Gettysburg Park Loses Superintendent;
As Civil War News reported in the November issue, a Monday, Oct. 19, Washington Post article quoted an internal Interior Department memo that detailed the discovery of more than 3,400 sexually explicit images on Latschar’s office computer hard drive. The memo about Latschar was directed to NPS Acting Director Daniel N. Wenk. NPS spokesmen said it was not released because it dealt with a personnel matter. It was written as part of an Interior Department Inspector General’s investigative report, which cleared Latschar and others of management wrongdoing (see last issue). On Wednesday the 21st, NPS officials notified Latschar he was demoted to an office job in Maryland. He already had been suspended for five days for improper use of his computer. Latschar’s last official appearance was that morning at a press conference with the Journey Through Hallowed Ground partnership. The Hanover Sun got a copy of the full memo and led the local news coverage of Latschar’s fall from grace, relating more details and getting the first interview Latschar gave after the Washington Post revelations. In an interview with reporter Erin James, published Oct. 22, Latschar said he felt grief for the sorrow he caused family and friends and “almost a sense of relief,” after 21 years in the public arena “where everything I say or do is fair game.” He admitted that between August 2004 and September 2006, when he was going through some rough personal and professional times, he occasionally searched for sexually explicit material. He took issue with some of the Inspector General’s memo, and noted that investigators counted every single image, thus getting a count of tens of thousands. According to the Sun, Latschar also disputed the memo’s charge that he viewed “bestiality, group sex and nudism” images. He told the reporter he never deliberately searched for some of that and “never ever, ever searched for group sex or bestiality.” The Hanover Sun later reported that Latschar would be working at the Historic Preservation Training Center in Frederick, Md., as special assistant to the NPS associate director for cultural resources. The NPS backed off that job description, with NPS spokesman David Barna saying Latschar would have desk space in Frederick and work in a position created for him on special projects like the upcoming Civil War sesquicentennial. Latschar told the Sun he understood that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar ordered his demotion, which Latschar called fair and in the best interest of himself, his family and the park. Latschar’s departure from Gettysburg came as the Gettysburg Foundation welcomed its new president, a position that a year ago Latschar expected to hold. Rear Adm. Richard A. Buchanan USN (Ret.) joined the foundation on Oct. 19. The NPS posted the Gettysburg job vacancy on Oct. 27. Applications were being received until Nov. 17. The job description and requirements ran almost 3,000 words. Barna told the Hanover Sun it would take six to eight months to fill the job. Chief Ranger Brion Fitzgerald, the park’s senior staffer, was named interim superintendent. On Nov. 10, NPS Northeast Regional Director Dennis R. Reidenbach issued a brief press release announcing that Mel Poole, superintendent of Catoctin Mountain Park in Thurmont, Md., would assume interim superintendent duties on Nov. 23. Reidenbach said Poole, who is not a candidate for the Gettysburg position, would return to his job “once we have selected a new superintendent in early 2010.” Fitzgerald is now acting deputy superintendent.
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