On Aug. 15, we attended “Join Us at the Table,” a dinner honoring some of the Benton County veterans organized by Beth Hickman and her committee.
“Oh, what a night” doesn’t describe how wonderful the evening was.
At each table was a picture of the veteran in his/her uniform when each served, and a brief history of the veteran and of the medals each earned. A delicious buffet was served by so many of the local restaurants, with winery and other services also donated.
Topped off by bread pudding and lemon bars, the best we’ve ever eaten.
Understand that for a World War II veteran who simply came home after serving aboard a ship in the Pacific for four years - no medals given at the timethat were earned (received 62 years later), no parade, nothing - then to be honored with an evening of fine dining and completed by the Bella Vista Men’s Choir singing their best to honor the veterans, was awesome.
To Beth’s Committee, restaurants that provided the meal, wine and all the others that provided items to the event, God bless you for caring and sharing.
It was an evening to remember and warms an old sailor’s heart.
JERRY AND ANNA AHLMAN
Bella Vista
GUN-FREE ZONES DANGEROUS Will anti-gun activists ever learn?
When initial reports leaked out about the Navy Yard attack that left the killerand 12 innocents dead in Washington, D.C., Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gunners immediately demanded more gun controls. In their haste to exploit another tragedy for political gain, the anti-gunners intentionally refused to point out that the shootings happened in a gun-free zone - in the city with the most restrictive gun laws in America outside Chicago, the murder capital of the U.S. In fact, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, Aurora, and the episode at the Navy Yard all occurred in gun-free zones.
Thus reality is that mass gun violence mostly occurs in gun-free zones. Recently Economist John Lott said, “With just one single exception, the attack on Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford in Tucson in 2011, every public shooting since at least 1950 in the U.S. inwhich more than three people have been killed has taken place where citizens are not allowed to carry guns.”
Obviously gun-free zones are so ineff ective (because) criminals and mentally ill gunmen know innocents inside gun-free zones will be unable to defend themselves or mount a resistance against someone shooting a gun.
No matter how much antigun activists claim otherwise, passing even dumber gun control laws and establishing more gun-free zones will cause more mass killings.
The best way to prevent tragedies like the Navy Yard murders is to allow responsible law-abiding adults to carry guns to more places and posting entry signs that such is the case.
Opinion, Pages 5 on 09/25/2013