Latest news with #KendallRasmusson
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE My war hero brother died for his country... then petty bureaucrats branded him a nuisance
Kendall Rasmusson was just 23 years old when she was forced to watch her younger brother die in a Canadian hospital on May 15, 2008. On May 1, Sgt. John Kyle Daggett, a 21-year-old Airborne Army Ranger, was struck with a rocket propelled grenade while fighting in Baghdad, Iraq. This kicked off the most nightmarish two weeks of Rasmusson's life. By May 3, her family arrived in Halifax to be by Daggett's side. Rasmusson told that her brother 'was fighting so hard to heal and get better'. But ultimately, despite him being a strong, healthy young man, his injuries were just too severe, causing him fall into septic shock. 'As soon as he got septic, you could see his wounds were seeping, and then his kidney function went down,' she said. 'My mom was like, "he's not going to want to live like this," so she just let him pass away. And it was a lot. It was a lot.' Rasmusson had her hand on his chest as he slipped away, telling she 'literally felt his heart stop beating.' Ever since that day, she has had a new, more profound respect for the armed forces and the sacrifices they make on the battlefield. It also began her years-long tradition of putting up a magnetic banner on her garage door depicting Daggett in full uniform. She ran into no issues doing this until she moved to a community with an homeowner's association. Seventeen years after her brother's death, Rasmusson was told by her HOA that she needed to take down this harmless display remembering her brother. In their May 7 letter to her, as seen by they described the banner as a 'nuisance.' Since April 2017, Rasmusson and her three kids have lived in a single-family home in Surprise, Arizona, a suburban community northwest of Phoenix. The Desert Oasis HOA Board first told her to take the banner down in April 2018, classifying it as a holiday decoration that couldn't be left up year round. Rasmusson was fined numerous times for refusing to take it down, totaling to $200. She struck back by speaking to the local news and launching an online petition calling the HOA out. After the petition racked up thousands of signatures, the HOA board relented in January 2019, a little less than a year after it first sent her a violation notice. Ever since then, she has been allowed to display it continuously from the day Daggett died, May 15, up until July 14. This covered Memorial Day, Flag Day and Independence Day. She was also given permission to keep the banner up three days before and 10 days after Veteran's Day, Daggett's birthday and Patriot's Day. After getting this concession, Rasmusson never imagined that she'd again have to explain herself to this exacting HOA leadership. That all changed when the HOA got rid of its old management company in favor of Trestle Management Group in November 2024. Pictured: The letter that was sent to Rasmusson on May 7 instructing her to take down the banner of her brother because it qualified as a 'nuisance' under the HOA's rules These companies typically serve at the pleasure of HOA boards and are the ones to enforce the often draconian rules they impose on homeowners. On May 7, Trestle's Jennifer Jahn sent the Rasmusson family a letter telling them that the banner of Daggett violated an HOA regulation on property nuisances. The letter compared the display to dead plants, rubbish and debris. It was also deemed to be 'unsightly.' Again, Rasmusson felt she had no choice but to go to the local news, this time giving an interview with AZFamily. This prompted a torrent of backlash against the HOA board and Trestle on social media, so much so that the Trestle President Jim Baska sent out a letter to the entire community addressing the controversy. In it, Baska claimed he didn't know about the prior HOA management company allowing Rasmusson to put up the banner during certain times of the year. He also said his company's software for mistakenly categorizing the banner as a nuisance, an excuse that rang particularly hollow for Rasmusson. She said Baska's letter seeking to was a 'sorry excuse' for an apology and called it 'weak.' 'Regardless of how your software coded this, it literally says it's a nuisance and you sent it out anyway. Anyone with like a heart would be like, "this is a memorial decoration for her brother, and we're calling it a nuisance, and we're just going to be okay with sending that out and not think that she's going to be offended by that?"' She was also outraged that Trestle demanded she take down the banner in May, after it had been up for months without issue. 'And then also to send it out on May 7. It's the month of Memorial Day, like why May? Why did you wait to tell me?' she asked. Rasmusson pointed out that Trestle manages 310 communities and over 60,000 homes in the Phoenix area. The company also has more than 80 employees, which made her wonder why no one could have just called her, instead of sending her a 'heartless' letter. Eventually, Baska did call her on the phone and she said he tried to shift blame to the HOA board. She said Baska told her that the HOA board hired Trestle because the previous management company had become 'lackadaisical on handing out violation letters.' According to Rasmusson, Baska said the board told him to 'go overboard and ramp up sending out violations.' Those violations, of course, are paired with fines that the homeowners have to pay. 