LETTERS

For all this, we salute you

To those that preceded me, thank you for the freedoms I enjoy. It was you that made me aware of the cost of these freedoms. It was you that inspired me to follow in your footsteps and serve my country with pride. Like you, many of my fellow Marines and soldiers never returned home. A sacrifice we all faced without regret.

To those that have succeeded me, thank you for the freedoms I enjoy. I wish you Godspeed and a safe journey home. Like those that have preceded you, many of your comrades will not return home. However, know that their memories are not lost.

For the most part, most Americans will spend this Memorial Day weekend cooking out; getting the best deals at the Memorial Day White Sale; or taking advantage of Memorial Day savings to purchase that new car. Not stopping for a second to remember those that have provided these freedoms or what this day is for.

Those that will remember the significance of this day are your family, those who’ve lost sons and daughters, and us. For us, the minority, we have experienced the rigors of war, the pain of sacrifice, and the emptiness in our hearts; however, never does a day pass where you are not in our thoughts and prayers.

The freedoms we enjoy are not free. They have been paid for in full by members of the greatest military in the world with sweat, anguish and blood.

So on this day I salute you and thank you. And I ask all Americans to stop for a second and remember those that this day honors. Never forget, someone gave their tomorrow so you could have today.

STAN JAROS

Cammack Village

Willing, ready to fight

Memorial Day is very special because we honor those who have died while fighting to preserve our freedoms.

As a 90-year-old World War II medic with the 169th Regiment of the 43rd Infantry Division, I observed the death of many who sacrificed their lives for our liberty.

Each Sunday, as I worship at church, there is no fear of being taken captive by an enemy. May we Americans always be willing to fight for our precious freedoms that we often take for granted.

EDWIN H. KNIGHT

Little Rock

A memory to cherish

I was one of the Honor Flight group arriving back to the Little Rock airport after a wonderful day in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. I was humbled and overcome with emotion by the huge crowd of greeters, the bands, the numerous military groups, firefighters and yes, the ROTC units on hand. I’ve probably missed mentioning some, but it is a memory I will hold in my heart as long as I live.

I especially want to say a special “thank you” to a very young, and I’m sure a very pretty lady, Miss Claire King, who designed and sent me a card expressing her thanks for my service (school district unknown). It was my pleasure to have had a small part in passing on to you this wonderful “land of the free.”

ROBERT G. HALL

Jacksonville

Future in good hands

I want to send a sincere thank you to Tyson and Wal-Mart for sending my husband, David Joseph (as well as our son Paul) and other World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., to see the WWII Memorial.

You cannot know how much it meant to each veteran and their families.

Also, a huge thank you to Nancy Williams for all her hard work and great sense of humor. She is a wonderful lady. Thanks to her and all her helpers.

Last but not least is a big thank you to the young students and teachers from the Springdale schools for the sweet, dear letters they wrote for each WWII veteran.

Our nation is in good hands for a great future. Thank you. God bless America.

MAXINE JOSEPH

Siloam Springs

A heartwarming sight

It was a great privilege to go to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport and greet the veterans returning from their Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. They were all so thrilled with their day.

One of the most heartwarming things was to see the Heritage Football team lined up there to greet each returning veteran. My sincere thanks and appreciation to the coaches who are teaching much more than football. What an awesome way to show these young men the importance of honoring our veterans, love of our country and becoming responsible citizens. Thank you, coaches, and each young man who made that Saturday night even more special.

DIAN GIBSON

Rogers

An obvious oversight

Since Bradley Gitz is eager to get all the facts regarding the Benghazi tragedy, maybe he can look into why House Republicans voted against repeated requests for more funding for additional embassy security.

Considering what a “fair” and “objective” journalist Mr. Gitz has been throughout the years, I’m assuming this was an oversight on his part.

JOHN LANCASTER

Donaldson

True costs of freedom

I am a disabled veteran. A disabled United States Marine. Having sustained multiple injuries during active duty, I’ve had to endure over 11 separate surgeries in an attempt to repair the damage my body has sustained.

I knew that signing up to be a Marine was dangerous. That’s okay because I love my country. But I served my nation in order to protect our right to freedom and to be treated equally.

So in view of the sacrifices that I and other veterans have made to provide freedom in this nation, I hope you can understand how very sad and angry I am that some people in this government have abused the freedom we have purchased with such a great price. My family has counted the cost I have paid many times. Mine is no greater than any other veteran who has protected our freedom. Each of us is reminded of the price each and every morning.

