Reveille
June
2001
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Reveille June 2001 |
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Published by
International Press Service Washington
WWII Memorial Stopping a bureaucratic action is like whistling or something against a hurricane. The hysteria of the movement to build a World War II memorial between monuments honoring George Washington and Thomas Jefferson is unstoppable. But those who have let him happen will not be remembered kindly by history. There is no question of the honors due those who fought for democracy against the Axis to protect not only America's freedom but that of the whole world. There is also no question of the contributions of Americans at Valley Forge in the Revolutionary War to create our nation, of those in World War I, in Korea, in Vietnam and countless other battles. Beyond this is the destruction of the founding inspiration of this nation and its preservation as symbolized by Washington, Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. Anyone who has ever visited the mall can recall with reverence the awesome view. Abraham Lincoln sitting alone in sadness. Thomas Jefferson standing solidly against tyranny of mind and body. A simple obelisk recalling the strength and dignity of George Washington. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier suggests the sacrifice of many nameless men and women in World War I. The statue of marines raising the Stars and Stripes over Iwo Jima signifies the individual and team efforts of soldiers for their country. The Korean War memorial presents the lonely danger of men on patrol. And the Vietnam Wall quietly honors those who gave all for America. The proposed World War II memorial must have been designed by a latter day Gen. George Patton, visualizing a group of soldiers doing close order drill. It is tasteless and signifies nothing except stupendous ego, not the lonely bravery of each one who fought. Yes, build a memorial to honor World War II veterans. Give them the respect they deserve with something that honors them, not glorifies the designer of this atrocity. Most importantly put it in a location that does not destroy the very essence of America's founding philosophy of freedom ensured by great leaders who came forward when their time was due. It is unfortunate that this generation and particularly our current leadership are creating an eyesore that future generations will question. They will wonder what happened to change the concept and appreciation of American freedom. HP Association defends church on its propertyThe Highland Park Neighborhood Association leadership was quick to distance itself from Reveille after a criticism of Highland Park Baptist for not keeping its rental property up to standards. But rank and file members agreed the church should beheld to the same standards as other property owners. One home that hadn’t had the shrubbery trimmed for two years housed a single parent with handicapped children. For being behind on rent, she was put out and all her furnishings thrown down the steps onto the sidewalk. Now the house is a roach motel with missing windows and an eyesore and a health hazard in the neighborhood. Chattanooga lives up to patriot nameDuring May Chattanooga lived up to its name as the Most Patriotic City in America. The Armed Forces Day Parade, the only one continuing in a larger city, was called the smoothest yet. Memorial Day services on May 28 had record attendance. Only hitch was lack of communication with the National Guard. When rain moved ceremonies to the armory, it had not been opened. Vets View . . . Pete ChaneyBob Lahiere is a bit of a purist, especially when it comes to veterans work. Holding office in his local American Legion Post 14 and at the state and national level, he has had the responsibility at times of inspecting a Legion post. He has had to close them down. He believes a post should live up to the national bylaws—that it’s members should be qualified with their military records. The American Legion requires a person to have served in the military during a time of war or such national crisis. The difference in the legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars is that a person to be qualified had to have served on that foreign soil during the same time of crisis. American Legion does have a less strict avenue. It’s Sons of Legionnaires allows a descendant of an American Legion member to join the SAL, but not participate in full membership. The VFW has no such option. Problem is that veterans are dying off, and membership is the name of the game. Rules have been stretched and relaxed to keep more members involved. A WWI veteran is a rarity. One from WWII is becoming less common. Korean War veterans are paying the price of an aging generation. Those who served during Vietnam and other battles are thinning out. Veteran organizations do a lot of good in their communities, not only for veterans themselves but for the community overall. AL Post 95, for