Editor, Times-Union, Abraham Lincoln has been a hero of mine since, when in junior high, I did his Gettysburg Address in a speech contest. Now that I'm past 80, I'm wondering what he might say at Ground Zero on 9/11/2002. Maybe something like this, my paraphrase?
"Two hundred and twenty-six years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the conviction that all human life on earth has value and meaning, and that each, with loving care, should be given the opportunity to develop to their greatest potential the highest ideals.
"Our nation and our world is now engaged in a great war; a life-and-death struggle of ideas, religions and philosophies of life - testing to see what value we, the people, will put on the Great Creator's gift of human life and freedom for all.
"God's gift of life, love and freedom is for the blonde, blue-eyed girl; the boy with black skin and dark eyes, and all shades in between.
"The solemn words 'Ashes to ashes; dust to dust' have been said in deep grief over the mortal remains of many of humanity's finest youth from Europe's Flanders Field to the deserts and jungles of the Far East and at piles of twisted rubble in the West. Great and creative potentials lie buried with these ashes. It is fitting and proper that we continue to grieve for our great losses of former days.
"But now, it is for us, the living, to dedicate what may remain of our lives to the highest and best we know of God and his redemptive purposes, so that the sacrifices of our bright and hopeful youth will not have been in vain! And that the words spoken many years ago by that sun-tanned youth in Palestine, 'Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you,' will become the whole world's Golden Rule of thought and deed from this moment on, until all Earth's people live together in peace, and with a purpose grounded in loving care for one another. So may it be!
J. Robert Boggs Jr. Warsaw
Theater Donation
Editor, Times-Union: This week has brought back many memories of a year ago and the days that followed. While in Warsaw we watched in horror what happened on the east coast in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, and asked what we can do to help and why this happened.
Last year on Sept. 15 the Wagon Wheel Theatre decided to go forward with our presentation of The Platters and the Coasters. The groups, both based in New York City, rented cars and drove to the concert, glad to leave the city and the devastation, if only for a while. They thanked us for going on with the show. In response, several theater patrons made donations to the New York Firefighters Disaster Relief Fund that evening and the following weekend at a concert by John Berry, Suzy Bogguss and Billy Dean.
While residents of New York work at getting life back to normal, it is heart-warming to know that the contributions from a small town like Warsaw, Ind., don't go unnoticed. Below is an excerpt from the thank-you note received by the theater for the contribution of $3,445.45 made by our patrons.
"Dear Wagon Wheel Productions:
"Thank you for your donation to the New York Firefighters 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund. We will ensure that your contribution will be properly distributed to the families of FDNY firefighters and EMS personnel killed in the World Trade Center tragedy."
We at the Wagon Wheel would like to share this thank-you with the community since you made the donation possible.
Carol Craig Business Manager Ramada Wagon Wheel Theatre
Drainage Problems
Editor, Times-Union: As a property owner in the Flagstone Terrace Addition, I have some serious concerns.
We have been told we would have help in solving our standing water problem. In a February meeting we were informed by the county surveyor that by the end of March or the first part of April they could start ditching to help solve our drainage trouble in this area. This has not occurred.
We read in the newspapers about the mosquito-born West Nile virus. Now we all sit here and worry about how many mosquitoes we have breeding here in our neighborhood. Storms with any amount of rain fill the streets and lawns of these homes. Our neighborhood has families with small children and older adults. We worry.
Are we to be overlooked and our risks pushed aside? Is there any hope for a solution to our drainage troubles?
Ruth Breske Warsaw
Mother Responds
Editor, Times-Union: Perhaps Planned Parenthood would help alleviate some of Ms. Nellans of Milford problems and expenses. I've lost a daughter to cancer and another daughter has it in what's called "remission," I think. I've had 10 children, so I'm not completely insensitive to her woes.
Lila O'Connell Warsaw via e-mail
Unfair Policy
Editor, Times-Union: Just a note to thank Dr. Whitney for the letter explaining the situation at the Village at Winona. When I first heard about what was happening with the rental property, it seemed so unfair, that I was sure it was just a rumor or that there were some reasons other than aesthetic ones. After reading Dr. Whitney's letter, it's clear that the situation is unfair and sad. It's so much nicer to hear of people extending a hand, to work with people, rather than an elbow to move them out of the way.
Holly Fancil Warsaw via e-mail
Iraq Debate
Editor, Times-Union: In the ongoing debate over the merits and trustworthiness of Saddam Hussein, I found the following news item to be most enlightening:
Would Saddam think twice about attacking us with weapons of mass destruction? Consider the fact that the Iraqi dictator has already done just that to his own people.
The three-day attack took place in March 1988 in the northern town of Halabja. Clouds of poisonous gases killed as many as 5,000 Kurds. Many were struck down where they stood. Dead children littered the streets like discarded dolls.
The Kurds' offense: siding with neighboring Iran during the Iran-Iraq war.
"Saddam used a cocktail of chemicals - mustard gas, a known carcinogen, and nerve agents sarin, tabun and VX," says Dr. Christine Gosden, professor of medical genetics at the University of Liverpool. "Horrible agents. These chemicals affect virtually every system of the body." Even 14 years later.
Gosden, who visited the toxic area in 1998, says the chemicals caused unsightly and "virtually untreatable" genetic changes in skin cells. Half the population have respiratory complaints. On an average day, there are no normal births, just miscarriages. The babies who survive suffer birth defects and mental retardation. Doctors report a high incidence of cancer in children not even born at the time of the attack. "That indicates that there is genetic damage," says Godsen. "Their DNA is permanently and irreversibly changed."
The mustard gas also had a devastating effect on the environment. Deadly toxins - some from victims' bodies - seeped into the earth and the water table. This land, once the most fertile in the area, looks like a nuclear wilderness. - Ed Bradley on "60 Minutes" (as quoted in Reader's Digest, "Mind of a Monster - The Twisted World of Saddam Hussein," August 2002).
