I see by the newspaper that many positive things are happening to honor and benefit our veterans, military and their families. We need more of this, not just in December, but all year round. Whatever you believe about our politicians of all parties, or the current, or past conflicts, our current and post service members must be supported. I appreciate what they do. Freedom isn’t free and it’s unfortunate we have to keep making the installment payments in blood, but this nation must survive.
The parents of the slain Marine who were allowed to adopt his wounded military working dog are just one of the positive items we’ve read about lately. I’m sure that is a strong family who will love that dog forever.
The Order of the Shield motorcycle group has made another holiday visit along with the Ottumwa High JROTC to honor our elderly veterans in many nursing homes. This is the utmost respect and thankfulness in this holiday season.
Roger Borror of Wapello County Customs will be constructing a military theme bike to raffle off to benefit the family support group of the local 833rd Engineers, Iowa National Guard company. This is a good thing and a way to show community support to not only our local guardsmen, but their families, too. I urge all patriotic citizens and businesses to contribute to this worthy effort to get this motorcycle built.
Keep the red, white and blue flying high, in sight and in our hearts.
Dee Beghtol
Ottumwa
Letters to the Editor
December 31, 2007
Positive efforts happening to honor veterans
- Letters to the Editor
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- Pay attention to safety concerns Time to make Ottumwa a quiet zone for trains, it would make for safer crossings that cannot be driven around when the arms are down. Then they can also concentrate on that instead of changing all of the traffic flow at Evans Middle School, opening cl
- Injuries to infants, children can be prevented In the April 25 Courier, there were two stories of very young children who may have been severely harmed by a caretaker. We only know the circumstances revealed by the media, but our community has heard of these tragedies before. Only about 2 percent
- Church extends a heartfelt thanks As I sit here in my office that still smells of smoke from the fire our church suffered this past week, I remind myself how fortunate we are to be in a city where people still watch out for one another, and we, the members of the First Church of God,
- Program helps new parents In light of recent developments, I would like to increase the public's awareness of the NEST Program available through our Wapello County Extension and Outreach at 214 E. Main St. This program is available for parents of newborns through age 5, as we
- One giant mud hole to China Once upon a time, long, long ago, the neighbor kids and I used to like to dig in the ditch after a nice rain and make mud pies. We’d squat beside our hole in the ground with our long-handled spoons and take turns digging and filling our muffin pans
- Superintendent says 'thank you' May is School Board Appreciation Month. Today, the district held its Staff Appreciation and Teacher of the Year Breakfast, and last week was the Faculty Follies program organized by the Education Foundation for Fairfield Public Schools. I am full of
- Address mental health concerns for veterans Memorial Day will soon be here and we will pay tribute to our deceased loved ones. This Memorial Day, let's pay special tribute to our deceased veterans — like my dad — Don Butts, who served in World War II (Battle of the Bulge — one of the worst bat
- It's the death of a republic It's the death of a republic Our first president -- and founding father -- once said during his administration that "at best, government is a fearful master; at worst, it is a consuming fire." During the later 20th century, the number of defenseles
- Judicial system is out of whack
- LWV responds to letter The League of Women Voters — Ottumwa would like to respond to a recent letter to the editor. We will explain more about our forums that we co-host with the Chamber of Commerce every spring, specifically regarding the issue of asking Curt Hanson to
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