instance, support East Ridge activities and youngsters’ baseball. Post 4848 benefits Orange Grove. Carrying more of the load is going to up to those veterans who care, and to recruit new members who are qualified. Headhunters mired down in statisticsHeadhunters run a high priced employment agency, cruising their computers to find someone for industry, business or governments. Municipalities particularly use the argument that it takes politics out of the process and does away with the “good ole boy” principle. This is assuming our elected officials don’t know how to locate their own personnel, or to look in their own backyard. Computers take in the data offered by the headhunters and come up with prospects. Nowhere is there an effort to evaluate contributions by those who spend their lives gaining expertise in their field. Nowhere is there consideration of knowing your home community. Three high priced officials came to Chattanooga via the headhunters: Harry Reynolds, Skip Reeder, Jesse Register and Jimmie Dotson. They brought their experiences from their own environments and tried to apply it to Chattanooga. Each community is different and has its own needs. Harry Reynolds failed with the school system and had to be bought off with tax dollars. After career employees were axed and a loss of some $25-million dollars, Skip Reeder was given a high priced buyout. The jury is still out on Schools Superintendent Register, to whose credit must be given the problems of school consolidation. Now, how does Police Chief Dotson fare? City Hall loves the work of the man heading the department dedicated to Protect and Serve. His service has been a source of revenue outside of tax dollars—traffic tickets, parking tickets. When his effort to write tickets for seat belts were turned down, he brought his solution of traffic fatalities in with a zero tolerance for speeding. One mile over gets a ticket. Problem is the sites for speed traps weren’t in the trouble areas where people are killed. Radar is used on wide, safe streets where even your grandmother might go a bit faster. People on social security had to use their sparse income to pay the program. Most recently he has been ticketing cars in safe neighborhoods for being parked heading the wrong direction. No warning, just more money for the city. He broke up working police teams and shifted officers from communities where they were know and where they knew what was happening. Traffic fatalities still happen. Home invasions occur. Drugs are still available. People drink their alcohol along the streets. But law abiding citizens pay for the co-called crime crusade. Court revenues are up. Chief Dotson may be tops in another locale, but the time may have come to offer him the same door used by Harry Reynolds and Skip Reeder. Post Script—American Legion Post 14 which had its post home burn down over 30 years ago and meets now in Memorial Auditorium is kidded as the Phantom Post. Now Post 95 has a phantom commander. Longtime member MILTON JACKSON said this was the first time he didn’t even know what the commander looks like. New Commander FRED STAFFORD is making it a family matter. His daughter works in the kitchen and she’s married to the son of a former bartender. ******** Outgoing commander at Post 95, JIM RATCLIFFE will be a tough act to follow. In his two terms, he was a frequent visitor at local National Guard and Reserve meetings to solicit American Legion members. ******** To their credit, HARRY REYNOLDS, SKIP REEDER, JIMMIE DOTSON and JESSE REGISTER could not and cannot exercise their programs—good or bad—without concurrence of their boards or councils. Ultimate responsibility lies with our elected officials, for selection of public servants and their policies. ******** A young man moving up—that’s HAYES LEDFORD. From being Gov. DON SUNDQUIST’s area staff rep, Hayes now travels with the governor. You’ll hear a lot fro Hayes in the future. ******** Before Hayes took over for the governor, KIM HARPE had the job in Chattanooga until she went into private industry, which didn’t work out. Now ROBIN DERRYBERRY has left ZACK WAMP’s staff for the private sector. Let’s hope Robin has better luck. ******** When someone complained about the look of the Times Free Press website, PAUL NEELEY responded: “As an alternative some people buy the newspaper.” ******** TVA folks looking back at of MARVIN RUNYON and CRAVEN CROWELL have decided maybe Carvin’ Marvin wasn’t so bad after all. They feel Craven took a well respected, well run security force and turned it into a Gestapo. They feel Big Brother has been watching them, their email and their computer use on the internet. ******** It’s hard to sympathize with an untrained auto worker going on strike when he’s making $50 an hour, has a 40-hour work week and all the perks. But no one can blame airline pilots talking strike when they make less than a janitor in some cases. These are the people passengers trust their lives with.
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