Cotton office response leaves veteran 'at a loss'
I'm writing on behalf of my husband, Richard A. Cerasale, and as his fiduciary. Richard is a 100 percent permanently disabled combat veteran. He served 30 years in the Marine Corps and was highly respected in the field.
Richard is now 72 years old and I'm 74. Both of us have back and leg problems. One of Richard's main problems is PTSD as well as a tumor in his head. Due to the PTSD, he often goes upstairs in our home to be alone. He has fallen down the stairs several times. I am concerned he's going to be hurt badly. His Veterans Administration and civilian doctors both think he should have a stair lift. However, the VA hospital in Fayetteville declined the prescription from his doctor at the VA. We then started to look for assistance in obtaining the chair lift and turned to our senator, Tom Cotton. We were never able to talk to him personally, but were referred to his office in El Dorado.
When we reached that office, Richard talked to a woman who was impatient with my husband, which in turn riled his PTSD. The woman evidently had never dealt with a PTSD veteran. She hung up on him and called the Rogers police. They told us she had called and was concerned for my safety, which was never brought up during their conversation. I have been married to Richard for 47 years and have never been in any danger from him. The next thing we know, we received a letter from Sen. Cotton's office threatening to report us to the Capitol Police if we did not "cease and desist."
I must admit I was surprised as I thought being a veteran himself, he would be more in support of the veterans.
I am now at a loss as to who to turn to for help for this man who gave so much for his country.
Linda J. Cerasale
Rogers
AR-15 not the issue in school shooting
There is a recent call for a new gun ban on legally owned AR-15s after the recent horrific tragedy in Florida. While my heart goes out to the victims and their families, the gun is not the issue. This incident was preventable on so many levels leading up to the shooting, both on the local and federal level. Local law enforcement was called out to the home where the shooter resided 39 times in the past six years. The shooter passed a federal background check and the FBI admits they did not follow proper protocol. The system works if all the checks and balances are followed.
If your intent in banning anything, lets start with cellphones. On average, nine teens die every day while texting and driving and more than 334,000 people are injured or killed annually by texting drivers. So the next time you are passed or pull up to stoplight and the driver is texting, there is your next potential killer, and they did not have to pass a background check to get that phone.
Brian Schafer
Rogers
Commentary on 02/22/2018