Letters to the Editor 09-20-2001
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Firefighter Tribute - Band Together - Prayer Irony - New War - Tie A Purple Ribbon - Peachey Fund-Raiser - Rude At The Pump - Claypool Fest
Firefighter Tribute
Editor, Times-Union:I would like to thank our local fire department and the surrounding departments for putting out the symbol of a fallen firefighter. The fireman's hat, coat and backward boots are a visible sign of remembering not only the firemen but everyone involved in the tragedy of Sept. 11.
Sue Clark
Silver Lake
Band Together
Editor, Times-Union:It has been 60 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor. Now it has happened again and right here on our own homeland!
This is the time when all classes in America band together. This is the time when all citizens of the USA become as one. When it comes to defending our country and showing our patriotic loyalty, natives and inhabitants of every kind and denomination in this country work together in complete cooperation: the Christians, the Jews, the American-born Muslims, men of the cloth, the agnostics, the atheists, the rich and the poor, the hoodlums and the good guys, the famous and the infamous. We are working hand-in-hand, all for the love and adoration that we feel toward this great country of ours, the good old USA.
I don't know when patriotism has become so abundant, so rampant as it stands today; in fact, America hasn't shown so much patriotism since the days of World War II, when every residence and business establishment put out the flag, proudly displaying "Old Glory" waving in the breeze in all of her "red, white and blue" radiance and splendor.
Sixty years ago, Kate Smith, the beloved vocalist, introduced "God Bless America" to the world. She belted out that song with so much spirit and feeling, and now citizens of these tragic, difficult times are singing "God Bless America" with the same vigor and gusto as Kate Smith did those many years ago during that other era when the United States, as well as the world in general, suffered great conflict and turmoil.
I reiterate: Today's horrible calamaties in New York City and Washington, D.C., have brought people together, not only from a patriotic point of view, but those terrible holocausts have brought human beings closer to God; furthermore, whenever I hear individuals taking the Lord's name in vain or committing blasphemy by ridiculing or making light of God, in a book or on the motion picture screen, it disturbs me terribly. Why are some mortals so determined to show so much irreverence toward the Lord? After all, as everybody should realize, if one can't have a higher power to look to and respect, what is there left?
Don Kaiser
Warsaw
Prayer Irony
Editor, Times Union:I am writing in response to Dale Beery's letter concerning prayer irony. I couldn't agree more with Mr. Beery's opinion that it is indeed rather ironic that in a moment of national crisis we turn to prayer, but students are not allowed to pray in schools. It is true that prayer has been taken out of our public schools, but thank God we live in a country where parents have the right to choose what school their children attend. There are some schools where prayer is not only allowed, but it is practiced daily. This past Friday, a day that President Bush declared a day of remembrance, the entire student body of Lakeland Christian Academy enjoyed a 35-minute prayer assembly. What a blessing it was to hear our students voluntarily praying for those who lost loved ones, praying for the rescue workers and praying for our nation's leaders by name. Prayer is allowed in some American schools, we do it every day.
David Underwood
Lakeland Christian Academy Administrator
New War
Editor, Times-Union:"A New War" seems to be the catch phrase for the trauma we currently find our nation in. By definition we must change the way we think of war. Traditionally, victory is given to the side with the most advantages strategically, economically and militarily. The problem I see today is that this "New" war doesn't obey the rules we are comfortable with. No longer can we deploy a ship to a prime time target. Now, we find Special Reports where Regis used to be. We used to make the rules. Now we are searching luggage to find the rule book.
These new challenges are more than an administration can tackle on its own. Policy will not be able to dictate a solution in its architecture. Our weapons cannot destroy what other men are willing to give their lives for. Not to compare these terrorists acts to those of our forefathers, but in principle they are similar. That is why we, America's children, must change how we think. What will this community do if disaster falls from our skies? How will this community react if our freedoms are slowly traded for a false sense of peace? What will this community do to preserve the "American Dream"? What is this community willing to sacrifice? We don't want to answer these questions but this "New War" requires us to. Our founding fathers were willing to give their lives for the liberties we have enjoyed. If we relinquish any of those rights, then these terrorists have succeeded.
