Show of appreciation meant a lot

Show of appreciation meant a lot

My wife and I attended the Celebrate Freedom Veterans Parade on Nov. 7. In the 40 years since I was discharged in 1969, we had never attended any Veterans Day-related parade. (It’s hard to erase the feelings of being spit on while walking across campus upon my return to college after three years of active duty.)

In front of the Marshall House and before the parade started, veterans in the crowd were asked to either stand or raise our hands to be recognized. Upon doing so, seemingly out of nowhere, a woman in a bright orange down coat appeared and gave me a big hug and thanked me for serving. She will never know how much that meant to me. To say I was stunned would be understating my feelings.

That show of appreciation meant so much to me that I would like to say publicly “thank you” for reaching out, for sharing, and for caring. Also a big thank you to the many folks who braved the weather to participate in the parade. We were quite impressed.

Neal W. Harris

Vancouver

Waterfowl hunters are sportsmen

Bryon Lathim’s Nov. 6 letter, “Refuge riveted by hunters’ bullets,” claiming “adults killing the tame refuge ducks” at the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge, is full of glaring, unfounded accusations toward hunters. As a past employee having spent a decade helping maintain the refuge and run the hunt program, and as a bird-loving nonhunter, I can tell you that most waterfowl hunters are sportsmen. To many it involves training a dog, the art of setting decoys, family tradition, hard work, shooting skills, and a rare dinner treat if lucky.

All waterfowl hunters have to purchase a federal duck stamp, and that revenue has purchased over 5 million acres of waterfowl habitat (wildlife refuges) since 1934. Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge was purchased in response to the 1964 Alaska earthquake that damaged goose-nesting habitat (in Alaska), allowing bear predation of nests. This acquisition secured winter habitat for dusky geese and ducks, not nesting habitat. All waterfowl nest in spring, and refuge ducks are not tame or slaughtered as claimed by Lathim.

He asks how to explain to his great-grandson the sounds of gunfire killing ducks. I suggest, do a little research, get the facts, and sit down with him over a chicken dinner and explain how he came to eating “tame” animals.

David Gilroy

Vancouver

Promises to keep … we’ll see

An infamous Chinese curse is supposed to go something like this: “May it be your misfortune to live in interesting times.” Tim Leavitt’s victory over Royce Pollard was indeed interesting.

Leavitt campaigned against bridge tolls, while Pollard endorsed them. But Clark County residents seeking to avoid another governmental grab at their wallets cannot rest easy. Leavitt supports a costly I-5 replacement bridge project design larded with a Vancouver light-rail extension, which will carry relatively few commuters and yet is projected to consume at least 20 percent of the project’s total budget. Leavitt vows to finance this extravagance somehow — perhaps with sales or property tax hikes, or even by reneging on his no-tolls pledge.

It will be interesting to see if Leavitt has the gall to impose taxes and/or tolls upon his constituents for the sake of a light-rail project that is both wasteful and unpopular. If Leavitt does show such arrogance, it will be even more interesting to see if he is allowed to get away with it.

John Burke

Vancouver

Extra mile traveled for charity

In the Oct. 28 issue, there was a picture and a story that made me smile. I give kudos and cheers to Michael Albert, a correctional unit supervisor at Larch Corrections Center, for carrying through on his promise to play tennis in a dress and makeup to raise funds for the Combined Fund Drive.

It was an admirable thing for him to do. What a guy.

Willa Brooks

Vancouver

Price disparity is astonishing

While in Arizona a couple weeks ago to visit my sister, I went to Mexico where I was told I could get eyeglasses for a fraction of the price here. It is true. For the eye exam, frames and no-line bifocal lenses, I paid just $85.

I went back two days later and had a complete set of dentures made with all porcelain teeth for just $400, and they were completed and in my mouth in just six hours.

A three-month supply of my husband’s medications paid in full was $554. Just our co-pay here at home is $800.

Can someone explain this to me? How is it possible that drugs and medical services are so inexpensive in Mexico, just across our border? The cost of health care in this country is criminal at the very least. In Mexico, they have the same college-educated medical personnel and the same medical equipment. Other than just plain greed, what explanation is possible?

Becky Winsor

Yacolt

Capitalism works when you free it

How is it that deficits are never treated as a problem in a Democratic administration? I firmly believe in economist and columnist Larry Kudlow’s motto: “A free capitalist market is the best pass to prosperity.”

Here are 10 points that cost so little, but are worth so much. They are attributed to Abraham Lincoln but are as true today as they were over a century ago.

1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

2. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

3. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.

4. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

5. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

6. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.

7. You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.

8. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

9. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a person’s initiative.

10. You cannot really help men by having the government tax them to do for them what they can and should do for themselves.

Lee Powers

VANCOUVER

AARP agenda not representative

Please stop referring to AARP as representing seniors. AARP is a profit-making organization that pushes its own agenda.

I quit AARP years ago when I realized that they did not speak for me. In discussions with others, I found out that many felt the same way and had a negative view of AARP. I resent the linkage the media presume.

George Birnbaumer

Battle Ground