which a marine sang a tune about slaying a young Iraqi girl, while Marines in the audience reveled in laughter and cheers.  "Hadji Girl" Video.


 * This glorification of anti-Muslim violence even seems to be sanction by the Marine Corps, itself. This video was filmed by an official Marine Corps Combat Correspondent and features the same unit as Zirkle's in Fallujah.  It should be made clear that this is not a home video shot by some soldiers in Iraq.  This is  an official video from a "combat correspondent" whose name and rank appear in the "credits."  If you ever wonder why world hates America so much....


 * In 2005 Zirkle gave an interview to CNN, dehumanizing the Iraqi people. "When we found out about the Blackwater killers, it again reaffirmed what we knew about these people that we were fighting. They were bad, bad, evil, horrible human beings, if you can even call them human beings."&mdash;Paula Zahn, CNN, January 26, 2005.


 * Comment: Throughout the interview, Zirkle makes no distinction between "Iraqis" and "terrorists," making it clear that he thinks they are one and the same. The entire interview can be seen in streaming video here.


 * The Marine Corp seems to encourage and reward this type of extremism.  In 2006 it featured Zirkle in a recruiting video at the "National Museum of the Marine Corp."

Hometown News Releases
Where are the hometown news releases on Zirkle's time in Iraq? College entry? Original military commission?

Pacific Ethanol
This needs some more research:

Searching under the names "William Zirkle" and "William Denman Zirkle" turns up yet more interesting information. SEC filings reveal that W. Denman Zirkle owns 126,666 shares of the company Pacific Ethanol, Inc. Meanwhile, William Wade Zirkle owns a much smaller 16,666 shares of the company. 


 * UPDATE: It appears that Bill Jones for U.S. Senate is the same Bill Jones that is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pacific Ethanol. William W. (Wade Denman) Zirkle owns 16,666 shares of Pacific Ethanol, while contributing $2,000 to Bill Jones for U.S. Senate.  William Denman Zirkle owns 126,666 shares of Pacific Ethanol while contributing $2,000 to Bill Jones for U.S. Senate and $10,000 to the Jones Senate Victory Committee.  Aggregately, (the) Zirkle(s) -whether this one person or two, we don't know- owns 143,332 shares of Pacific Ethanol, and has contributed $14,000 to Bill Jones's coffers.  Wow! This is Bush-Big-Oil-Republican-Corrution except with Ethanol money.  These people make me sick.

Reserve Commission
Indications are that Zirkle accepted the Reserve Officer promo to Captain, as he is referred to by that title in April 2006 article (event took place in March), and we know now that he was on the promo list and took the promotion, as outlined below. This is the same William W. Zirkle, as the last four SSNs used to identify him are all 3244.

Repub Activism
Zirkle was injured Labor Day 2004 ... which means he was in rehab until the VA political campaigns in 2005, when he comes into contact with Creative Response Concepts and Campaign Solutions, with whom he subsequently goes into partnership to create Vets for Freedom. Wow! What A Sell-Out!!!

SwiftVets Similarity
The following was misplaced, as the section is about fundraising. The point of the following entry needs clarification, as it seems to be incomplete.


 * Evidently, the similarities between Vets for Freedom and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are so great that, on his democracy-project.com website, Bruce Kesler, who worked with John O'Neill on both SBVT and the 1970's "pro-mission" organization Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace (of which Kesler was the founder).

Website mirrored
Moved to Vets for Freedom main page.

VFF Woodstock, VA, Address
According to the June 27, 2006, comment posted by Mrs Panstreppon to the June 25, 2006, PRWatch article "Pro-War 'Vets for Freedom' Tied to Bush's PR Team":


 * "The address of Vets for Freedom is 132 N. Main St., Woodstock VA 22664. The building was purchased by Lloyd H. Hartman in 11/01. Woodstock is in Shenandoah County."

According to the March 28, 2006, posting "Preservation in the Shenandoah Valley" at the Civil War Reenactors Forum, the address belongs to Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1557, named after Confederate General Turner Ashby:

Note: The number given for this camp is incorrect. It should read SCV Camp 1657; number 1557 belongs to a SCV camp in Alabama. 

Denman Zirkle SCV Camp 1657 (Turner Ashby) Winchester, VA

Office: 132 N. Main Street Woodstock, Va. 22664 Phone: 540 459-1990 Cell: 540 335-9322 FAX: 540 459-1790

The "A Walk Through Downtown Woodstock" photo database by Richard Downer, Member of the Woodstock Enhancement Committee, shows the building located at 132 North Main Street, a small office building.

Denman Zirkle is acting president of the Zirkle Mill Foundation. (See W. Denman Zirkle above.)