Warsaw, Ind., was attacked on Tuesday September the 11th. Warsaw was forced to make choices. Where can we go to give blood? How much can we donate to the Red Cross? What medical supplies can we ship to New York? Who can we send to help? When we take these terrorist actions personally, we will see this "New War" for what it is ... an attack on our town, our religious freedom, our individual liberties. We will see that we have already lost our sense of peace.
The solution to this crisis is not going to be found in the government but within ourselves. We are going to have to start making choices. Not necessarily about military strategies or humanitarian aid, but about beliefs. We are dealing with people who are willing to give their lives for what they believe in. These actions will force us to react. Our true freedom will be found in the way we react. Do we "turn the other cheek" or do we seek "an eye for an eye?" Do we pray for guidance from God or do we search the Internet for information? What do we believe? Are we willing to die for it?
Paul T. Berkey
Claypool
via e-mail
Tie A Purple Ribbon
Editor, Times-Union:A movement has been started like that from Desert Storm. During Desert Storm we tied yellow ribbons anywhere we could. Well, now the movement is to tie purple ribbons the same way. This is for two reasons:
1. In remembrance of not only the firefighters, police officers, paramedics who have died, but also for all who have died in this terrible tragedy.
2. Just as in the military, when a serviceman gets injured, he is given the Purple Heart. Well, our country has been injured to its core.
Please pass this on to everyone you know, and let's see purple ribbons everywhere, along with the flag of the United States of America.
Scott Wiley
Warsaw
Peachey Fund-Raiser
Editor, Times-Union:Saturday, September 15, was a lovely Day at the Lake for the Catherine Peachey Fund. The communities of Warsaw and Winona Lake turned out hundreds of sponsors, volunteers and participants to raise money for research at the Catherine Peachey Breast Cancer Prevention Program at the Indiana University Cancer Center.
The money raised at this event will help the Catherine Peachey Fund contribute $100,000 to begin the Prevention Program Endowment at IU.
The Prayer Service Collection for the New York Firefighters brought in $928.30, another example of the generosity and caring of our community.
We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude and applause to everyone who made this possible.
Carolyn T. Condon
chairwoman
A Day at the Lake
Connie Rufenbarger
secretary/treasurer
The Catherine Peachey Fund
Warsaw
via e-mail
Rude At The Pump
Editor, Times-Union:Last Tuesday evening, the 11th of September, while many Americans were in panic in the wake of the terrorist attack, the gas lines were long. A young mother of three was in one of those lines. With her children in the car, the mother gets out of her car to pump gas. A man in his 40s, driving a white Ford SUV, begins to berate this woman in front of her children. Calling her names, he insults her intelligence, because the gas will not flow out of her pump. (The gas will not flow until the pump is turned on inside the station.) The man even gets out of his SUV and starts toward her in a threatening manner! My question is this: In this time of unity, in this time of tragedy, why would someone act like this? Why would someone act like this any time? People like this man always pick on those smaller and weaker than they. Are these people bullies or cowards ... or both? My hope is that this man is not one of many. I'm hoping the majority of people will be kind and helpful to one another. We are all in this together. I have no doubt that God will bless America. If we look to Him and we are loving to each other, we will make it through this time of trial.
Kay Creamer
Atwood
Claypool Fest
Editor, Times-Union:Claypool Festival says thanks to the many people that supported the festival in numerous ways:
¥ The organizations that served food and organized the parade.
¥ The merchants and residents of Main Street for their inconvenience.
¥ Area merchants that donated prizes for the car show.
¥ Car show, tractor pull and parade participants.
Plans are under way for Aug. 16 and 17, 2002.