'The homeowners in our neighborhood are very upset,' Rasmusson said, explaining that people are being 'nitpicked' for things like their grass being slightly too high and having the wrong type of bench in their yard. 'It's getting wild.' Two days after Rasmusson got the letter calling her brother's banner a 'nuisance,' someone created a petition calling for the removal of HOA President C.C. Hunziker. The petition, which so far has 637 verified signatures, accuses Hunziker of abusing her power and misusing HOA funds. When reached out to Hunziker for comment, she said she was 'not interested' in giving a response. Rasmusson said she didn't want to be in the news or have to get into a brawl with her HOA over what she feels is a simple, inoffensive expression of her love for her late brother. 'I do not back down for anything, so I'm gonna keep fighting if I feel like I have the right to do so, or if I can work something out where I can have it up. And I'm glad that they agreed to it, but even if they hadn't, I would have still put it up,' she said. 'I pay my HOA dues every month on time, so they can just keep racking up the fees if they want to. I'm gonna put it up because I want to, and I like doing it. 'I am proud of him, and I want everybody to know that I radiate an overjoyment of pride for him, what we went through together as a family with his sacrifice and how much he meant to our family.' Rasmusson's initial motivation in putting up the banner was the anger and 'intense grief' she was feeling after losing Daggett in such a horrific way. 'The blast tore up his shoulder. His back, his shoulder and part of the back bicep area of his right arm looked like he got bit by a shark,' she said. After he was injured in Baghdad, Daggett was rushed to Germany, where doctors removed his right eye and the right frontal lobe of his brain. They also placed what's called an external vascular drain, which helps decrease cerebral spinal fluid that the brain produces. The intricate system of tubing relieves pressure those fluids exert on the brain. Too much pressure can cause brain damage, seizures, strokes or death. While Daggett was en route to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, the pressure on Daggett's brain dramatically worsened, forcing the plane transporting him to land in Halifax, Canada. Even though he didn't make it, Rasmusson counts herself as lucky that she got to see him before he died. 'A lot of people don't have that when they lose their soldier, they don't get to be with them and to help take care of them. And it meant so much to me,' she said. Her banner honoring Daggett often attracts veterans and ordinary citizens who thank her for her brother's service and want to get to know his story. 'It's just nice. It brings this military community together more. I think because all the men and women that serve, they all have people that they lost too,' she said. 'The military community is smaller than our entire community nationwide, and I feel like sometimes, a lot of their grief and loss and PTSD and their trauma that they went through while serving gets completely overlooked, ignored and forgotten,' she added. 'I'm a huge supporter of continuing to raise that awareness.' She continued: 'I think my biggest point was to just show everybody how proud I was of him, but then to also make a statement of our military families are here. We're all present. And it was just to recognize everybody and raise public awareness.' Rasmusson said Daggett's fellow soldiers 'looked up to him and looked to him for direction.' 'Even his higher ups and all the leaders were like, 'your brother was the spearhead of our unit,' she said. 'He was a leader. He took the younger guys under his wing. He taught them things. He worked with them. He had incredible patience with these guys, but he was funny and wild and such a goofball. Everybody loved him. It was just a big loss, so I hoped to display all of that in my sign.' Not only was Daggett considered a leader in his unit, he also did something practically no soldiers his age are capable of. He graduated the 62-day course to become a US Army Ranger at just age 20. 'That is insanely young for most Rangers. They're typically in their mid to late twenties,' she said. The Rangers, also known as the 75th Ranger Regiment, are an elite fighting force within the army frequently tasked with conducting dangerous special operations missions in enemy territory. 'I had other buddies of mine that were in the service with my brother,' she said. 'No matter how hard these men worked to get the standards met to even qualify for Ranger training, it took them years and years and years. And he did it at such a young age.' At his graduation from Ranger School on May 7, 2007, Daggett gave his sister the honor of pinning his Ranger tabs to his uniform. After his death, the army renamed the headquarters at Camp Taji after Daggett. Camp Taji was the military installation he was based at throughout his tour in Iraq. Daggett posthumously received the Bronze Star, a military decoration awarded to soldiers who have committed acts of heroism on the battlefield. He was also bestowed with a Purple Heart, a honor reserved for service members who have been wounded or killed in battle. And still, he inspires his older sister to keep fighting for what she believes in. 'I fight because you fought. I fight because you paid the ultimate sacrifice. I keep going,' Rasmusson said.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Read the shocking full letter a heartless HOA sent family trying to honor fallen Iraq war hero as America takes their side
