Weep for the valiant emergency personnel

Weep for the valiant emergency personnel
EDITOR:
I have been a volunteer firefighter for for more than 24 years and had been a EMT for 18 of those years.
On Tuesday I watched the response of the firefighters, EMS and police officers as they rushed toward the two towers.My heart was pounding. Without warning the two towers crumbled to the ground turning our heroes into victims.
I cried.
RICH HARVEY
McDonald
Opponents of democracy will continue to fight us
EDITOR:
In the wake of all that has transpired over the last few days I think it's critical that Americans focus with great clarity on who their enemy is and why they want to attack us. Congressman (although he certainly doesn't represent me) Jim Traficant would have us believe that this latest tragedy was the result of our policy in the Middle East. I ask you to imagine a scenario where somehow the situation between Israel and the Palestinians has been resolved.
Problem solved with bin Ladan and other Islamic fundamentalist countries and terrorists? Not hardly.
The enemy of America is the enemy of democracy, wherever found. The ideals and values that democracies hold dear and live every day are in direct opposition to those the Islamic fundamentalists espouse.
The problem is not American policy vis & aacute; vis Israel and the Palestinians. The problem is that there is a misguided group of extremists in this world who are certain that their way of life and their view of religion is the only way and that they will kill anyone who thinks and acts differently.
We ignore this fundamental truth at our own peril. Mr. Traficant should be thrown onto the trash heap of history for his remarks the other day. He is the only American leader who does not share the common voice.
SANDFORD J. KESSLER
Youngstown
American people back the president
EDITOR:
The unfortunate turn of events is very tragic in every aspect imaginable. It is a definite crime against humanity for any human being to respond this way, no matter what one may feel towards another nation.
I, along with the most of America, feel that these people and organizations should be brought to justice and punished severely for their actions.
It was not only an attack on our nation but also an outright attack on all that we as a nation represent. George W. Bush knows the feelings of the American people and the prosperity of the human spirit. Athough it may seem that he stands alone in the front lines leading the attack, in fact, he has the backing of all the citizens in our great nation.
DAVID SHAFFER
Youngstown
X The writer is a YSU student.
Ministers offer special words of faith, prayer
EDITOR:
The Boardman Ministerial Association would like to thank you for the coverage you gave to our Interfaith Prayer Service at St. Charles on Tuesday evening. We want to thank the 20 members of our association who participated in the service and those who joined us representing the Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic faith communities. We also want to thank the Boardman community for its participation.
Those who committed this horrendous attack sought to bring fear and division to our country. Instead, we gathered in faith and unity of purpose. We encourage our members and those of our community to move courageously forward, standing ever united against the type of hatred that underlies this terrorist act.
We invite your continued prayers for the victims of this terrorist attack. Pray for those who have died, the injured, the families who frantically search, the rescue and medical personnel, those who are numb, President Bush and the leaders of our communities and nation and the members of our military who may be called upon.
We encourage you to share with one another, with your children and with your families your struggles and your faith. Pray together. Read scripture together. We especially recommend that you read Psalm 23: "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death"; Psalm 46: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble"; Philippians 2:1-11: "Being one in spirit and purpose ... have the attitude of Christ"; Romans 8:18-39: "Our present suffering ... we do not know how we ought to pray ... nothing can separate us from the love of God."
May God bless America and bring peace on earth.
BOARDMAN MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION
Boardman
Horrible event deeply felt
EDITOR:
I think this terrorist attack is so awful. I can't believe that someone could ever even think to, let alone, actually carry out the killing of thousands of innocent people. I feel so terrible, and I can't even imagine how the missing people's families are feeling at this time. This is the most horrible thing that I have ever seen.
MOLLY VELK
Lake Milton
U.S. must restore peace and balance in the world
EDITOR:
During this time of great anguish I am reminded of the legend of Hercules and the many-headed hydra. The more Hercules slashed at the monster with his sword the more it thrived and grew stronger. For every head he cut off two more grew back in its place until at last he found himself completely exhausted.
We are the modern-day Hercules, all-powerful and yet unable to slay the monster of terrorism. We bomb them, shoot at them, arm our allies to do the killing for us, and I am not only referring to Israel. We actually armed Osama bin Laden's groups in Afghanistan so they could fight the Soviets. We did it to slash at the monster. Now the monster has a new head and has bitten us again. What can we do? Keep slashing away at it until we are exhausted.
Hercules found a better way. He was worn out and let his sword fall from his hand. Then an inspiration came to him. He grabbed the monster and took it out of the dark cave in which it thrived and brought it into the light of day where he was at last able to bury it under a great stone.
What does that mean for us? To bring the evil out of the darkness of war and hate to the light of justice and truth. We are not innocent of the conflict and suffering that has been the lot of millions in the Middle East. We defeated Saddam and imposed sanctions that caused the deaths of a million innocent people in Iraq. We forced the Palestinian people to suffer the unrelenting cruelty of the Israelis for decades and prevented a true peace by our denial of the U.N. resolutions that could have brought this to a just end.
These aggressions cannot be simply absorbed by the victims. The law of Karma demands that they come back upon the perpetrator.
America must do two things. It must hunt down those responsible for this heinous deed and bring them to their terrible justice. But more important it must act to restore balance and peace in the world. It must end its support of the deadly policies of extermination of Sharon and bring an international body to oversee the conflict in Palestine/Israel.
We must correct the mistakes of the past if we are to slay the monster of terrorism.
ROGER LAFONTAINE
Youngstown
Now, more than ever, H.R. 808 must be passed
EDITOR:
I wonder, now that all of our government representatives have become patriots, if they will pass HR 808 and save our steel industry before it is too late. It would be a real shame if sometime in the future, we went to war and we had let our now bankrupt steel industry close down completely because of unfair foreign competition and steel dumping.
Will we then build our tanks, planes, ships, artillery, and other weapons with plastic? When all of our steel mills are producing 100 percent of their capacity, we can still only produce 80 percent of the steel we use on a daily basis: and we haven't been at war.
We have just received a wake up call. So wake up America, while we still have the industry to deal with the inevitable fanatics, who it seems will always be against our way of life. Call your representative and let him know you too are a patriot; and you want to save our steel industry before it‚s too late.
Urge them to support HR 808 so if our children need to deal with threats like these, they will still have the might of our now famous Steel Industry; an industry that has put down fanatics in the past and will do so in the future.
God bless America and its workers.
DAVE SHELENE
Vienna, W. Va.
X The writer is a member of the United Steelworkers of America.