Long journey home; a walk too far
To the Editor:

Except for 30 years living in Madison, Wis. in her middle years, Patty Somermeyer has lived most of her 78 years in New Albin, Iowa. She lives alone in the house her grandparents built over 100 years agoñthe house she was born and raised in. She has no car so with the help of friends and family she gets downtown and around.

Her late husband Robert Somermeyer joined the Navy in 1940, when he was 17. Sixty-six years ago this week on Saturday, Dec. 6, 1941 in the late evening, 18 year old Robert and his ship sailed out of Pearl Harbor. The next morning hell broke out. He spent the next three and a half years in the Pacific theater in major action. His ships were sunk twice. In 1945 he returned to New Albin and in 1951 married Patty on the fourth of July. They had three children. Robert Somermeyer died of Lou Gerhig's disease in 1991.

Patty has been on oxygen the last few years so it is hard for her to walk very far. She has 12 grandchildren. One grandson, Ryan, has been in Iraq and she hasn't seen him in over two years. One other grandson, Kody Robert Moore, lives near Eitzen and because of the long walk to the football field has never seen the Caledonia Warriors play football.

As the World War II generation fades away, if you ever get a chance, help a vet or his wife on their last days on this earth that they helped save.

Don Moore
Eitzen, Minn.

2008 elections
To the Editor:

As the presidential election draws closer, I cannot help but look back and compare our country now to the one we had at the end of the Clinton administration, and what this comparison should mean to the American voter when he enters the voting booth in 2008.

At the end of the Clinton administration, this country i) was at peace; ii) had a growing economy; iii) had a budget surplus; and iv) had manageable energy prices.

Seven years later, under the Bush administration this country:

ïHas invaded Afghanistan.

ïDeclared war on Iraq ñ a country that had not threatened or engaged us militarily.

ïThreatened to invade Iran and North Korea.

ïIs now 9 trillion dollars in debt, which amounts to $20,000 for every man, woman and child residing in the United States.

ïHas spent 1.6 trillion dollars on the war with Iraq.

ïIs literally bankrupt.

The human loss resulting from the Iraq war is devastating:

3,886 American soldiers have been killed to date in Iraq.

32,294 American soldiers have been wounded.

In 2005 alone, over 6,256 returning American veterans committed suicide as a result of Iraq war trauma.

Over 4,400,000 Iraqis have been displaced from their homes

84,128 Iraqis have been killed.

In addition to deaths, the lives of veterans are in a state of chaos:

-Over 28,000 soldiers have deserted since the war started.

-Military hospitals are not caring for the injured.

-The military ignores the plight of veterans who have mental health problems, such as PTSD and depression.

-We do not provide jobs and re-entry for our returning soldiers.

-We have 35.5 million people going hungry in the United States. The 1.6 trillion spent on the war would have given each hungry person $45,715.00.

So much for President Bush's respect for our fighting men and women.

Our domestic economy is in a shambles.

Virtually all of our industrial manufacturing has ceased to exist.

Bush has reduced income taxes to increase business profit at the expense of the poor.

Wages are in a downward spiral for the working class, who are also losing medical and pension benefits. Witness, for example, the recent auto industry labor negotiations, resulting from a sick industry.

Health, education, and infrastructure spending as a percent of the national gross product is declining as a result of our military budget.

In short, this country is in a catastrophic mess. Our current administration is politically, economically, philosophically and morally bankrupt.

When you go to the voting booth next year, don't vote for a candidate unless he has the guts to state that as a part of his personal agenda he will vote to end the war, bring our troops home, balance the budget, create American jobs on this continent, and adequately provide for the education and health care of the needy, the poor, and the veterans of this country.

Vote with integrity!
Very truly yours,
John R. McDonald
La Crescent, Minn.

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