Ginger Dwyer, Paula Gall, Shelly Thomas, Donna Morris
Committee Members
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- Firefighter Tribute - Band Together - Prayer Irony - New War - Tie A Purple Ribbon - Peachey Fund-Raiser - Rude At The Pump - Claypool Fest
Firefighter Tribute
Editor, Times-Union:I would like to thank our local fire department and the surrounding departments for putting out the symbol of a fallen firefighter. The fireman's hat, coat and backward boots are a visible sign of remembering not only the firemen but everyone involved in the tragedy of Sept. 11.
Sue Clark
Silver Lake
Band Together
Editor, Times-Union:It has been 60 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor. Now it has happened again and right here on our own homeland!
This is the time when all classes in America band together. This is the time when all citizens of the USA become as one. When it comes to defending our country and showing our patriotic loyalty, natives and inhabitants of every kind and denomination in this country work together in complete cooperation: the Christians, the Jews, the American-born Muslims, men of the cloth, the agnostics, the atheists, the rich and the poor, the hoodlums and the good guys, the famous and the infamous. We are working hand-in-hand, all for the love and adoration that we feel toward this great country of ours, the good old USA.
I don't know when patriotism has become so abundant, so rampant as it stands today; in fact, America hasn't shown so much patriotism since the days of World War II, when every residence and business establishment put out the flag, proudly displaying "Old Glory" waving in the breeze in all of her "red, white and blue" radiance and splendor.
Sixty years ago, Kate Smith, the beloved vocalist, introduced "God Bless America" to the world. She belted out that song with so much spirit and feeling, and now citizens of these tragic, difficult times are singing "God Bless America" with the same vigor and gusto as Kate Smith did those many years ago during that other era when the United States, as well as the world in general, suffered great conflict and turmoil.
I reiterate: Today's horrible calamaties in New York City and Washington, D.C., have brought people together, not only from a patriotic point of view, but those terrible holocausts have brought human beings closer to God; furthermore, whenever I hear individuals taking the Lord's name in vain or committing blasphemy by ridiculing or making light of God, in a book or on the motion picture screen, it disturbs me terribly. Why are some mortals so determined to show so much irreverence toward the Lord? After all, as everybody should realize, if one can't have a higher power to look to and respect, what is there left?
Don Kaiser
Warsaw
Prayer Irony
Editor, Times Union:I am writing in response to Dale Beery's letter concerning prayer irony. I couldn't agree more with Mr. Beery's opinion that it is indeed rather ironic that in a moment of national crisis we turn to prayer, but students are not allowed to pray in schools. It is true that prayer has been taken out of our public schools, but thank God we live in a country where parents have the right to choose what school their children attend. There are some schools where prayer is not only allowed, but it is practiced daily. This past Friday, a day that President Bush declared a day of remembrance, the entire student body of Lakeland Christian Academy enjoyed a 35-minute prayer assembly. What a blessing it was to hear our students voluntarily praying for those who lost loved ones, praying for the rescue workers and praying for our nation's leaders by name. Prayer is allowed in some American schools, we do it every day.
David Underwood
Lakeland Christian Academy Administrator
New War
Editor, Times-Union:"A New War" seems to be the catch phrase for the trauma we currently find our nation in. By definition we must change the way we think of war. Traditionally, victory is given to the side with the most advantages strategically, economically and militarily. The problem I see today is that this "New" war doesn't obey the rules we are comfortable with. No longer can we deploy a ship to a prime time target. Now, we find Special Reports where Regis used to be. We used to make the rules. Now we are searching luggage to find the rule book.
These new challenges are more than an administration can tackle on its own. Policy will not be able to dictate a solution in its architecture. Our weapons cannot destroy what other men are willing to give their lives for. Not to compare these terrorists acts to those of our forefathers, but in principle they are similar. That is why we, America's children, must change how we think. What will this community do if disaster falls from our skies? How will this community react if our freedoms are slowly traded for a false sense of peace? What will this community do to preserve the "American Dream"? What is this community willing to sacrifice? We don't want to answer these questions but this "New War" requires us to. Our founding fathers were willing to give their lives for the liberties we have enjoyed. If we relinquish any of those rights, then these terrorists have succeeded.
