Complaining in the military: It comes with the territory

Complaining in the military:It comes with the territory
EDITOR:
According to a recent letter in The Vindicator, morale among our troops in Iraq is exceedingly low. The inference of the article, and many reports in the mainstream media, is that our president has placed our troops in a no-win situation that is dragging out too long, causing our soldiers to suffer.
Suspecting a possible political agenda and selective reporting, I contacted an inside source. I was told that, indeed, the morale of the 3rd Infantry might be low because they thought they were leaving when the 1st Armored arrived.
But, overall, the assessment is false. One of the gauges of low morale is soldiers not doing their jobs, which is not happening.
There is a saying in the Army: "If you're not bitching, you're not in the Army." My source indicates that newspaper reporters and others may misconstrue soldiers' complaining as an indicator of low morale. "With soldiers, if the sun is out it's too bright, at night it's too dark, in summer it's too hot, in winter it's too cold. As a leader, if I don't hear soldiers complaining about something, something is wrong."
As easy as it was for me to gain a realistic perspective on the situation, one wonders why those reporting seem so alarmist.
BILL HENRY
New Middletown
Brutality? There is a wayto avoid such a situation
EDITOR:
This is in regard to recent articles about charges against Warren police for brutality against a black man.
Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, you'll find that the person being arrested was being "brutalized" because he resisted arrest.
I'm going to give you a little hint on how to avoid this so-called police brutality. Pay close attention! When approached by a police officer, stop what you're doing, put your hands in the air (if ordered to do so), let them frisk you, cuff you and put you in the police car if they feel it's necessary.
If you have nothing on you, you'll be set free. If you're caught with the goods, you'll have your day in court. But, you won't get beat up. Just cooperate! Try it, you'll be surprised.
When a black man resists arrest and has to be subdued by white police officers, it's easy to play the race card, and the sad part is, it always works.
It's time to cut the race crap. It's 2003. People are sick of hearing it. If you do the crime, you do the time, no matter what color you are!
BUTCH BAKER
Struthers
Who says public servicehas to be a full-time job?
EDITOR:
I see by my morning news that possibly the "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" that hounded the Clintons for many years has now taken aim at a local Democrat.
Robert Hagan was ticketed at his part-time job recently! They knew who he was. I am curious to know why this champion of the working class is holding down a job that could be done by an unemployed constituent when he has his snout firmly planted in the public trough.
His political position is a full-time job that pays a very generous salary and extravagant perks. We should be informed how much he earned at this job the last full year and this year to date.
I was not surprised that he had time to do this job though. My own local rep, John Bocciero, proposed a new law a few months ago that would allow a Reservist doing active duty in a military action anywhere in the world to perform his political job by phone, computer or whatever while doing the full-time job of defending freedom.
If this can be done and get the job done, why not make the job part time, stay in your district and pay accordingly? This would save millions!
ROBERT J. HUSTED
New Springfield