A homeowner's association that demanded a resident take down her Memorial Day tribute to her late brother, a soldier who died in the Iraq War, has now issued a pathetic defense of its actions. In a letter obtained by the Daily Mail, Arizona-based Trestle Management Group attempted to explain away the heartless order it sent to Kendall Rasmusson on May 7 calling the banner showing Sgt. John Kyle Daggett in full uniform a 'nuisance.' The letter, addressed to all the Phoenix-area residents the Desert Oasis HOA is responsible for, comes after Rasmusson slammed Trestle in an interview with a local news station, opening the company up to a torrent of criticism. Jim Baska, the president of Trestle, told residents he wasn't aware the previous HOA managers had granted Rasmusson 'a conditional letter of approval for the banner' on January 31, 2019. Ever since then, she had been allowed to display it continuously from the day Sgt. Daggett died, May 15, up until July 14. This covered Memorial Day, Flag Day and Independence Day. She was also given permission to keep the banner up three days before and 10 days after Veteran's Day, Daggett's birthday and Patriot's Day. Trestle took over managing homes in Surprise, where Rasmusson lives, in November 2024. Baska said this is the reason they did not know about her prior arrangement. 'We unfortunately were unaware of the previous commitment that granted this homeowner permission to display her memorial during time periods that exceed what is granted in the Association's governing documents,' Baska wrote to residents. Baska said he was made aware of this exception on Tuesday, though he didn't specify who told him. He also explained that company representatives reached out to Rasmusson about this issue on May 23. 'Now that we are aware of the 2019 approval for the memorial, please note it is 100% the intention of Trestle Management Group and the association's current Board of Directors to honor the previous decision. And again, had we known this initially, we would have certainly taken a much different approach to this situation,' he wrote. Daggett joined the army right after graduating high school in the summer of 2005 and was serving his first tour in Iraq at the time of his death. On May 1, he sustained serious injuries from a propelled grenade attack while fighting in Baghdad. He was quickly flown out of the Middle Eastern country to get medical treatment. While en route to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Daggett's condition worsened, forcing the plane transporting him to land in Halifax, Canada. After several days of fighting for his life, Daggett died on May 15, 2008, at just 21 years old. Daggett posthumously received the Bronze Star, a military decoration awarded to soldiers who have committed acts of heroism on the battlefield. He was also bestowed with a Purple Heart, a honor reserved for service members who have been wounded or killed in battle. 'My brother really loved his country, and I'm very proud, and that's really the point,' Rasmusson has said regarding her insistence on keeping the banner up. Pictured: Baska's full letter to the residents living under the Desert Oasis HOA in Surprise, Arizona In his letter to residents, Baska apologized for the May 7 'courtesy notice' sent to Rasmusson that classified the banner of Sgt. Daggett a 'nuisance' under the HOA bylaws. It also compared the banner to dead trees, rubbish, and debris, which Rasmusson previously said was 'offensive.' The notice demanded the banner of him be taken down within 14 days of receipt. It also claimed the banner had been up since December 1, 2024, which violates the HOA's rules. 'After several months of continuous display, on May 7th, 2025, our office did issue a resident a courtesy notice for the banner that was affixed to the garage, and kindly asked that it be removed as it was in violation of the community's governing documents,' Baska explained in the letter. 'We do regret the category for which our software system classified this courtesy notice, as in no way do we feel the gravity of honoring a fallen soldier/family member falls under the same umbrella as other community 'nuisance' issues,' he added. 'We will do a quick review of our software platform to determine how we can word this potential violation in a more sensitive manner, should a similar situation arise in the future. 