Today I received a telephone call from Bob Klein from the corporate offices of Harley-Davidson. I believe Bob was sincere when he stated to me that the company did not approve of the treatment received by one young veteran at COWBOY HARLEY-DAVIDSON here in Beaumont, Texas. For those of you who are not familiar with the story..the facts are simple. A young veteran returned from the war and was attempting to find employment in the motorcycle industry. Specifically, he wanted to be a H-D mechanic. The dealership was approached with the idea of providing the veteran with some "hands-on" training as a mechanic..and the answer was that it was not possible due to the fact that their mechanics were paid by commission and therefore could not slow down to train someone. Given the prosperity obvious at this particular dealership--that action left a bad taste in several veterans mouths. The fact that a multi-million dollar a year dealership could not find even a part-time job for an unemployed veteran was particularly distasteful and hard to swallow. At ASVEI, we support the view that in tough economic times businesses must forego ultimate profits and do the right thing.....even if it means losing a little profit to supply a job. The fact that it is wartime and the person involved was a vet further complicates the situation. We did an online survey to which 143 veterans responded. All but one favored a boycott on H-D products in order to protest the dealership's action and serve notice on other businesses that veterans are demanding fair treatment in recovering from the financial hardships many veterans and their families suffer due to their service to the country. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH...and American businesses must shoulder their fair share of the economic burden many veterans bear. Bob is forwarding a letter to me in support of ASVEI and ALL VETERANS....and we thank him for his support. As a final note, another dealership (Japanese) has offered a job....and we thank them for their support. But COWBOY-HARLEY..TAKE NOTICE..you are going to lose some sales due to this treatment...so maybe there is justice in this world.