Letters to the Editor 04-07-2003
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Mob Rule - Defending Freedom - Rallies For America - Fallen Hero
Mob Rule
Editor, Times-Union:I pushed the TV button early to check on the Iraq War. The screen showed a mob of American people screaming,yelling and carrying placards demanding that we Americans pull our troops out of Iraq. Some of the placards had obscene remarks about President George W. Bush, too.
"Mob rule" came out of my mouth. Friends, we're headed in that direction. I was reminded of a news interview with just one such protester where the subject was asked to name just one of the Ten Commandments. His reply was, "The right to protest!" A pitiful answer, but surprising?
Since I was born April 13, 1922, not long after World War I, I grew up with a deep respect for the "Founding Fathers" of our great nation. From high school days Abraham Lincoln was my hero. I memorized his Gettysburg Address my last year of grade school.
The freedoms envisioned by our country's founders are being desecrated and twisted by those who carry too far the right to protest. They engage in blatant disrespect for anyone who disagrees with them. Misuse and abuse of our hard-earned freedoms puts us in grave danger of losing the very freedom to disagree!
Some "peace advocates" base their views on Jesus' challenge to love our neighbor as ourselves. But I've seen them bristle with hate for anyone who happens to honestly disagree with them! I think I have noticed that it seems easier for some people to love a neighbor in Iraq, or some place far away, than to love a neighbor right across the street with whom they differ! There are some neighbors who really are a challenge to get along with, but how about making a hero's effort to understand them and get along in spite of differences?
Another question: most people totally agreed that getting rid of Hitler and the Nazis back in the 1940s was totally justified and should have been done much sooner when the cost in lives and money could have been much lower. But people today, who were not around when we fought Hitler, scream like mad when President George W. Bush answers a clear call to respond to the arrogance of an obvious murderous villain fully as evil as Hitler! How soon we forget!
Well, some of us do. The rest of us remember, and squirm, and pray - hoping that the rest of you will wake up any day now!
Warning from a senior citizen who can remember history lessons: Abused and misused freedom leads to mob rule. Mob rule leads to anarchy. A society will endure that for a while, but it is intolerable. At that point a "law and order" guy comes along, and he is welcomed as a "savior from chaos" and we are led right back into the slavery of another dictator like Castro, Saddam, Hitler or whoever!
J. Robert Boggs Jr.
Warsaw
Defending Freedom
Editor, Times-Union:Several years ago, my family traveled to Washington, D.C., and one of the places we visited was the Vietnam War Memorial. I remember my dad locating the name of an individual that had been killed in the war that he knew. Little did I know then or a few weeks ago, that I would have a friend killed in a war while defending our freedom.
Last week I was saddened to come home from school and to hear a message from my sister telling me that a classmate of mine had been killed in the war. When she told me that it was David Fribley, I was flooded with memories that began with when I met him in sixth grade at the city track meet and watched in awe as he threw the shot put with a perfect form. I continued to remember attending Tiger Football camp in middle school and recognizing then that he was going to be an impact player in a few years. I also was reminded of the many days of when the basketball team would be lifting weights during the off-season and he would be in the weight room lifting weights. He inspired all of us to work harder and to get stronger as we saw how much he could lift. These and many others are all memories that I will forever remember while going to school with David, but the greatest memory that I will treasure is knowing that he went over to Iraq to defend my freedom, to defend our nation's freedom and gave his life defending our freedom. On behalf of the WCHS class of 1996, I would like to extend our sympathy and prayers to his family. May we all live our lives in such a way that is worthy of the freedom that David fought and died for.
Matt Taylor
Florida
via e-mail
Rallies For America
Editor, Times-Union:Over the last few weeks, tens of thousands of Americans have been coming out to support our president and our troops at a series of "Rallies for America," held across the country from Washington, D.C., to California.
Where has the media been? There's plenty of coverage of the socialist-led anti-war demonstrations, complete with their vanguard of radical left-wing Hollywood "actors." But where is the coverage of these rallies of grassroots support? The silence coming from the major news media has been deafening.
There are literally dozens of upcoming "Rallies for America" all over the country, sponsored by conservative organizations nationwide. I'm writing to INSIST that you fulfill your journalistic obligations, by actually covering these upcoming rallies (locations can be found at freeper.org).
You have a DUTY to report on these grassroots outpourings of support for our country. Please, be sure to cover the nationwide "Rallies for America." Thank you.
Doug and Kara Lemler
Winona Lake
via e-mail
Fallen Hero
Editor, Times-Union:My husband and I were vacationing in Venice, Fla., the week that David Fribley was killed. This is just north of Cape Coral, where David was employed at a retirement community. We heard the news and heard many of the people say how they had fallen in love with him and were keeping up with where he was in the war. They were all so shocked and had nothing but great things to say about him. The facility had a memorial service for him on the Sunday afterwards. When we first heard it they said that he was from a small town in Indiana. That town was our town, Warsaw. They had a short clip of his coach here in Warsaw and it said how he had just cried when he got the news. We send our condolences to the family and feel so proud to call our home Warsaw, which was the hometown of a fallen hero, David Fribley.
