Printed letters, July 4, 2012

By Staff
Tuesday, July 3, 2012

I cannot get the image out of my mind. It was during the height of “the Surge” in the Iraq war sometime in 2007. I went to Wal-Mart. The masses of us were shopping our hearts out. Grandmothers, mothers and granddaughters were pouring through the aisles looking for sale items. Grandfathers, fathers and grandsons were eyeing the latest large-screen TVs.

As far as I could tell, very few of us were contemplating the sacrifice of our guardians thousands of miles away.

As one unknown author said, “Our military went to war. The rest of us went shopping.”

“The gap between the military and everybody else is getting worse because people don’t know ... what you’ve been through. There are no bond drives. There are no tax hikes. There are no food drives ...,” Marine Sgt. Alex Lewis told Time magazine last November.

My parents were part of the “Greatest Generation.” They did not speak to me of their sacrifice — a husband who served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, then was MIA; A wife who struggled alone. But make no mistake, they — and millions like them — sacrificed. That generation’s grit ultimately saved the free world and turned our American economy into the greatest the world has seen.

But what of us now? We do salute and celebrate our returning veterans. Good. But have we committed or sacrificed one additional penny from our pockets toward the trillion-dollar debt the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have cost us?

Our soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen needed every penny to wage those faraway wars. Surely, they deserve our sacrifice — not just our respect.

Patriotism requires sacrifice. Write your U.S. senators and congressman. Demand a war tax now! Oh, veterans are exempted.

WILLIAM P. GARDNER, III

Grand Junction

County health and human services workers due praise

Most of us are fortunate enough not to require the services that are provided by Mesa County Department of Human Services and Mesa County Health Department. Those who do require the services are fortunate that they exist.

The economy has stressed everyone’s finances, and there is a growing number of county residents requesting and applying for the assistance that is provided at the county offices. The increasing number of people needing assistance strains the county’s budget, time and manpower. The county employees are trying to keep pace.

The Mesa County Department of Human Services and Mesa County Health Department employees that I have met are professional, helpful and caring individuals who work hard and take their jobs seriously. They are doing their best to assist with the needs of every person walking through that front door.

Public employees may be easy targets. However, they work hard to provide value to our tax dollars.

DIANA ADKINS

Grand Junction

 

Questionable chicken quote ruffles reader’s feathers

“Chickens coming to roost in Glenwood” was the headline on a recent Daily Sentinel news article by Dennis Webb. In the June 27 article, Webb quoted Kevin Wright, district wildlife manager in the Aspen area, as saying, “They’re starting to kill grizzly bears over a 50-cent chicken.” 

Questions:  When have grizzly bears been reintroduced to Colorado? When have chickens been devalued to 50 cents per chicken?

Facts:  Black bears are the bear in Colorado, and a quick trip to a local market will verify chickens cost considerably more than 50 cents each.

If the Sentinel claims to be a newspaper, how can it allow these inaccuracies to be published as news or facts?

ROY LOCKHART

Grand Junction

 

Stop the HHS mandate for immoral services

Stop the implementation of the federal HHS mandate that requires employee health plans to provide coverage for morally objectionable services such as contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.

GERALD DOODY

Grand Junction

 

Bureaucracy puts kibosh on a $500,000 facility

I’ve been trying to build a 10,000-square-foot building next to the Family Dollar store in Fruita for the past four months. The permits and regulation were horrendous.

I found out that professionals would do the permit work. This cost a lot of extra money. I went along with that for a month, even having it done.

The paperwork and regulation as the owner are too much for me. I’m pulling out of my half-million-dollar building. Thanks, bureaucrats.

ALAN R. STORY

Fruita

 

Ignoring weather disasters, some demand more drilling

More than a thousand heat records shattered nationwide. Sea levels on the East Coast are rising faster than predicted. Colorado burns to the ground. And the loudest voices cry, “Drill baby, drill! We must have more growth!”

ANDREW DAVIE

Fruita