'Please know that we are deeply sorry for any confusion or frustration caused, in our honest and sincere attempts to engage this homeowner in conversation. It was absolutely not our intent to bring any negativity toward your amazing community,' Baska concluded the letter. Baska's agenda in writing the letter also appears to be inspired by the media coverage about Trestle's initial blunder. Rasmusson is pictured standing in her front lawn with her patriotic decorations behind her as she talks to AZFamily, the local television station that first interviewed her about her conflict with the HOA AZFamily was the first to pick up the story, interviewing Rasmusson outside her home and broadcasting the first images of the banner. In the letter to residents, Baska complained that after AZFamily aired the story, others have come out and distorted the facts. 'Various news outlets and social media forums have picked up parts of the story, and many of these are either not portraying the entire story, or are just flat-out misrepresenting the situation all together,' he wrote. He claimed that this has led to 'a tremendous number of threatening messages to our staff, which we obviously take quite seriously.' The Daily Mail has not verified these threats, but there were many people on social media airing out their fury at the HOA. Tony Cuchiara, who knows the Rasmusson family, posted on Monday that he and his wife, Heather, had recently visited Daggett's grave in Washington, D.C. 'A month ago, Heather and I went on a trip to Washington, D.C. and made it a point to visit our dearly beloved friend Kyle Daggett. He is a hero to us all! I hope this HOA is held responsible for complete and total violation of our rights!!!' he wrote on Facebook. In another post, he called what the HOA did 'absolute horse****' and demanded it be shut down. Some residents who live in Surprise under the the HOA launched harsh criticisms against its leadership following this incident In a post on Facebook, Steven Stein said he lives under this HOA and implied that their showdown with Rasmusson doesn't represent the extent of the problems. 'Trust me when I say I would not have bought here knowing that they'd manage the neighborhood the way that they do,' he wrote. Michael Barndt, who also lives in Surprise, weighed in on the HOA's approach as well. 'This is absurd, something needs to be done. As a veteran, I'm appalled by the actions of the HOA. This hero gave his life for freedom,' Barndt wrote. 'The display of a memorial tribute has ZERO adverse or negative impact in our community. We all need to support this family and remove the governing body of the HOA,' he concluded. The United States as a whole has seen a rise in the prevalence of HOAs, despite the bodies often being controversial. In 1970, just 2.1 million Americans lived in HOA-governed communities, according to the Foundation for Community Research. By 2023, that number had ballooned to 75.5 million, just under a quarter of the entire US population.
New York Post
3 days ago
- General
- New York Post
HOA that claimed Memorial Day display honoring fallen Army hero was a ‘nuisance' does about-face
An Arizona homeowner's association will allow a woman to keep a Memorial Day display in honor of her fallen US Army brother outside her home — despite previously calling the patriotic exhibit 'a nuisance.' Trestle Management Group, which overseas the Surprise, Arizona, association where Kendall Rasmusson posted her display, said it was unaware that she had been given permission to display her love for her brother by the previous management company. 'We learned only this morning that the homeowner we sent the courtesy notice to on May 7, 2025, had been given previous conditional approval to display her memorial/banner by the previous Board of Directors in this community, back on Jan. 31, 2019,' Trestle President Jim Baska said in an email to The Post. 3 Kendall Rasmusson, right, with her brother, fallen US Army Sgt. John Kyle Daggett. FOX 19 NOW 3 The Memorial Day display at Kendall Rasmusson's Arizona home honors her Army brother, Sgt. John Kyle Daggett. FOX 19 NOW 'It is 100% our intention to honor the decision from the board back in 2019, and fully support the extended timeframe granted to the homeowner to display their memorial,' Baska wrote. Rasmusson, whose brother, US Army Sgt. John Kyle Daggett, was mortally wounded while deployed in Iraq in 2008, was warned by the Desert Oasis homeowners' association earlier this month that she needed to remove the display because it was an eyesore and a 'nuisance.' The display includes flags and banners on her front lawn, patriotic signs and a large poster on her garage door that shows her brother in uniform — with the poster being the main point of contention. 3 Kendall Rasmusson was told her Memorial Day display was a nuisance — but the HOA did an about-face on it. FOX 19 NOW 'They put it in comparison with dead plants, dead trees and bushes,' Rasmusson told AZ Family. 'And it was kind of offensive to have it be in this comparison of what they're calling a nuisance.' She usually puts up the display on Independence Day, Labor Day and Memorial Day, she said. But her dilemma drew attention after she told her story on a local neighborhood group page, which led to several new reports about the HOA's demand. That's when Baska said the company came to learn that Rasmusson had previously been given permission to keep the display for extended periods of time.
