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Hernando Today

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 18, 2008

Ironic Contrast

It is upsetting to see the senator from Tennessee dressing down the leaders of the U.S. car industry. Why? Because he has a large Nissan Auto Plant in Smyrna, Tenn., along with others who have the same vested interest. The Republicans who voted against the loan know the huge amount of hourly, salary and related services will destroy the U.S. economy and saddle President-elect Barack Obama with the result, and we will forget Bush's war and the $80 billion Iraq has put away.

Many large cities have thousands of minorities who will lose their homes, cars, health care and so on. A man without hope is a dangerous man. Since many are UAW members, they could all get together and form as a mob. I don't know what would happen.

The Japanese lost the war and lost face and now if they can destroy the U.S. they will be able to regain that position.

The saddest thing we ever saw occurred a few years ago in San Francisco - almost a cartoon. My wife said: "Look at that poor white woman with all that stuff in a shopping cart, like that's all she owns." Coming out of I. Magnin, the upscale store, were two Japanese ladies with mink coats, lizard boots and lots of shopping bags.

Story in contrast: U.S. bag lady and wealthy Japanese woman.

That's where we all will be soon!

Arthur R. Croci

Spring Hill

Fresh Face For VA

The appointment to the United States Veterans Administration of General Eric Shinseki should provide fresh impetus to get the VA moving in directions now bogged down in bureaucracy with poorly trained adjudicators in major regional office markets who deny obvious claims and issues that do meet criteria for compensation and cause appeals to pile high.

Waiting months and months to be served by a more knowledgeable rater, many appeals having to move into the Board of Veterans Appeals, some so simple as hearing loss and tinnitus from a veteran having been exposed to high-density noise levels in the military, a simple claim to adjudicate and rate in favor of the veteran.

Veterans are proud of their service, very proud of combat service and eager to be acknowledged for their dedication and commitment to the uniform they wore. Veteran services available to large numbers from every conflict and every war along with peacetime veterans provide significant opportunities for compensation and benefits awarded to these well-deserved men and women. Many of them are coming home as heroes of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Desert Storm, along with some who still seek benefits from their service in World War II and Korea and the 7.1 million Vietnam veterans whose participation in the jungles of Vietnam are being rewarded with compensation and benefits in the legacy and tradition of the Veterans Administration.

Deron Mikal

Brooksville

Roadside Memorials

A roadside memorial is placed at the roadside because someone's loved one who lost their life there. Someone years ago decided that they were going to remember someone they loved and lost their life at that particular spot on that roadway.

I was one of those individuals. More than four years ago, I lost my wife, Beverly, of 40 years, known to family and friends as "Bev," at the corner of Deltona and Norcliffe boulevards. I placed that memorial there for three reasons:

• So on each day I pass by that corner since her death, whether in my car, on my motorcycle or just doing my daily walk or bike ride, I can look over at the memorial and say "I love you Bev" - no more, no less, just those words.

• I just want my love one to know that each day that passes I have not forgotten her and all the great times we had with our family.

• To remind every motorist who passes by that memorial that someone lost their life at that corner and to be very careful when entering it, just like Beverly did.

When Beverly got in her car that morning with one of our grandchildren, to take her to Westside Elementary and her dental appointment, she had no idea that 200 yards from her driveway she would be involved in an auto accident that would take her life. There are no guarantees that tomorrow will ever come, so what you put off yesterday, do not wait for tomorrow. God always gives us today to do it, but that is not a guarantee either.

Now, the purpose of this letter: I hope this message reaches the individual or individuals who like to be disrespectful of what roadside memorials stand for.

We put those roadside memorials there for our loved ones. There are individuals who like to destroy things that they do not know what they are really put there for. I walked by with a friend the night before and gave my respects to my loved one, Beverly. The sign was just fine. Due to recent surgery for cancer, I have to walk two to three times a day, so the next morning I passed by the memorial. Sometime between the walk the night before and the next morning, someone decided to destroy the memorial.

I have one thing to say about that and the person or persons responsible for destroying it: Your have some serious problems and you need help. I hope you get that help. I want you to remember how I felt when you destroyed my wife Beverly's memorial.

This has been the second one I have put there. The first one was not ever touched, but our politicians and their supporters need to be reminded when it comes voting time that they should not put their signs in front of a roadside memorial. That space is already occupied for as long as that memorial is there, and as long as I am living it will always be there and maintained.

Gary Mercer

Spring Hill

The writer is a retired quality assurance manager of Ford Motor Company.

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