Marine veterans should know about water hazard

Opinion: February 8, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

EDITOR:

I’m writing to let all U.S. Marines who were stationed at Camp LeJeune between 1958-1989 know that the water was contaminated. They have found over 11 different chemicals in the water, in the ground and on the ground.

My son just received a letter from the Department of Navy informing him the most dangerous period of contamination was from 1978-1989. He served from 1979-1983, including three years at Camp LeJeune. He has a daughter born nine months after he was honorably discharged, and she was born developmentally disabled.

Many families have had children born at the camp and shortly after being discharged, plus many families have cancer and many other disabilities. Even if you don’t have anything wrong with your health now, you can sign up on the Internet or call them. Also you can ask for tort papers to file. There are a lot of different sites. (Editor’s note: One Internet site with basic information is http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/)

Marines report having all kinds of health problems, children dying at birth and different health problems. We have to stand together and fight for our rights.

My husband and I are our granddaughter’s legal guardians. She is 24 years old. We must get the word out to all Marines who served their country and were stationed at Camp LeJeune.

MARGARET WERDEN ROTH

Canfield

Our biggest problem

EDITOR:

I am bewildered by the fact, no one is addressing the one major factor in our economic crisis in our country. The transference of our manufacturing base (with assistance of our government) to slave labor countries is a major factor in our dire financial problems. If we don’t manufacture products in this country, paying workers $20 to $30 an hour plus benefits, how can these workers afford to purchase automobiles or other items? How can these American workers afford health care or anything that makes life worth living? They can’t do it working at minimum wage jobs.

Any economic stimulus plan will not make much of a difference unless good paying jobs are brought back to this country.

Drastic measures are needed; not subsidies to corporations building factories overseas. Immediate tariffs to be imposed upon American overseas corporations exporting their manufactured products back to the United States.

If this government is sincere in jump- starting the economy, half measures will fail miserably and a depression is virtually assured.

ROBERT PEARL

Youngstown

Minimum wage hike hurts

EDITOR:

The minimum wage in Ohio recently increased from $7 to $7.30 per hour. When you first look at it, all of the hype regarding the wage increase, looks fairly rewarding. But when you break the concept down and look at the pros and cons, the end result doesn’t look as promising as it once did.

Each time the minimum wage is increased, everything else, including goods and services, increases along with it. Aside from this basic idea of inflation, hundreds of businesses in the state of Ohio are already hurting financially due to the financial crisis. Therefore most business owners cannot afford to pay their employees any more. As a result, they are forced to cut back on employee hours, employees in general, or even go out of business.

Any way you look at it, the increase of the minimum wage leads to financial problems. The increase is not benefiting the state as a whole, yet it is a major contributor to lost jobs and an eventual increased unemployment rate for the state.

SAMANTHA CAVALIER

Petersburg