Question leaves president's spokesman speechless?

A question about war memorials at Harvard apparently has left White House spokesman Robert Gibbs without a response.

The question was raised at today's White House briefing by Les Kinsolving, the third-ranking beat correspondent at the White House and WND's correspondent there.

"A two-part question relating to yesterday, Memorial Day. As a graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law School, the president has never protested," started Kinsolving.

"He didn't graduate from Harvard, Lester. He graduated from Harvard Law School, but he graduated from Columbia undergrad," Gibbs corrected.

"I'm sorry, I correct that. Thank you very much.
The president has never protested the memorials to Harvard's war dead in World War I and II, which include the names of Harvard alumni designated as 'enemy' because they were soldiers of the Kaiser and of the Fuhrer. Has he – he's never protested that, has he?"

"I honestly don't have – I don't have any knowledge," Gibbs said.

In a second question, Kinsolving continued, "Does the president believe it is right for Harvard to have memorials mentioning these three German enemies, but no memorial at all to 71 Harvard alumni who died in the Confederate army?"

But instead of responding, Gibbs left the room.

The issue was raised because of the long-standing controversy over war memorials at Harvard and the fact that Obama is a graduate of its law school.

In a previous column in WND, Kinsolving raised the issue with then-Harvard president Lawrence Summers.

Kinsolving addressed the issue in a 2004 open letter to the school's chief, raising questions about a Boston Globe article headlined, "Harvard's stance on Nazis questioned; historian calls '30's record 'shameful.'"

He explained his research documented the existence on Harvard memorials the names of three Harvard alums who died in World Wars I and II fighting for America's enemy.

"If it is fitting and proper to so remember Harvard alumni who were our country's German enemies, why is there no such memorial to more than 60 Harvard alumni who served in the armies of the Confederate States of America?" he questioned at the time.

Among those were a number of graduates of Harvard Medical School who died while treating wounded from both sides, he noted.

He also raised questions about Harvard's interaction with German leaders during the build-up to World War II.