Osama bin Laden sent his cohorts to our shores to do his dirty work. The day those towers fell, a part of all of us died. We lost some of our freedom that day in the guise of security.
And Saddam Hussein, whom we drove out of Kuwait in the early '90s, used weapons of mass destruction on his own people, the Kurds. What about the numerous UN restrictions he violated? He threw out the UN inspectors and violated the no-fly zones. He was a brutal dictator who, along with his sons, was a mass murderer.
But as for your American war hero, John Kerry, who spent all of three months in Vietnam, did you ever read Swift Boat Veterans for Truth - a book written by the men who served with Kerry?
Kerry wrote his own commendations for three purple hearts, which were his early ticket home. But not before he was said to have chased a young Vietnamese boy, who was unarmed, through the jungle and shot him in the back, dead.
Some hero!
As I was writing this, I saw a remarkable commercial on TV. It was a young, former Marine in a wheelchair named Andrew Robinson. He asks that people call their congressmen and tell them to "finish the job in Iraq or it will become a breeding ground for terrorism." This young man knows the price of freedom. Do you?
A few minutes later, a young mother of two came on. It was a commercial by the same sponsor, Freedom's Watch. She told how she lost her firefighter uncle on 9/11. She then went on to say she lost her husband in Iraq. She pleaded for us to contact our congressman to complete the job in Iraq for the sake of her children so we don't have to fight them over here. This young woman knows the price of freedom. Do you?
I pray we never have to experience the death and destruction of these fanatics here in America again. But that will take eternal vigilance on the part of all of us.
If you agree with my thoughts, you need to know this: Some on the extreme left will never understand. They just can't. They don't come from the same starting place that we come from. They aren't made out of the same stuff we're made out of, are they?
We just have to pray for their awakening and try to understand.
God bless you!
Stay vigilant!
Rick Perry
Winchester
Managing editor's note: John Kerry served two tours of duty in Vietnam, not three months. The book by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is called "Unfit to Command." The veterans who wrote it did not serve with Kerry. Information about the book and Swift Boat Veterans campaign can be found at the Center for Media & Democracy's SourceWatch Web site, www.sourcewatch.org
Put church first
To the Sun:
I am in agreement with Kathy Beauchamp's request. I, too, am asking those in leadership positions (be it school, city or otherwise) not to make the youth of our city choose between their favorite after- school activity and church.
It seems that more and more practices or activities are being planned on Wednesdays and Sundays. I am going one step further than Kathy in asking that you do not plan an activity or practice on either Wednesday or Sunday (including Sunday nights).
Being involved in youth activites (both school and city-sponsored), most coaches and leaders agree but can't do anything to change it because it's already been "set in stone."
Let's bust that stone and enable the youth of our city to attend worship and the activity of their choice. It has been a given for decades that usually Wednesdays and Sundays are days set aside for worship.
So now, leaders, coaches, where do we go from here? Are there any other parents or guardians who feel the way Kathy Beauchamp and I do? Let your voice be heard as well.
Michael S. Smith
Winchester
