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Letters To The Editor

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 13, 2007

Show Some Real Support

Well, Veterans Day has come and gone and our congressmen and senators have crawled out of the woodwork and from under their rocks to proclaim how much they appreciate our military, our veterans and our military retirees.

It's all lip service.

If they cared, they would be able to pry HR 1222 and HR 1223 - Keep America's Promises to its Military Retirees Acts - out of committee and on to the House floor for a vote. If they cared, HR 303 - Full Concurrent Receipt for Disabled Military Retirees, first introduced in the 1980s - would have been passed years ago.

So the next time some Washington weenie comes down here and says he or she supports the troops and the military, there is a 99.44 percent chance that they are lying.

KENNETH R. GILDER

St. Petersburg

To The Unsung Heroes
I am writing this letter on Nov. 11 - Veterans Day. I want to thank not only our veterans but also a group of unsung heroes: the staffs of our local Bay Pines and the James A. Haley Veterans Hospitals.

During the past three months, I have been a patient at both facilities. The care there is exceptional. The doctors and nurses are knowledgeable and caring. Every day I am greeted with smiling faces and cheerful responses to my needs. Additionally, the physical, occupational, recreational and respiratory therapists have all been helpful.

Thank you to several outstanding people: Dr. John Brown and his staff at the Tampa VA; Dr. Nektaria Paraskevopoulos, Dr. Raoul Tamayo, the nursing staff, and Karey Atkinson, sign language interpreter at Bay Pines.

I can't name each individual who has helped me. So thanks to everyone at both hospitals for everything you have done for me.

EARL NEAL EATON JR.

St. Petersburg

Don't Forget Afghanistan

Regarding "A Salute To Those Who Sacrificed In Iraq" (front page, Nov. 12):

Cpl. Ronald Payne, Lakeland, 2nd LAR, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, was killed in Afghanistan in 2004. The news was released to family and friends on Mother's Day that year.

I strongly believe that remembering our troops in Iraq is very important, but let's not forget our brothers, sisters, moms, dads and all other family that we have in Afghanistan. We are still there fighting, but no one seems to remember them. They are our fallen veterans, too.

Their families should know that the loved ones they have lost are also being thought of and remembered.

KELLY J. GREEN

Lakeland

Should Be School Holiday

I would like the Hillsborough and Pinellas school systems to answer why schools are open on Veterans Day, which I believe to be a federal holiday. Is this one more snub of our military?

As I read in a letter to the editor on Nov. 11, most young people have no idea what Veterans Day is. Could the school systems be contributing to students' ignorance of this day when we formally honor the men and women who have served this great country? Because of their service, American children can go to school without air raid drills and blackout curtains, as my generation did.

Apparently Pasco County found this day to be important. Surely the Hillsborough and Pinellas systems could have found other places on the calendar to assure the necessary 180 student days?

SANDRA BOEHNING

Tampa

Pettiness On Union Jack

Regarding "Room For Another Flag?" (Letters, Nov. 11):

It's probably safe to say that if the board member who told Tom Russell that the Union Jack would not be allowed next to the U.S. flag, Florida state flag and Canadian flag had been named, he or she would have been under some intense pressure from peers and others in the community by now to rethink this opinion.

Shame on his or her pettiness!

SUE BOE

Odessa

Flag Doesn't Belong

The purpose of Veterans Day is to honor all American veterans, including those who fought the Revolutionary War against the British to establish this country. Given this fact, why in the name of George Washington should the Union Jack be flown at a Veterans Day celebration? Let's not forget the veterans of the War of 1812 either.

LOREN GORDON

Tampa

Thanks For Service

As an American citizen, I would be honored to see the British flag displayed side by side with the American flag during a Veterans Day celebration. Likewise, the flags of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the flag of any other country whose men and women fought side by side with our GIs during World War II.

To Tom Russell in particular, thank you so much for your service to your country and the Allied cause.

JOHN C. MILLER

Lithia

Britain A True Ally

Not all Americans feel that Tom Russell's beloved Union Jack should be removed from the Veterans Day service. Shame on that board member who made that decision and phone call!

England is a true ally. My father was stationed in England during WWII and married an English woman and brought her back to the states. We fought alongside the British to have the freedoms we have in this great country, which includes flying the Union Jack.

Hopefully someone came to their senses and the flag is proudly displayed. God bless America and Great Britain.

DARLENE HARTNESS

Brooksville

Editor's note: Tom Russell did get permission to fly the Union Jack on Veterans Day, and the majority of park residents were in full support.

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