Sue and Gaylord Johnston
Warsaw
via e-mail
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- Mob Rule - Defending Freedom - Rallies For America - Fallen Hero
Mob Rule
Editor, Times-Union:I pushed the TV button early to check on the Iraq War. The screen showed a mob of American people screaming,yelling and carrying placards demanding that we Americans pull our troops out of Iraq. Some of the placards had obscene remarks about President George W. Bush, too.
"Mob rule" came out of my mouth. Friends, we're headed in that direction. I was reminded of a news interview with just one such protester where the subject was asked to name just one of the Ten Commandments. His reply was, "The right to protest!" A pitiful answer, but surprising?
Since I was born April 13, 1922, not long after World War I, I grew up with a deep respect for the "Founding Fathers" of our great nation. From high school days Abraham Lincoln was my hero. I memorized his Gettysburg Address my last year of grade school.
The freedoms envisioned by our country's founders are being desecrated and twisted by those who carry too far the right to protest. They engage in blatant disrespect for anyone who disagrees with them. Misuse and abuse of our hard-earned freedoms puts us in grave danger of losing the very freedom to disagree!
Some "peace advocates" base their views on Jesus' challenge to love our neighbor as ourselves. But I've seen them bristle with hate for anyone who happens to honestly disagree with them! I think I have noticed that it seems easier for some people to love a neighbor in Iraq, or some place far away, than to love a neighbor right across the street with whom they differ! There are some neighbors who really are a challenge to get along with, but how about making a hero's effort to understand them and get along in spite of differences?
Another question: most people totally agreed that getting rid of Hitler and the Nazis back in the 1940s was totally justified and should have been done much sooner when the cost in lives and money could have been much lower. But people today, who were not around when we fought Hitler, scream like mad when President George W. Bush answers a clear call to respond to the arrogance of an obvious murderous villain fully as evil as Hitler! How soon we forget!
Well, some of us do. The rest of us remember, and squirm, and pray - hoping that the rest of you will wake up any day now!
Warning from a senior citizen who can remember history lessons: Abused and misused freedom leads to mob rule. Mob rule leads to anarchy. A society will endure that for a while, but it is intolerable. At that point a "law and order" guy comes along, and he is welcomed as a "savior from chaos" and we are led right back into the slavery of another dictator like Castro, Saddam, Hitler or whoever!
J. Robert Boggs Jr.
Warsaw
Defending Freedom
Editor, Times-Union:Several years ago, my family traveled to Washington, D.C., and one of the places we visited was the Vietnam War Memorial. I remember my dad locating the name of an individual that had been killed in the war that he knew. Little did I know then or a few weeks ago, that I would have a friend killed in a war while defending our freedom.
Last week I was saddened to come home from school and to hear a message from my sister telling me that a classmate of mine had been killed in the war. When she told me that it was David Fribley, I was flooded with memories that began with when I met him in sixth grade at the city track meet and watched in awe as he threw the shot put with a perfect form. I continued to remember attending Tiger Football camp in middle school and recognizing then that he was going to be an impact player in a few years. I also was reminded of the many days of when the basketball team would be lifting weights during the off-season and he would be in the weight room lifting weights. He inspired all of us to work harder and to get stronger as we saw how much he could lift. These and many others are all memories that I will forever remember while going to school with David, but the greatest memory that I will treasure is knowing that he went over to Iraq to defend my freedom, to defend our nation's freedom and gave his life defending our freedom. On behalf of the WCHS class of 1996, I would like to extend our sympathy and prayers to his family. May we all live our lives in such a way that is worthy of the freedom that David fought and died for.
Matt Taylor
Florida
via e-mail
Rallies For America
Editor, Times-Union:Over the last few weeks, tens of thousands of Americans have been coming out to support our president and our troops at a series of "Rallies for America," held across the country from Washington, D.C., to California.
Where has the media been? There's plenty of coverage of the socialist-led anti-war demonstrations, complete with their vanguard of radical left-wing Hollywood "actors." But where is the coverage of these rallies of grassroots support? The silence coming from the major news media has been deafening.
There are literally dozens of upcoming "Rallies for America" all over the country, sponsored by conservative organizations nationwide. I'm writing to INSIST that you fulfill your journalistic obligations, by actually covering these upcoming rallies (locations can be found at freeper.org).
You have a DUTY to report on these grassroots outpourings of support for our country. Please, be sure to cover the nationwide "Rallies for America." Thank you.
Doug and Kara Lemler
Winona Lake
via e-mail
Fallen Hero
Editor, Times-Union:My husband and I were vacationing in Venice, Fla., the week that David Fribley was killed. This is just north of Cape Coral, where David was employed at a retirement community. We heard the news and heard many of the people say how they had fallen in love with him and were keeping up with where he was in the war. They were all so shocked and had nothing but great things to say about him. The facility had a memorial service for him on the Sunday afterwards. When we first heard it they said that he was from a small town in Indiana. That town was our town, Warsaw. They had a short clip of his coach here in Warsaw and it said how he had just cried when he got the news. We send our condolences to the family and feel so proud to call our home Warsaw, which was the hometown of a fallen hero, David Fribley.
Sue and Gaylord Johnston
Warsaw
via e-mail
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