Warsaw, Ind., was attacked on Tuesday September the 11th. Warsaw was forced to make choices. Where can we go to give blood? How much can we donate to the Red Cross? What medical supplies can we ship to New York? Who can we send to help? When we take these terrorist actions personally, we will see this "New War" for what it is ... an attack on our town, our religious freedom, our individual liberties. We will see that we have already lost our sense of peace.
The solution to this crisis is not going to be found in the government but within ourselves. We are going to have to start making choices. Not necessarily about military strategies or humanitarian aid, but about beliefs. We are dealing with people who are willing to give their lives for what they believe in. These actions will force us to react. Our true freedom will be found in the way we react. Do we "turn the other cheek" or do we seek "an eye for an eye?" Do we pray for guidance from God or do we search the Internet for information? What do we believe? Are we willing to die for it?
Paul T. Berkey
Claypool
via e-mail
Tie A Purple Ribbon
Editor, Times-Union:A movement has been started like that from Desert Storm. During Desert Storm we tied yellow ribbons anywhere we could. Well, now the movement is to tie purple ribbons the same way. This is for two reasons:
1. In remembrance of not only the firefighters, police officers, paramedics who have died, but also for all who have died in this terrible tragedy.
2. Just as in the military, when a serviceman gets injured, he is given the Purple Heart. Well, our country has been injured to its core.
Please pass this on to everyone you know, and let's see purple ribbons everywhere, along with the flag of the United States of America.
Scott Wiley
Warsaw
Peachey Fund-Raiser
Editor, Times-Union:Saturday, September 15, was a lovely Day at the Lake for the Catherine Peachey Fund. The communities of Warsaw and Winona Lake turned out hundreds of sponsors, volunteers and participants to raise money for research at the Catherine Peachey Breast Cancer Prevention Program at the Indiana University Cancer Center.
The money raised at this event will help the Catherine Peachey Fund contribute $100,000 to begin the Prevention Program Endowment at IU.
The Prayer Service Collection for the New York Firefighters brought in $928.30, another example of the generosity and caring of our community.
We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude and applause to everyone who made this possible.
Carolyn T. Condon
chairwoman
A Day at the Lake
Connie Rufenbarger
secretary/treasurer
The Catherine Peachey Fund
Warsaw
via e-mail
Rude At The Pump
Editor, Times-Union:Last Tuesday evening, the 11th of September, while many Americans were in panic in the wake of the terrorist attack, the gas lines were long. A young mother of three was in one of those lines. With her children in the car, the mother gets out of her car to pump gas. A man in his 40s, driving a white Ford SUV, begins to berate this woman in front of her children. Calling her names, he insults her intelligence, because the gas will not flow out of her pump. (The gas will not flow until the pump is turned on inside the station.) The man even gets out of his SUV and starts toward her in a threatening manner! My question is this: In this time of unity, in this time of tragedy, why would someone act like this? Why would someone act like this any time? People like this man always pick on those smaller and weaker than they. Are these people bullies or cowards ... or both? My hope is that this man is not one of many. I'm hoping the majority of people will be kind and helpful to one another. We are all in this together. I have no doubt that God will bless America. If we look to Him and we are loving to each other, we will make it through this time of trial.
Kay Creamer
Atwood
Claypool Fest
Editor, Times-Union:Claypool Festival says thanks to the many people that supported the festival in numerous ways:
¥ The organizations that served food and organized the parade.
¥ The merchants and residents of Main Street for their inconvenience.
¥ Area merchants that donated prizes for the car show.
¥ Car show, tractor pull and parade participants.
Plans are under way for Aug. 16 and 17, 2002.
Ginger Dwyer, Paula Gall, Shelly Thomas, Donna Morris
Committee Members
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