Ordered to dig up wife and get off his land in 30 days

Warren C. Bodeker is an 89 year old World War II Army Airborne combat veteran and war hero, living in Montana, Ordered to dig up wife and get off his land.

Sheriff refuses to execute eviction order. Sheriff "Feds can find someone else"
"Bodeker's due process was violated"

Threaten with prison for not paying medical bills. This is elder abuse. There is no debtors prison in the US. Forced to waive bankruptcy proceedings under this lie and waive protection on his homestead.

___________________________________________

Warren C. Bodeker is an 89 year old World War II Army Airborne combat veteran and war hero, living in Montana, who is being thrown off of his own land and thrown out of his own house, by Montana Federal Bankruptcy Trustee, Christy Brandon, with the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Montana. And to make matters worse, Warren’s wife Lorna just died of cancer this past year, and is buried there on their land, right next to the house.Warren had planned to live there till he died and then be buried right next to his wife, there on their property at 11 Freedom Lane, in the town of Plains, Montana, but now, not only is he being forced off his land, he is being forced to exhume his wife’s body and take her with him.

This is the most disgusting, callous, brutal, and unjust treatment of a WWII veteran by the “justice” system we have ever heard of. Here is a man who stepped up and went to war at the age of 19 to fight against the Japanese in the Pacific. When we say he is a war hero, we are not exaggerating. Serving in Co. B, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 11thAirborne Division (see discharge papers below), Warren earned two bronze starts while making three combat jumps in the Philippine Islands in 1945.

One of those combat jumps was the daring rescue of prisoners of war at the Los Banos Internment Camp on the Island of Luzon, Philippines, February 23, 1945, where Warren and his brother paratroopers of Co. B, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment parachuted in at dawn’s early light, 40 kilometers behind enemy lines, and rescued over 2,000 prisoners of war – men, women, and children – from their brutal Imperial Japanese guards, before those guards could slaughter them (as they had planned). Not one prisoner was killed in the raid (though many of the Japanese guards were). Private Warren Bodeker was there.He was one of those brave young paratroopers who the grateful prisoners truly considered heaven sent from above. As one of the prisoners, a missionary, described it in his diary:



(http://ithascome.bravehost.com/index.html)

The Los Banos Raid is of the most celebrated textbook examples of a perfect rescue operation in military history. Read about it here: http://www.rememberlosbanos1945.com/

and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_at_Los_Ba%C3%B1os

and here: http://www.historynet.com/world-war-...nment-camp.htm

Go here to watch some film footage of the camp and rescued prisoners:

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65...ternment-camps

Warren Bodeker and his surviving Airborne brothers came home to a grateful nation and settled down to a peaceful life. Warren lived happily as a law-abiding citizen on Freedom Lane in Montana, until he had to endure the great loss of his beloved wife Lorna this past year, after her five year battle against cancer, but Warren was still looking forward to being buried next to her on their property when he died, knowing that their land and home (which he and his wife built together) would be kept in the family.

But Warren had a pile of medical and credit card bills to deal with and filed for bankruptcy, and that is when his nightmare began. According to Warren and several witnesses, though Warren had utterly no intention of ever selling his land and home, and planned to die there and be buried next to his wife at 11 Freedom Lane, he was pressured and coerced into entering into a “stipulation” denying his bankruptcy discharge and waiving his homestead exemption, and thus coerced into selling his home, because he had failed to disclose some silver and gold he and his wife had set aside for their old age – which he considered a retirement fund that he did not have to disclose. Once that failure to disclose was discovered by the Trustee, Christy Brandon (a lawyer in Bigfork Montana who also works as a trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court), Warren was pressured into signing the stipulation under threat of prosecution and under threat of having his home and land taken by means of adversarial proceedings with any left-over proceeds being consumed by lawyers fees and costs (with Christy Brandon serving as both the trustee for the estate and also as the lawyer for the estate, and also as the attorney for herself, as trustee). According to Warren and several witnesses, he was essentially told that the Trustee would take his land and home anyway, and if he resisted, he would wind up penniless. Unfortunately, his own lawyer at the time went along with the stipulation, and did not fight hard to keep Warren in his home. Watch the above video interview to learn the details.

Warren really did not understand what was going on in the complex legal world of bankruptcy, and did not understand his rights. In addition to the diminished mental capacity that so often occurs in someone nearly 90 years old, Warren is also hard of hearing and needs an assistant to help him keep track of what is being said during hearings. Much of the time, he just does not understand what is going on.

And even if Warren was wrong in not disclosing the silver and gold coins, the just and proper way to handle it would have been, at most, to deny him the discharge and require him to use the coins to pay off his creditors. The trustee didn’t have to pressure Warren into waiving his homestead exemption, by threatening to void it through an adversarial proceeding which would eat up the estate through legal fees and costs, and thus force him to sell his home and land. Forcing him off his land, and forcing him to exhume his wife’s body, in the last years of his life – kicking him homeless to the curb with his wife’s casket – is an egregious, unnecessary, gross act of tyranny and injustice, in our opinion.

This is a callous act of brutality, devoid of human compassion, devoid of all sense of proportionality, devoid of any sense of decency, charity, justice or well-deserved respect of an elder veteran – much more like something the brutal Imperial Japanese internment camp guards would have done to Warren if they could than what his own country should do to a winner of two Bronze Stars who risked all, in combat, for this nation.

