Those who go to war are heroes
9/17/2004I found Richard H. Hayes' Sept. 14 letter and his theory of what a hero is unbelievable.
Whether John Kerry was fired on at the time of his rescue of one of his swift-boat companions, I think what really mattered is that he was over in Vietnam and on a dangerous mission. The swift boats were dangerous assignments and everyone knew that.
Perhaps the problem that Mr. Hayes has is that our illustrious President Bush couldn't even find the time in his busy schedule to attend his guard meetings.
My husband was in the National Guard in Michigan and he was told that if he missed a meeting, he could be called to active duty. Everybody joked and made fun of those guardsmen and called them "Boy Scouts." Hopefully more will come out in the next weeks about Mr. Bush and why he was AWOL.
Then there is Max Cleland. The wrong place at the wrong time? He lost three limbs in the war, but that doesn't make him a hero? It sounds like you are a hero only if you lose your life.
Then let's honor the 1,000 or more men and women who have lost their lives in Iraq. How many thousands more have limbs lost, eyes missing, brains damaged? Are they heroes or were they just in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Maybe they didn't have influential relatives who could get them into Harvard business school. Maybe they couldn't get deferments like Dick Cheney.
Everyone who fought bravely in war for their country is a hero to me and may God bless them for their sacrifice.
Marcia Bracciano
Monroe, Mich.
I am a young American. Many consider my generation to be a group of disinterested youths, assigning little value to our opinions and ideas. However, we stand at the threshold of an uncertain future, one that will be greatly influenced by the election this November. It is my hope that it will also be a future greatly influenced by the young adults of this nation.
My generation has experienced a world far different than that of our parents. We have seen a hatred of our nation flickering in the eyes of people we have never met, people we do not hate. We have seen their outpourings of aggression, their vicious acts of terrorism. We have seen the homes and lives of others destroyed, left in ruins by American bombs.
And we are horrified, but amazingly seem to lack the motivation to even question what is going on and why. We have been desensitized to the violence, left with a numb feeling of shock and little hope.
But we cannot lose faith, especially in ourselves. If we stand aside and fail to help make the decisions of the present, we will be forced to live in a future that we did not create. While the mess will have been made by others, it will be ours and ours alone to clean up. We must accept the responsibility now, seizing the opportunities that this upcoming election presents. We must voice our opinions, cast our votes, and choose our own destiny.
I am a young American and this fall I am voting for change.
Rachelle Morgan
Genoa
The Bush Administration has some special plans for the 2006 federal budget. According to National Public Radio, there will be cuts of more than $100 million to the WIC program (which provides nutritional support for Women, Infants and Children), cuts of over another $100 million to Head Start, cuts in Homeland Security, cuts at the EPA, and to the National Health program. But no rollback of the tax cuts to the wealthy.
In an age of trillion-dollar budgets, the Bush Administration says young families cannot have about $200 million to $300 million in vital assistance they now receive so that the richest Americans can pig out at the trough.
Ebenezer Scrooge lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Nancy Beadle
Delta, Ohio
The EPA is so full of it, it's difficult to fathom. According to Blade staff writer Tom Henry, "Pollutants linger." The EPA cites numerous statistics of how bad things are with DDT, PCBs, chlordane dioxins, and mercury. They further express concern over power plant emissions. With all these concerns, the EPA continues to allow oil companies to dump pollutants into the bay and lake. The EPA is even considering increasing the allowable amount the oil companies dump.
Who are these people? Who holds their feet to the fire when they tell only part of the problems? They seem even more incompetent than the Lucas County Board of Elections.
Don J. Mooney
Erie, Michigan
When I was young and had a young family, we went to grandma's for dinner. After dinner grandma wanted to give us ice cream.
I told her one child, having misbehaved earlier in the day, was not to have any. After some negotiations, I held my ground. Grandma decided then no one would have ice cream.
Who was right?
Clue: Grandmas are always right!
The point here is that University of Toledo football coach Tom Amstutz, double standard or not, has a team/family of which he is in charge. Period. If columnist John Harris thinks he can do a better job with ink and pen, let him try.
Let's do this, give the ink and pen to Mr. Amstutz and let him write the "Monday Morning" column.
Let Mr. Harris coach the team on Saturday. My money says you will read a more insightful column on Monday than you will see coaching on Saturday.
Mike Schnapp
West Bancroft Street
Bravo, on your recent editorial "Malibu meets Athens."
Denigrating the sport of women's beach volleyball to Las Vegas glitz, and a "skin show" is totally negative, if not contributing to the not-so-subtle exploitation of women.
Encouraged by your editorial, may I be so bold to raise the question of the continued inappropriateness of ads for modeling, escorts, gentlemen's clubs, on the sports pages?
What does that commerce have to do with sports? If it is entertainment, why not print it there with movies, plays, and nightclubs?
Earl Loeffler
Dorr Street
I cannot allow the recent attack on Catholic sacramental doctrine to go unanswered.
The First Communion of a little girl in New Jersey was declared invalid because a priest substituted a rice wafer instead of bread.
The bishop of Trenton, N.J., was correct and the Vatican will support him. The priest should have been suspended.
The little girl had an option. She could have received her first communion with "wine" alone, with no risk to her health.
According to Catholic teaching, Christ is present entirely under either form, "bread" or "wine." She would have been deprived of nothing.
The validity of the sacraments is a weighty matter for Catholics.
No compromise is possible. A rice wafer or a potato chip will never be acceptable. It would render the Mass worthless.
MARTIN LaPORTE
Shasta Drive
We have followed the BGSU Falcons for many years, including football games at Ohio State, Michigan, and Purdue. We have never experienced the kind of respect, kindness, generosity, and good sportsmanship in those places like we did on our recent trip to Oklahoma.
What we experienced was unbelievable, and it came from people everywhere - hotels, restaurants, airport, and at the stadium. The entire community epitomized the true meaning of friendly competition and sportsmanship.
Hopefully, the Mid-American Conference and the Big 10 can strive to treat opposing schools and their fans in a similar manner.
DICK and JIM SELGO
Archbold, Ohio