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OUR READERS SPEAK IN THIS WEEK’S ‘LETTERS TO THE EDITOR’

What Kind Of A Future Do We Want?

Dear Editor:

     I have heard it said that kids are our future. Not just any kid but all kids. And what kind of future do we want? One populated by well-rounded, well-educated kids or one populated by kids struggling with Math, English, History, and other areas. For many kids, this past school year was filled with lost learning opportunities due to COVID. Low-income kids were impacted more often than other kids.

     Members of the Golden K Kiwanis Club of Decatur are partnering with CASA to help kids bridge that learning gap. By helping those kids with their educational needs, their future, and ours, will be brighter. We need your help.

     If you are a retired educator, or someone who likes working with kids, and willing to spend a few hours a week helping kids learn, please contact us. Your experience and their need are a perfect fit. Your passion for learning and kids over the years will serve this community, and those kids, well. As the saying goes, “No one stands so tall as when they stoop to help a child.”

     There are several ways you can contact us. One: attend one of our regular meetings at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday mornings at the Salvation Army Banquet Center on West Main Street; Two: leave a message on our Facebook Page (Search Golden K Kiwanis of Decatur); Three: send an email to crsmith@millikin.edu. Join us in this effort to help kids. Together we can make a difference.

Charles Smith, Decatur

America Needs To Wake Up Before It Is Too Late

Dear Editor:

     Moments before writing this Op/Ed, I had been watching the Secretary of Defense holding a press conference. As he took questions regarding the 12 Marines and Corpsman that were killed in Afghanistan. He looked down a good amount of the time he was answering questions from reporters. His posture and facial expressions did not exhibit strength or confidence.

     While I have sympathy for what he was going through, I was also sad for the Marines and Corpsman that died and their families, who lives had been changed forever. Mid-morning on April 10, 1968, a young Marine who was 19 years and 31 days old, when he disembarked a flight from Okinawa, at DaNang airbase in RVN. Feet on the ground, he was met by a Marine Lt. Colonel who looked at his orders, then directed him to a nearby C-130. Soon after, the Marine was air-bound to DongHa Combat Base near the DMZ in I-Corps.

     Arriving, the Marine found himself in what turned out to be very well controlled chaos. The Combat Base was being attacked with NVA artillery. Didn’t last long, perhaps 5 minutes, not long enough to be afraid. The Marine was then taken to his assigned platoon. There, he learned that he was replacing a 20 year old Marine (Mike Berwert of Topeka, KS). Mike had been KIA on March 25, 1968, along with three other Marines that were so seriously wounded they had to be sent stateside. Loss of life in war is always sad, sad for everyone connected to the KIA. it hurts those left behind, the family (of course), but also the KIA’s fellow Marines, Soldiers, Sailers, and Airmen. There is simply no way around that hurt. and … it will never ever… go away.

     Today, watching the Secretary of Defense answer questions, I wish I had seen a strong man, standing straight and tall, answering questions by looking the questioner in the eye, by speaking in a strong voice, most of all by showing the bravery that is due these Marines that gave their lives and to the families whose lives are forever change. These Marines deserve to be spoken of with strength and honor.

     Folks, our leaders aren’t strong, look around to what is going on, America needs to wake up before it is too late.

Robert Pittenger, Decatur

Simple-Minded Americans Are Accused Of Trying To Make A Coup Without A Single Firearm

Dear Editor:

     Wow! The scales have fallen from my eyes! About 200 years ago firearms became popular everywhere and all coup d’ état people ever since use them. But we simple-minded Americans without a single firearm are claimed to have tried to make a coup. Of course we did not – it is a lie.

     We protested dirty press coverup of Biden family influence peddling and the new ballot rules and counting. There were firearms on January 6th but we did not use them – the government turned them on us to kill an unarmed ex-service woman. Lies are still being told about a policeman who died the next day of a non-coup related stroke as reported in the medical examiner’s report but the lie goes on.

     We were dumb. We squeezed people in door jambs and poked them with flag poles. Some coup against the strongest army on earth with H bombs! Shame on us! The Taliban showed the world how to use firearms for a real coup in only a couple of weeks and we end up in jail with ruined lives. Do not protest!

     The Constitution was wrong to say we could. How could civilized men brutalize their women! Biden said it was very unlikely to happen in July. But this is August. Farewell Americans to your word and our honor.

John E. Fick, Decatur

 

LETTERS are from this week’s print edition of the Decatur Tribune.

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