Online-only letters
Veterans Day
The whites of their eyes
Editor, The Times:
Regarding “Local vets relive memories of war for national project” [Times, page one, Nov. 10] and “Grandpa shares tales of WWII” [Local News, Nov. 11]:
Some of us fought hand to hand in faraway jungles, while some of us handed out volleyballs in an Air Force base gym stateside.
Some spent freezing hours on the decks of ships in the far north; others spent an entire enlistment in Hawaii.
Some spent hours in boredom, staring at a radar scope at a base in Wyoming; others spent days hiding behind enemy lines, waiting for a chance to spot a target for our bombers.
Some of us served 30 years and retired at full pay, while some of us were drafted, “took a short” and got out after 18 months.
Some served in the active military, some in the National Guard.
Some are 24 years old, while some are pushing 100.
Some of us saw things too horrible to describe; some of us did things too horrible to describe. Some of us killed many people, while some of us worked around the clock saving many people. Some of us destroyed many buildings and even entire towns, while some of us built many buildings and even entire towns.
Some of us left military service in one piece; some left the service with pieces missing.
Some of us came home to parades and free drinks at the Veterans of Foreign Wars; others were spat on and called baby-killers.
Some of us travel every year to reunions to be with our comrades, while some of us keep our memories - and pain - to ourselves. Most of us have returned to civilian life, adjusted well and are leading productive lives. Some of us haven’t.
But one thing we all have in common: We served. We are America’s veterans.
We live among you; we are part of your world. We are your fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends and neighbors. We did a job so that America could continue being America.
We’re still here. All we ask is that you just remember us.
- Richard Reed, former U.S. Army staff sergeant, WoodinvilleSi vis pacem…
May I strongly suggest that Vietnam veterans need to be appreciated, as they fail to be up here in Canada; in this nation, their sacrifices are usually not acknowledged during war-veterans ceremonials.
Retrospectively, we can easily claim that there shouldn’t have been any foreign military involvement in Vietnam. However, the advantage of hindsight is 20/20; thus, we should keep in mind that the vast majority of Americans and Canadians who fought in that war likely did so with honorable intentions.
Of course, one must acknowledge the political incorrectness of the Vietnam War, compared to the glory of, for example, fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War. However, what must be understood is that the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39 took place before fascism took the world to war and fully exposed its murderous ideology.
Therefore, the Americans and Canadians who fought in Spain at that time had no more of a moral motive to fight there than did those who fought communism in Vietnam; since those who fought in Vietnam did so before it became crystal clear to the world - or at least most of it - that foreign involvement in Vietnam was unjustifiable.
- Frank Sterle, White Rock, B.C.
Illegal immigration
Steal away
Persons who unlawfully appropriate vehicles (”PWUAVs”) and unlawful immigrants seem to be on a lower priority for apprehension by law enforcement, and this is proper.
PWUAVs and unlawful immigrants also share another similarity. Unlawful immigrants “steal” into our society when they cross our borders. A PWUAV steals a vehicle.
If our officials grant amnesty or citizenship - title - to an unlawful immigrant [”Dems must avoid immigration trap,” syndicated column, Nov. 4], they are rewarding an unlawful act. If this amnesty is granted to an unlawful immigrant, it follows that the title of a stolen vehicle should be awarded to the thief.
Also, since citizenship entitles immigrants to medical care, education and welfare, the PWUAVs should be provided free gasoline and maintenance for their unlawful deed.
What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
- George Kyer, CarnationProposition 1 aftermath
Whom to blame
Let’s stop all this bleating about people not voting [”Only pockets of support for transit, road plan,” Local News, Nov. 1].
If they do not vote, it may be that they don’t understand the issues and probably should not vote out of ignorance. Or perhaps, though they may be citizens, they are not sufficiently proficient in English to know what goes on around them, since most daily affairs are conducted in English.
Or perhaps it may appear to them, as to many who do vote, that what we get always seems to be inferior politicians interested in nothing more than getting reelected.
Congress is typical of the lack of quality of our elected officials. Social Security is going broke. Immigration is out of control, and so is health care. Farm subsidies go mainly to the wealthy who shouldn’t get a dime from the government.
Congress members don’t really try to fix any of these but they have time to declare the massacre of Armenians by Turks nearly a century ago to be genocide. Oh, and they will never fail to get their own cost-of-living pay every year.
Locally, Seattle voted three times in favor of a monorail to serve a limited sector of the city. But when Proposition 1 came up for a vote, it had no word about monorails. The powers in the Transportation Department prefer the much more expensive light rail with its tunnels, traffic intersections and fewer passenger stops. They don’t listen to the public.
Don’t blame those who do not vote. Give us decent politicians and well-designed, economical things to vote for and the percentage of those who do vote might rise.
- Spencer Higley, EdmondsWho knows what’s best
It is getting a little old around here having Seattle and King County taken hostage by the various politicians, environmentalists and other special-interest groups wanting to dictate our lives. The Proposition 1 defeat may show the citizens are losing patience with endless transportation schemes or pie-in-the-sky dreams.
I have an idea whose time has come: Let the citizens of Seattle and King County tell our leaders what we want in improving traffic and driving conditions, versus them defining what we should vote for. Here is what such a ballot might look like:
1. What percentage do you citizens want to obligate strictly for more roads, more lanes and more capacity? That is, do not include Sound Transit, more buses, bike lanes or paths.
2. What percentage for Sound Transit?
3. What percentage for more buses?
4. What percentage for additional bike lanes and paths?
The vote results will advise our leaders on citizen priorities and how much we value each item. Seems like good feedback they should know.
Wouldn’t this be enlightening? Given the chance, our citizens just might open our leaders’ eyes. And that is why they won’t offer us these choices. Either that or we are considered too stupid to know what is best for us.
- Larry Jacobson, SeattleWhat now
I agree with you about what to do after we voted down Proposition 1 [”Plan B, now in the making,” editorial, Nov. 11], except for one thing: We should fix up the roads we already have, not just build new ones.
I’m continually dodging potholes and cracks in the pavement, whether on city streets, roads or on Interstate 5. Maintenance is important too.
I’m glad the bloated Proposition 1 was defeated. Now we need to come up with a smaller list of things to do, and do them on time and on budget.
- Arthur Hopkins, Federal WayTime for solutions
Open letter to Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi, King County Executive Ron Sims, the Sierra Club and the other leaders of the “No on Proposition 1″ campaign:
Show your leadership now and give us your plans, with specifics, to address the Highway 520 bridge replacement, the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement and further expansion of mass transit.
These items need to be fixed now before there is a natural event that will force us into emergency - more expensive - solutions.
You won, so now show us the leadership you have or desire via your detailed, alternative solutions.
- Brian Tucker, KirklandThe language of Washoe
Family tree
Thanks for ” ‘Signing’ chimp Washoe broke language barrier” [Local News, Nov. 1], except for the attempt to give equal time to scientist Herbert Terrace on behalf of those who don’t believe Washoe really did break the language barrier.
It has been widely noted that Terrace’s failure to replicate the results of the Washoe study and teach chimpanzees sign language was the fault of his protocols and research environment. The failure was his, not the chimps’.
The need to deny what Washoe did is part of the need to proclaim ourselves the only species special enough to use language and to avoid uncomfortable implications: that Washoe was one of us, more alike than different, as are her kin whose capture, purchase, confinement or use as experimental subjects raises moral issues we prefer not to acknowledge.
Thus do we defend the ultimate gated community, perched on our carefully circumscribed twig of the family tree.
- Andrew Christie, Los Osos, CA