New York Post
4 days ago
- General
- New York Post
Heartless HOA orders woman to remove ‘nuisance' Memorial Day display honoring fallen Army vet brother
It's downright un-American. An Arizona homeowners' association has ordered one resident to remove a Memorial Day tribute to her fallen US Army soldier brother — telling her that the patriotic exhibit was 'a nuisance.' Kendall Rasmusson placed flags and banners on her front lawn, and a large poster of her brother, Sgt. John Kyle Daggett, on her garage door in Surprise, Arizona, to remember her sibling during national holiday, AZ Family reported Monday. Advertisement 4 Kendall Rasmusson, right, with her brother, US Army Sgt. John Kyle Daggett, who died in 2008. FOX 19 NOW 4 Kendall Rasmusson said she decorates her Arizona home during holidays to honor her fallen US Army brother. FOX 19 NOW But that didn't sit well with the company managing the local homeowner's association, Rasmusson told the TV station. Advertisement 'My brother really loved his country, and I've very proud and that's really the point,' she said. 'It's been interesting navigating life without him.' 4 Kendall Rasmusson said the management company for her homeowners association ordered her to remove her display FOX 19 NOW She said the HOA management company called the display an eyesore in the neighborhood. 'They put it in comparison with dead plants, dead trees and bushes,' Rasmusson said. 'And it was kind of offensive to have it be in this comparison of what they're calling a nuisance.' Advertisement She posted her objections on a local neighborhood group page and received a follow-up email from the management company, telling her their decree wasn't meant to 'overlook the significance of the display.' But the result was the same. 4 The managers of Kendall Rasmusson's homeowners association called her honor to her brother 'a nuisance.' FOX 19 NOW Rasmusson told the outlets that she's been pestered over her display before, and was fined $500 by the previous management company in 2018 before being granted a 'grace period.' Advertisement She said she assumed the new company would honor that. She said she posts the display during holidays, primarily Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day for her brother, who died in 2008 after being mortally wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Baghdad. The management company was not publicly identified in the local news reports.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Outrageous reason family of fallen Iraq war hero were told to remove their Memorial Day tribute
An Arizona woman was told by her HOA that she needed to take down a banner honoring her soldier brother who died in Iraq because it was a 'nuisance.' Kendall Rasmusson has flags, banners and other patriotic decorations on her front lawn in Surprise, a suburban community near Phoenix. The most important of her Memorial Day adornments is a poster depicting her late brother, Sgt. John Kyle Daggett. Daggett, 21, died on May 15, 2008, roughly two weeks after he sustained serious injuries from a propelled grenade attack while fighting in Baghdad. This didn't matter to her new HOA management company, Trestle Management Group, which sent her a letter on May 7 telling her she needed to take it down. In the letter obtained by AZFamily, the company said the banner showing Daggett violated an HOA regulation on property 'nuisances.' 'They put it in comparison with dead plants, dead trees and bushes, and it was kind of offensive to have it be in this comparison of what they're calling a nuisance,' Rasmusson told the outlet in an interview. The letter also appeared to compare the banner to 'rubbish' and 'debris,' while also calling it 'unsightly.' Frustrated, Rasmusson posted about this on a local social media page, which then prompted Trestle to send her another email seeking to defuse the situation. In that email, the company further clarified that its intention was 'not to cause frustration or overlook the significance of the display'. Trestle also claimed that its representatives had noticed that the poster of Rasmusson's brother had been up for several months. This is what caused them to classify it as a permanent exterior feature instead of a decoration. Under the HOA's rules, decorations can go up 30 days before a holiday and must be taken down 10 days after. Most HOAs have regulations similar to this in order to maintain a uniform look in the community, with some even restricting the size and specific placement of decorations. This isn't the first time Rasmusson has been asked to take the banner down. In 2018, her old HOA management company fined her $500 for keeping it up too long. But after she launched an online petition, she was allowed to keep it up on other holidays such as Independence Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day. Rasmusson said the new management company doesn't seem to be aware of the prior arrangement she had or isn't willing to honor it.
