VETERAN MEMORIES were shared with Asst. State Commissioner of Veterans Affairs John Furgess (center) when he visited VFW Post 4848 in December.  World War II veterans with John are Ted Bedoit (left) who flew The Hump over Burma against the Japanese and Joe Murphy (right) who was on the ground in Germany.

Just like in the Old West

Water rights fight is brewing

  There was a time in the Old West when water was a precious commodity. Ranchers fought each other, fought farmers over water rights.
Cattle had to have it. Crops would perish without it. And people had to drink it to survive.
They fought with guns and bullets.
  The fight is on again in Chattanooga, between the city and Tennessee American Water Company over who will own, service and sell water.
  No bullets will hopefully be fired. The ammunition will be legal briefs fired in court.
An undercurrent of the battle is: who sells water to parched Atlanta?
  Somewhere in the thinking of the city, and not said, is the possibility of running a water line under a proposed rail link between the two cities.
  It’s not surprising the city wants the water rights. It is surprising they waited so long.   Most cities own their own water service.
  TAWC would obviously like to continue. Water in the future will be a precious commodity.
Before the city makes its move, which has all legal precedence on its side, there is a lot to be explained.
  If the city does run the operation, how does it plan to do it? Where are the profits to be put?
Many morequestions need to be answered. Everyone hopes City Council will look at the situation carefully before making a decision.

  You can keep up with events with a veteran flavor on the Internet.  International Press Service offer a service free to veteran organizations available at ipspress.com.

  An expanded and breaking edition of Reveille is there with pictures.

  Also available is information on VFW and American Legion posts as well as the Chattanooga Area Veterans Council.

  The home page is also available to other veteran or similar groups.  You can send comments to pop@ipapress.com.

  Appearance of varied organizations on the web page do not indicate endorsement of conflicting views.  The VFW and American Legion do not endorse or support political agendas.

Oldest veteran

  Hamilton County’s oldest living veteran was recognized Dec. 17 by the governor’s office of Veterans Affairs.  He is Fred C. Teschner, born Dec. 22, 1893.

Vets View . . . . pete chaney

  My father was born in 1898, the year of the Spanish American War.  He fought in World War II and lost everything in the Great Depression.
  Like most Southerners, he was a Democrat—but with common sense.  He had to go off to work on Roosevelt’s Civilian Construction Corps program to feed my mother and me.  He appreciated the New Deal.  But he felt America didn’t completely come out of the depression until World War II came on the horizon.
  He voted the Democratic ticket, which was all there was in most places.  But he admired Wendell Wilkie.
  He did say the Democrats were the party for the working man and the Republicans were for big business.
  Concepts began to change in the South especially with Harry Truman’s civil rights progress.  And Adlai Stevenson sent many Democrats into the GOP fold.
  As many Democrats moved farther left with splinter groups, the Republicans moved toward the center with moderate views which began to win elections.
    When a Republican Congress and a Democrat President worked together, great things happened.  The budget was balanced.  Americans began to hope for a more prosperous future.
  If our political parties begin to cater to extremists of either direction and ignore the mainstream needs of the country, we face a troubled destiny.  If they can work for the common need of the nation, we have a chance to pull the country back together.

Monopolies hurt needs of public

  It’s Chattanooga’s loss.  The merger of the Times into the Free Press—one newspaper.
  Competition is always healthy.
  There was a time when the government forbade monopolies and had heavy anti-trust laws.  Now everywhere it’s big business and mergers.
The danger is there worldwide.
  Imagine one corporation run by  Bill Gates that owned all the auto manufacturers, the phone companies, all of basic industries.  It might be profitable, but it’s scary.
   Lawmakers for years have been going to centralization of businesses.

Creditcard scams

  Watch out for an offer in the mail from Providan Visa Classic of San Francisco  offering instant credit of $500.  All it takes is an advance of $89 for a “processing fee.”  The government is warning against credit card scams..

  There are times when being on a congressman’s staff has disadvantages.  In the heat of the impeachment hearings and after a harrowing day, ROBIN DERRYBERRY stopped by the grocery store.  An irate woman blamed Robin for everything wrong in the vote against BILL CLINTON.  She heads the Chattanooga office for Rep. ZACH WAMP.

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  Not quite a farmer, but lost in the Georgia Woods, GAINES HOBBS is enjoying his retirement at Flintstone.  You can bet he’s still reading H.L. MENCKEN.

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  The Christmas card from PATTI YOUNG had an envelope which showed a cow saying “Mooooved.”  The card was signed by Patti and her six cats.  Former commandant of the Naval Reserve in Chattanooga, Patti bought her “MacDonald’s Farm” at Mountain City.  She was a great asset last year in the Armed Forces Day Parade.

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  VFW Post 4848 will sorely miss LLOYD SHEPARD who died recently after working the door for post dances since 1974.

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  Among the things that’s hard to understand is that the same political judges who condemn the President for infidelity turned their back on the misbehavior of  Supreme Court Justice CLARENCE THOMAS.  He didn’t even get a slap on the wrist.

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  Ever wonder how Indonesia got so important to the world’s economic stability? 

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  Things keep changing at Erlanger.  DENNIS PETTIGREW as the fairhaired CEO of the moment for Erlanger Hospital has released DAVID MARINO--no kin to DAN--everyone understands.  David was a department head who was said to have demoted three women by memo; not by job performance, but because disagreed with him.  Staff says the atmosphere is better now.

 WALLY'S RESTAURANT burned and a lot of memories went up in smoke.  When he was touring the state in his red pickup truck running for the Senate, Fred Thompson had breakfast there.  He was greeted by longtime waitress Virginia.  That's owner Tom Kennedy mugging over Virginia's shoulder.  (IPS photo by Pete Chaney)