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When Gov. Pat Quinn chose a young West Point graduate to head the Illinois
Department of Veterans’ Affairs last month, he skipped over a highly decorated veteran who served eight
years as deputy director of the agency scheduled to receive $80 million in
federal stimulus funds. Harold A. Fritz, who received the Congressional Medal
of Honor during the Vietnam War, had sent a letter asking to be considered for
the post, along with a handful of recommendations from other public officials,
but never received a reply from the governor.
Instead, he learned by watching the television news that Quinn had chosen one of
his own staff members, Dan Grant — then 28 years old — to run Veterans’ Affairs.
Last week, Quinn appointed Grant’s friend and West Point classmate, 29-year-old Jonathon Monken, as director of
the Illinois State Police. Monken told Illinois Times that he happened to be visiting the office of Simone McNeil, Quinn’s chief of operations, when Quinn got word that then-director Larry Trent had
chosen to leave ISP [see “Born leader,” March 26.] Monken’s youth and lack of law enforcement experience have sparked an outcry among some
ISP officers, and some state senators have promised to vote against confirming
Monken.
No such controversy ensued when Quinn, who took office Jan. 29, appointed Grant
as head of Veterans’ Affairs on Feb. 9. Grant, an Iraq veteran, had been on Quinn’s staff as a senior advisor since November 2007. As lieutenant governor, Quinn
had a reputation for making veterans a priority, attending military funerals
and visiting military hospitals. In fact, he is said to have met Grant while
visiting a military hospital in Germany.
Fritz is also a veteran, and received the Medal of Honor — this nation’s highest award for military service — in 1968. Then a 1st Lieutenant, he was leading a seven-vehicle armored column of 28 men along a
highway in Binh Long Province when they were ambushed by more than 200
heavily-armed North Vietnamese.
“It was one helluva bloody firefight,” Fritz said. “We had to do a little bit of scuffling hand-to-hand in very heavy crossfire.
They had all this heavy artillery, and we had vehicles on fire. The odds were
significantly in favor of the other side.”
The citation that accompanied Fritz’s medal gives more details, describing how Fritz, though seriously wounded, “leaped to the top of his burning vehicle and directed the positioning of his
remaining vehicles and men.”
“With complete disregard for his wounds and safety, he ran from vehicle to
vehicle in complete view of enemy gunners in order to reposition his men, to
improve the defenses, to assist the wounded, to distribute ammunition, to
direct fire, and to provide encouragement to his men,” according to the official account.
He picked up a machine gun and “routed the attackers” just before a second enemy force moved in. Fritz, “armed only with a pistol and bayonet,” led a handful of men in an attack on this group, inflicting heavy casualties.
When a relief force arrived, Fritz directed its deployment. Once the enemy
withdrew, Fritz refused medical attention until all his wounded men had been
treated and evacuated. “The extraordinary courage and selflessness displayed by Capt. Fritz, at the
repeated risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty, were in
keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army,” according to the citation.
Fritz also earned two Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star with a “V” device for valor.
Under the two previous administrations, Fritz worked as deputy director for
programs and services. In April 2003, he was terminated by former-Gov. Rod
Blagojevich, ostensibly for budgetary reasons. Fritz says he had uncovered and
complained of “contract bid-rigging, graft and corruption,” shortly before his termination. For example, he reported that a six-figure food
contract at a veterans’ home had been signed without other bids. The administrator who supplied that
information and one other employee were let go at the same time he was, Fritz
says.
Now 65, Fritz still works for Veterans’ Affairs, as the volunteer services specialist at a Peoria outpatient clinic.
Grant’s friend Monken says he first met then-Lt. Gov. Quinn at a Hometown Heroes
awards breakfast in Geneva, Ill., four years ago, and remained in touch.
Because he was in Germany at the time, Monken wasn’t physically present at that breakfast, appearing only in a video. However,
another award recipient, Fred Tichenor, was there.
“Quinn talked about how he’s a big supporter of the troops, and I really appreciate his support of the men
and women serving over there now,” Tichenor said.
Tichenor served in U.S. Army Special Forces from 1987 through 2000, then
re-activated after 9/11 and served another tour of duty in Iraq and
Afghanistan. A full-time firefighter for the Geneva Fire Department, he also
works as a part-time police officer for the suburbs of Elburn and Sugar Grove,
and was named Kane County Police Officer of the Year in 2005. At the award
presentation, Elburn Police Chief James Linane described Tichenor as “such a dedicated public servant that he practically bleeds red, white and blue,” according to an account in the Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Quinn, however, did not stay in contact with 51-year-old Tichenor nor approach
him about the ISP director job, nor did Tichenor visit the governor’s staff, as Monken did, seeking a position. “I don’t even know how you come across something like that,” Tichenor said.
Asked if he would have accepted that job if Quinn had offered it to him,
Tichenor, said no. “I don’t have enough experience,” he said.
Contact Dusty Rhodes at drhodes@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2009.