I just wonder when the government bureaucrats in Washington will learn to take the freedom we’ve paid for and apply it equally to all Americans regardless of how we vote. When agencies like the IRS abuse that freedom, it makes me feel so very low.

Is the price we veterans have paid worth the cost when our freedom is so abused? What will it take for Washington to understand the true cost of this freedom and to respect it enough to administer it with some degree of honor?

SCOTT GILLESPIE

Huntsville

Can see right through

All those, left and right, who are asking “What did the president know and when did he know it?” should quit.

That question was proper for President Richard Nixon because he was totally involved in his administration. I believe this is not the case with President Barack Obama. He promised us the most transparent administration in history. So when you look at him, Attorney General Eric Holder, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and everyone else being looked at these days, you get nothing. They did not do anything and they do not know anything. Totally transparent. You see right through them.

If you had any doubt that this is the most transparent administration of all time, President Obama said it best: “There is no there there.”

ROBERT STEWART TICE

Fayetteville

Aren’t lost, but ended

Tragedy besets families, communities and nations all too often. Generally, these disastrous events are out of our hands-hurricanes strike, wildfires blaze, and tornadoes whirl without any input from those of us enjoying our daily cup of normalcy.

But fortunately, it turns out we aren’t all that different from Mother Nature when trouble arises. We summon up an innate courage to survive, a will to press through, and an instinct to live and preserve the lives around us. Initially, we tend to pray, hug our loved ones, and thank God that it wasn’t us. But after the dust settles, countless individual heroes arise, unnoticed by the masses, that commit their days’ labor and hearts to the restoration that must occur.

Days, months and years later we look back at the times we shared with those no longer with us. There will be laughs and there will be tears, but in all our ponderings we must take care to always remember an essential philosophical tenet, lest we become hardened to the calluses of life. The lives of our friends, acquaintances and loved ones were not lost; rather, they were ended far too soon, far too abruptly, far too tragically. Their lives will always be with us, though their person may not. The ups and downs, the joys and pains, the experiences good and the experiences bad will never be taken away. Our sheer existence bettered the world. Their sheer existence bettered the world.

Now, let us go back out and better the world with every passing day.

JODY BLAND

Alma

Truly were Americans

In late October of 1944, in the Vosges region of eastern France, American GI Susumo Ito was one of the few who reached the top of what would become known as “Suicide Hill” unscathed. Ito was a member of the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team sent to rescue a battalion which had gotten cut off from the rest of its regiment and was surrounded by German forces. Two earlier attempts at rescue by other units had failed.

The 100th/442nd was composed almost entirely of Americans of Japanese ancestry, many of whom had enlisted straight from “relocation camps” such as the one near Rohwer. Ito had been drafted before the relocation process began, but his family was living behind barbed wire at Rohwer.

After five days of intense combat, 211 men of the “Lost Battalion” were rescued. The 100th/442nd suffered over 800 killed or wounded. The unit was awarded seven Presidential Distinguished Unit Citations for less than a month of combat in the Vosges region alone, an achievement unequaled by any other unit during World War II.

These soldiers, like the Tuskegee Airmen and the Navajo “code-talkers,” had to fight the enemy abroad and prejudice at home as well, but they willingly assumed this heaviest burden of citizenship and performed outstandingly. There is simply no finer example of what it means to be an American.

One way to remember these brave soldiers on Memorial Day (or any other day), would be to watch the old war movie Go For Broke, the Hollywood version of those events, or read the book Just Americans by Robert Asahina.

JOHN McPHERSON

Searcy

Feedback

Dictator tutorial

I have been wondering what benevolent dictator Yvonne Samons was referring to when she said, “Better a benevolent dictator then a Godless democracy.” Was it Saddam Hussein, Moammar Gadhafi, Bashar al-Assad, Kim Jong Un, or maybe Hitler?

Perhaps she was just saying she would like a religious state-like Iran.

A democracy neither has nor doesn’t have a God; however, ours allows us to choose to have one.

SALLY MAYS

Roland

Overdoes it a bit

I pay good money for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

I think Voices overdoes it on the “fair and balanced” issue.

If I wanted to read rants from atheists, Marxists, liberals, Democrats (the unfair and unbalanced), etc., I could pick up the Arkansas Times for free. I don’t.

WAYNE WYATT

Sherwood