Warren’s lawyer withdrew from his case last month, and he has been trying to find a new bankruptcy lawyer, but then Warren was hospitalized with what was thought to be kidney stones, but which has now been discovered to be advanced prostate cancer, which is spreading throughout his body. There was a hearing held this past Tuesday, June 12, 2012, on Trustee Christy Brandon’s motion to have Warren removed from his home.Warren had been flown to the VA Hospital in Helena, Montana last week and was still hospitalized on the 12th and could not attend the hearing. From his hospital bed, Warren sent in a pro se motion for a continuance, telling the court that he was hospitalized and could not attend the hearing. He asked the court to continue the hearing until after he was discharged from the hospital. Warren also informed the court that his friend Roxsanna Ryan (whom Warren gave power of attorney) had scheduled an appointment for him with a psychologist so a competency exam could be done, and that he intended to challenge the validity of the stipulation based on his a lack of capacity to understand what he was agreeing to.

But despite the well established fact that Mr. Bodeker was in the hospital, the trustee, Christy Brandon, opposed the motion to continue the hearing. And even after knowing that Warren Bodeker was in the hospital and that he was set to undergo a competency examination which could show that he lacked the capacity to enter into the stipulation, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, the Honorable Ralph B. Kirscher, denied Warren’s motion to continue the hearing and granted the Trustee’s motion for an order for Warren to vacate the property. The trustee, Christy Brandon, then emailed Warren to tell him that she would be there at the home on Monday, June 18, 2012, accompanied by a Sheriff’s deputy, to kick him out of his home and have the locks changed.

This man risked his life in a daring combat jump from the low altitude of 500 feet (so low that reserve parachutes are useless, and a chute malfunction meant death) to rescue 2,000 innocent men, women, and children who faced certain death if he and his Airborne brothers had not made that jump that morning, February 23, 1945 (after the rescue, the Japanese returned to the area and massacred 1,500 local Filipino civilians, killing men, women, and children). And this is how the U.S. government thanks this man for his service?

We will post more details on this disgraceful travesty as they become known, but what is most important right now is that we have a duty to help this WWII hero in his time of need.Warren Bodeker needs:

http://liberty.com/content/wwii-vete...ume-wifes-body

OUTRAGE! This poor fellow's home is only about an hour from me. I'm going to watch the videos, and dig around here to see if there's some local movement I can get in on, or some drive to keep that property where it rightfully belongs.
If he's having anything done at Helena regarding cancer, I guarantee my husband is the one doing his doses. I'll see if there's anything I can do to help with his medical care as well.

ETA - just saw the contacts info and fund on the links. You can bet I'll be utilizing those too.

Failure to disclose assets is a big deal in bankruptcy proceedings. Yes, they play hardball:http://stevesathersbankruptcynews.bl...ustee-you.html.

It may be that they take a hard line to discourage others from hiding assets. I think though that this poor old guy was not aware that it is better to list everything, and I'm wondering why his attorney did not find out about the 'retirement gold' and advise him to list it.

Bit of an update, from my Sunday Missoulian. I apologize for the tossed-together look of it. Someone needs to learn to lay out a lengthy newspaper article in proper paragraphs.

Email from the gub'ner's office. (I wrote to everyone I could get an address for!)

Warren Bodeker

Inbox
x

Wilson, Sheena swilson@mt.gov

11:00 AM (17 minutes ago)

to Sheena

Thank you for taking the time to share your concern about Warren Bodeker. The Governor appreciated your advocacy on behalf of this Montana veteran and asked that I reply on his behalf.

Mr. Bodeker’s current issues can only be resolved through the judicial process. The Governor, as part of a separate branch of government, has no ability to intervene in that process. Mr. Bodeker needs a good lawyer, and I’m pleased to see folks making an effort to see that happens. For your information, Mr. Bodeker apparently has, at times, represented himself as some type of “sovereign citizen,” and was not completely forthcoming about his assets, leading to some of the difficulties he now faces with the bankruptcy court. I hope he’ll accept the advice of an attorney so the issues can be addressed appropriately.

The bankruptcy court did NOT issue any order regarding exhumation of his wife’s remains. If you wish to see the court docket on the case I can get you a copy.

Mr. Bodeker is welcome to seek the assistance of the State of Montana with issues outside the court process, including arranging for his wife (and Mr. Bodeker eventually) to be buried with honor in the Montana Veterans Cemetery. To my knowledge he has not yet sought any official help directly.

I do regret the situation this veteran faces and hope the publicity he has generated will result in securing the legal help he so desperately needs. A recent story from the Missoulian does a good job of outlining the issues surrounding this case. http://missoulian.com/news/local/nat...9bb2963f4.html You’ll note the bankruptcy trustee has requested the order for the sale of the home be vacated.

Sincerely,
Sheena Wilson

Deputy Chief of Staff
Office of Governor Brian Schweitzer
P. O. Box 200801
Helena, MT 59620
406-444-5503
406-444-4151 (fax)
swilson@mt.gov

I'm still not giving up on him.

Always two sides/more to the story.
It appears the old boy might be in the pickle barrel with several of the mentioned
violations.

Totally unsympathetic in some cases... You are allowed to keep some, if not all of your assets during a bankruptcy trial.. and being honest with both your lawyer and judge are key.

I watched a man once step into court for bankruptcy wearing a 5-6k$ rolex (granted, a stainless steel and not a nice, gold presidential) and this was quickly noticed by the courts..

They asked was that a real rolex (As the mans hands were up on the little pedestal) And he replied "yes".

They said you walk into court wearing a rolex, and then ask for mercy with your bills? you need to get yourself organized, hire another attorney, and then we'll retry this case again after they go over all the ins and outs with you.