Memorial Day is for patriots



In some circles, patriotism has become a synonym for arrogant or jingoistic. Some people even use it as a political weapon: “Don’t question my patriotism,” they say. Yet, this Memorial Day, and every other day for that matter, we should remember that those who died for this country are the true patriots.

Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes called Memorial Day “our most respected holiday,” and urged that “we not ponder with sad thoughts the passing of our heroes but rather ponder their legacy — the life they made possible for us by their commitment and pain.”

At its core, Memorial Day has always commemorated the universal all-encompassing understanding of “No greater love than this does any man have, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

Former President Abraham Lincoln put their sacrifice into perspective at the battlefield in Gettysburg when he said, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”

After the terrorists struck us Sept. 11, 2001, America was changed. Our all-volunteer force responded. People with comfortable jobs left their towns and deployed with their Reserve and National Guard units. Some even joined the active-duty forces. The existing military responded in its typical heroic fashion, overthrowing a tyrannical regime in Afghanistan and battling ruthless insurgents in Iraq. Thousands gave their lives.

The call to freedom came and they answered. Just as their predecessors in the two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Beirut, Grenada, and the Persian Gulf, the War on Terrorism is being won by ordinary Americans making extraordinary sacrifices.

One such man was Marine Cpl. Travis Braddack-Nail, of Portland, Ore. He played the drums, loved punk rock and drove his mother crazy with his tattoos. Although he hoped to attend college, he extended his stay in Iraq to help his platoon. “The platoon wasn’t surprised by his decision. He would always step in and take his spot,” a Marine buddy recalled.

Travis was killed two months later in an explosion during a mine-clearing operation near Karbala. We owe Travis, and the men and women like him, our unending respect and gratitude.

The Preamble to The American Legion’s Constitution states in part, “to preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in the Great Wars.” On Memorial Day, we call on all Americans to do this.

Memorial Day is not about trips to the beach or sporting events. It’s not about politics. It’s about people who have decided that the United States is worth dying for. It’s about patriots.

— David K. Rehbein, of Ames, Iowa, is national commander of the 2.6 million member American Legion, the nation’s largest wartime veterans organization.



USDA’s mandatory program infringes on Americans’ rights



As a former staffer of U.S. Congressman Mike Sodrel, I followed and have continued to follow the progress of the National Animal Identification System. The program was developed with the overlaying intentions for tracking the movement of all livestock and exotic animals for recreation, domestic use and commercial sale.

The identification system is at best a feel-good program that will do virtually nothing to safeguard animal health, its alleged purpose. Rather, the system will drive small farms, ranches, family businesses and Amish and Mennonite communities out of business.

• The program will increase our vulnerability by reducing options for decentralized local foods, by expanding the roll of inhumane corporate farms.

• It will destroy personal property rights. The program considers all chipped animals as part of the “national herd,” and indicates the government’s vision is that no one will be allowed to own animals or do anything with them without the government’s permission.

• It will destroy personal privacy rights. The infrastructure, whose price will be borne by the taxpayer and animal owners, will allow the government to conduct a large-scale, computer-aided surveillance of U.S. citizens under the guise of public health. Imagine, through this program, the government will learn your movements, your business dealings, your family practices and habits, your religious customs and beliefs and you will be forced to sacrifice your personal privacy, which is your right, just so you can own an animal.

• This program will open new vulnerabilities to our national security. Not only will the top 5 percent to 10 percent of corporate farms own the majority of the nation’s food supply — which overcrowds animals in inhumane stock yards, making the animals more susceptible to disease and poisoning — but the advent tracking chips also will expose our nation’s livestock to a whole new type of attack — hackers.

• Lastly, the system will carry with it a price tag and expansion of government that can only be borne by the consumer through food costs, owner in farming costs and taxpayer due to administrative costs.

Urge your U.S. representative and senator to put an end to this program. Show your support for your rights, local food and farms, and the human treatment of animals. Attend the USDA’s Listening Session in Louisville tonight and voice your opinion. You can preregister at http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/federal-updates.

— Sam Wamsley, Georgetown



Reader: When it comes to X, there’s more to come



In Clarksville Police Chief Dwight Ingle’s recent Opinions column, he spoke of investigations of Theatair X “about 26 years ago.” Twenty-six years ago, I was a year away from graduating high school. We will call that yesterday.

In 2009 — we will call this today — we have had laws in place for four to five years that haven’t been enforced. The chief didn’t mention the current situation, today’s situation. Why?

WAVE-3 TV and ROCK have footage that may be of interest to the Clarksville Police Department, if enforcing current laws of today and protecting citizens is of interest to them.

Ask the citizens — oh wait, the council had absolutely no interest in ROCK’s findings, nor what the citizen voters had to say at the last council meeting.

It is very apparent to me, and many other voters, that there is much more going on that hasn’t been uncovered yet, but it will be, and I bet it won’t be pretty.

— Mike Wheatley, Jeffersonville



Reader denotes importance of parent-baby interaction



Ask a new parent to name the most important skill a baby learns during the first year of life and they may say, “Sleeping through the night.” Although a good night’s sleep is great for parents and babies, there is another set of skills that trumps somnolence in importance both now and for a baby’s future. Successful attainment of this developmental milestone has been connected with many future benefits — positive sense of self, better peer relationships and school performance, and even growing up to be a competent parent. The magical milestone? Attaining a secure or positive attachment relationship with their parents.

Parents who talk and play with their babies, attend to their babies cues and meet their needs in reliable and sensitive ways will have babies who are strongly bonded to them. Through these positive relationships, babies learn to experience and regulate their emotions and attain a strong, positive sense of self. Learn more about the importance of social and emotional development in early childhood with a visit to Web sites such as Zero to Three (zerotothree.org), National Association for the Education of Young Children (naeyc.org) and the Indiana Association for Infant & Toddler Mental Health (iaitmh.org).

— Angela M. Tomlin, Ph.D., HSPP, chair, Indiana Association for Infant & Toddler Mental Health, Indianapolis