A place to pay tribute

A place to pay tribute

EDITOR:

On this Memorial Day 2008, may I encourage the citizens in our area who wish to pay a tribute to the veterans who sacrificed their lives to preserve the freedom which we now enjoy.

There is a Veterans Memorial Park in Austintown, on Mahoning Avenue at Wickliffe Circle. Through the courtesy and generosity of the Austintown trustees and citizens, this park exists to benefit not only the Austintown area, but the tri-county area of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana. It allows various veteran’s organizations to establish and dedicate beautiful, well-maintained memorials to those who served our country in times of war.

One is dedicated with the inscription “Lest We Forget Those Who Served” from the Lt. Robert Dupola V.F.W. Post 4237 in Austintown. Another is dedicated to those who served in Granada, Panama and the Persian Gulf entitled “Peace Through Strength” from American Legion Post 301 and V.F.W. Post 4237 and Meander Aerie Fraternal Order Eagles 3298. The third memorial is dedicated to “All Women Who Served — Past, Present, and Future”.

The most current memorial was dedicated July 27, 2003, honoring veterans killed in action during the Korean War. One hundred and eighteen names are etched on the granite, with a “Path of Honor” leading up to those veterans from Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana. The red bricks on the Path of Honor are engraved with names of the Korean War Veterans Association-Mahoning Valley Chapter 137, families and benefactors of the memorial. A bronze plaque honors Marine Private First Class John Doran Kelly. He was born in Youngstown, was killed in action in Korea May 28, 1952, and was awarded posthumously the Congressional Medal of Honor, our country’s highest award for gallantry in action. This memorial was just recently completed and will be dedicated at a later date.

Come, sit among the trees in the gazebo, and solemnly reflect of the sacrifice given for all of us.

RICHARD W. KOKER, chaplain

Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 137 of Mahoning Valley

Oil prices hit home

EDITOR:

Can you stand one more letter concerning the oil prices?

This letter is concerning the price of home heating oil, which I just got at $3.99 a gallon, minimum delivery 100 gallons. Over $400 plus tax. Some companies were $4.07, $4.09, and $4.17, with a 150-gallon minimum. Now I ask you, who can pay this?

There is supposed to be a bill in the House to repeal the state tax on basic necessities. What are they waiting for? That will be helpful, but it’s not enough.

I would like to see The Vindicator and local TV stations assign a reporter to publish an itemized list showing every penny spent at the pump and for heating oil. Maybe we should know how many state taxes, delivery charges, surcharges, etc., that are included and why we have to pay them.

NAN GUISLER

McDonald

Students honor veterans

EDITOR:

In the weeks before Memorial Day, it is a tradition to decorate veterans’ graves with American flags as a symbol of honor and respect. Students and staff from Summit Academy upheld this sacred tradition by decorating over 1,500 veterans’ graves on May 17 at All Souls Cemetery near Cortland.

As a Vietnam veteran, I cannot find appropriate words or phrases to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude for their unrelenting effort and dedication to see the job done. Their professionalism, diligence and focus-to-detail were quite impressive. They worked like fellow comrades-in-arms affording our fallen soldiers the respect and dignity they so richly deserve.

Unfortunately, the true meaning of Memorial Day is sometimes lost in the celebrations of the day.

Participating in this special rite of honoring our fallen comrades, were these students and staff: Barbara Sovik, Michael Sovik, Caleeb Robinson, Nathaniel Rodriguez, Luca Cline, Marc Adkins, Josh Ford, Samantha Wilson, Courtney York, Jenna Hensley and Fred Switzer.

They gave unselfishly of themselves to make the true meaning of Memorial Day a reality. I salute them all.

ROBERT M. OSTHOFF

Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 9571

Ellsworth

Liberal-basher in dreamland

EDITOR:

The writer of last Sunday’s letter, “Liberals blame all the wrong people ...” is another one of those that toss the term “Liberal” around the same way doctrainaire Marxists toss the term “Capitalist” around. The former term has just as little real meaning as does the latter. Zilch.

If last Sunday’s writer believes that one drop of oil from the North coast of Alaska would find its way into the U. S. market, I have a bridge in lower New York he may be interested in. That oil would be sold to China, Japan and India. Also, those Dakota/Montana fields are just now being evaluated, and are a long way from being ready for pilot drilling. Besides, much is on private land.

The Eastern Continental Shelf was open ocean when the North Sea/Labrador fields were formed. The anoxic conditions that are now believed to be necessary did not exist. We might find some gas there.

The current problem has roots that are much deeper than mere supply and demand. The sources are several decades further back, and are beyond the capabilities of the politicians of both parties to find out in a short series of hearings, which, regardless of party, are mostly for show.

JEROME K. STEPHENS

Warren

Customers are co-owners

EDITOR:

When the city of Youngstown was comfortable with their tax income they never made an issue of supplying water to the surrounding suburbs, in fact they were eager to expand their customer base under previous administrations. Now that they are in financial difficulties, the water system suddenly becomes a tool of blackmail and intimidation to make the suburbs pay a city income tax with no benefits to them.

I think it important to inform the public that significant portions of the enlarged system have been done (to water department standards) at the expense of the developers, and each water customer was charged a tap-in fee. This in effect makes people in expansion areas “co-owners” not merely customers vulnerable to the city’s whims.

Maybe someone should engage in researching the sale of the water system to the county to more fairly provide this service, as it does with the county sanitary system. The sale price should be based on the original costs, not replacement costs and paid for over a period of time to prevent the city from going on a spending binge.

DANIEL VICTOR BIENKO

Canfield