Let taps play sunrise to sunset on Memorial Day

Let taps play sunrise to sunset on Memorial Day

It is with great hope that I ask your newspaper to endorse this 95-year-old Marine of World War II’s plea for this Memorial Day and all Memorial Days. Words, too, can join the bugle call.

My plea is to extend our Memorial Day tribute to members of the military who were killed in action and that veteran organizations across this nation promote and pursue that goal.

That upon Memorial Day, from sunrise to sunset, orchestrated or upon impulse, from border to border, coast to coast, that the sound of a bugle sounding taps interrupt our lives with a heart-felt statement to the families, as a nation, we share your loss and grief. That any person that can render that call do so at any time or place.

Let that mournful sound disturb the silence, interrupt the joy of living and let the letters joined together proclaim our tears, anguish, pain and sorrow. Let that bugle call speak for us all.

Louis Mamula, Lowellville

Stop abandonment of cats on our country roadways

She was beautiful with long legs and soft hair that sparkled in the morning sun. Her body was still warm, but she was dead, and the person who dumped her is responsible.

You know who you are. You dumped a very pregnant cat on a country road to fend for herself. Perhaps you say she was not your cat, but she had turned to you for food and help. At that point she became your responsibility.

She was about to deliver when you dumped her. She was hungry and weak, and had left her kittens to hunt for food. The signs were obvious that she had been nursing kittens just minutes before she was killed on the road.

I have searched the high grass ditches and every bush and hollow log in our nearby woods. By now they would have starved to death, or died of hypothermia, and you are responsible.

If you have an animal that you don’t want to care for, take it to your vet, or Angels for Animals to be put down in a painless, humane way.

I’ve buried more abandoned animals than I’ve been able to help. Most of them were dead when found, and some have died on the way to the vet. Picturing one in particular brings tears to my eyes. She apparently suffered for hours before I found her.

Half of her face and both of her eyes were missing, and her teeth clung to her fur with dried blood. As I drove to Angels for Animals, I talked to her and laid my hand on her mangled body.

Through her pain, she began to purr.

Ginny Tarka, New Springfield

Paper ballots offer failsafe protection from hacking

The “Ransom” hack- ers affected 150 countries. To control the computers of 150 countries should be considered a pandemic – the data from computers is being held for money, and if past success in catching hackers is an indication, they have small chance of being caught.

Previous hackings into sensitive data in our own country accessed information at the government level, classified credit card information, corporate trade data, to name some. As I stretch my memory I don’t remember any hacker being uncovered and held accountable, and I see little chance of this happening.

I remember when our voting became “computerized” from the paper ballots (which still is an option) to punching of tabs to vote. There were many problems with computerized voting when it began, and I don’t remember them being resolved. After all, voting is not something we do every day and we are noted for our short memories. The arguments for computerization included a more accurate count of ballots, which presumed the data collected is correct. In light of the recent hacking who can say?

We didn’t have secure grasp of the technology when we started computerized voting and in light of the sophistication shown by these hackers, who can tell if our elections are secure now. These “outlaw computer” wizards are a few steps in front of our government’s computer “brain trust.”

The United States always had checks and balances in its elections and the country continued to renew itself through the voting process.

The paper ballot is still an option. A citizen with a moderate education can count and recount paper ballots. The cost might be higher to do ballot counting by hand, but elections are not a daily, weekly or monthly occurrence. It was not so long ago that the process was done by hand.

It was not so many years past that we started using computers in voting; yet who among us understands the computer mechanism that now tallies our election ballots. If there is an error, who knows? If there is an intruder/ hacker, who knows? I would say very, very few of us. Who is who? Fix it or nix it.

John Sakas Jr., Newton Falls

Tip your hat to Ryan for boosting Alzheimer’s aid

We’ve all known someone with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia – a parent, a spouse, a friend, a neighbor. I’ve lost my mother, my father-in-law and a sister to this devastating disease, and there is still no prevention, treatment or cure. That’s why I volunteer with the Alzheimer’s Association as an Alzheimer’s Advocate.

Alzheimer’s is the most expensive disease in America. Today, Alzheimer’s costs the country about $259 billion a year – a growing figure that Forbes magazine estimates could “break Medicare” – and creates enormous strain on state and federal budgets. But in 2016, for every $100 the U.S. government spent on Alzheimer’s research, $16,000 was spent by Medicare and Medicaid to care for those living with the disease.

Thank you, Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Howland) for supporting the recently approved $400 million increase in Alzheimer’s research funding. This is a disease that affects so many in Youngstown, the Mahoning Valley, all of Ohio and the country.

Today, more than 5 million Americans are living with the disease. Barring a medical breakthrough, that number is expected to triple over the next 35 years, with the cost of care increasing to $1.1 trillion by 2050.

Please join me in thanking Rep.Ryan for his support of Alzheimer’s research. It is only through adequate funding and a strong implementation of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease that we will meet its goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s by 2025.

D. Joseph Fleming, Poland

Justice for all is denied in Danny Lee Hill case

For over 30 years, Danny Lee Hill has continued to live on death row for torturing, raping, and murdering 12-year-old Raymond Fife. His continued request for a new trial is for claiming to be mentally retarded.

I’m curious to know if Danny Lee Hill was mentally retarded when he murdered Raymond Fife, or did revelation become known to him after committing his inhumane crime.

I’m amazed at how sorry he was by informing on his partner in crime after a $5,000 reward was offered to anyone with information pertaining to this crime.

If “justice for all” is what victims of crime and their loved ones could look forward to receiving, then the loss of life that is priceless has become greatly reduced.

For committing an inhumane crime Danny Lee Hill still has his life, while Raymond Fife and his loved ones live with a priceless loss and heartache.

“Justice for all?” Not in this lifetime.

Mary Lou Jurina, Youngstown

New F-35 fighter program merits bipartisan support

On May 9, I had the opportunity to gather with several federal, state and local elected officials, along with other community leaders from the Valley in Niles to experience F-35 simulator.

Despite the differing opinions held by those in attendance, one thing that unites us all is our commitment to arming our men and women in uniform with the most advanced technology available.

The F-35 program provides the fifth generation stealth-fighter capability that our armed forces deserve. With world players such as Russia and China ramping up their own comparable strike-fighter programs, I urge Congress and the administration to preserve America’s tactical air superiority by supporting the F-35 program.

Tracey Winbush, Youngstown

Tracey Winbush is vice chairwoman of the Mahoning County Republican Party.