PAGE 4 THE POST EDITORIAL Sunday, January 8, 2006 FROM THE EDITOR Sidelines no place to bash military service Working for a newspaper, I read a lot of opinion columns. I agree with a few. I disagree with as many. But even when I don’t see eye-to-eye with a columnist, I rarely take the words they write personally. That changed earlier this week when I felt like I was punched in the gut by one of my co-workers, Times Leader columnist Casey Jones. I'm not going to re-write Casey’s column. Basically — after saying a few nice words about First Lt. Michael J. Cleary, a Dallas native who was recently killed in action near Samarra, Iraq — Casey went on to-demean military service.At least that’s the way I read it. And I'm not alone. Because I had written several stories about Mike after his death, several people called me to vent their anger — and their disgust. Some left messages. I spoke to several others. Some threatened to cancel their subscriptions. Almost everyone wanted my opinion. Here it is. Using Mike Cleary’s story — while the family is still grieving — in a column to advance anti-military, anti-Bush, anti-war feelings is despicable. No matter how many nice things you write about him before you unleash your attack. The four-hour public viewing and memorial service wasn’t a place for curiosity seekers. It was a place for family members and friends to pay their respects to Mike and his family — not an oppor- tunity for a columnist to get some color or atmosphere for a news- paper column. The people who waited more than two hours in line at the An- derson Center at College Misericordia were mourning a family member. A friend. A teammate. A student. And a solider. Casey wrote that serving in a volunteer army made Mike’s death more tragic. But being killed while voluntarily serving his country doesn’t make his death more tragic — it makes it more heroic. Mike didn’t fit into the stereotype that some people love to put forth about the men and women in uniform. They want you to think the military is comprised of low-income, can’t-get-into-college people who can be lured into the military with bonuses and a stea- dy paycheck. But Mike came from an upper middle-class family with a nice home and a successful family business. He graduated with honors from a private college. He had plenty of options. He chose the military. And he’s not alone. The military has lots of Mike Clearys. Casey says most of his “bad decisions” took place when he was a person in his late teens and early 20s. There’s no doubt he feels that joining the military is a bad decision. In my opinion, Casey despises most of the things Mike Cleary stood for. The reasons why Mike proudly wore a military uniform. The reasons why he carried on a long, proud family tradition of serving in the military. Near the end of his column, Casey wrote: “Kids need to know that there are other ways, better ways, to become a man, make a living, pay for college or earn a trade.” What a slap in the face to every man and woman who has ever worn a military uniform. And it’s a slap in the face to their parents and loved ones. The column shamed and demeaned Mike's service to our country. It’s true, there are many honorable ways other.thanmilitary service to serve your country. But there are few things more noble than fighting for-a cause you believe in, risking your life for your country or paying the ultimate sacrifice. Casey finished his column with words of advice for young peo- ple. In short, he encourages them not to join the military. Here’s my advice to those same young people. You can sit on the sidelines, filled with hate because you despise the person who occupies the Oval Office. You can try to hide the hate with a few nice words while you write anti-military columns. You can slap the face of every soldier, sailor, Marine and Coast Guard member who has ever worn a military uniform. Or you can be a man like Mike Cleary. You can be a hero. You can join the military. Dave Konopki is editor of The Post and a proud former member of the 291st Military Police Company. He may be reached at 829-7248 or by e-mail at dkonopki@leader.net. MOMENTS IN TIME The History Channel e Harlan Sanders, founder of the restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken, wasn't always involved in culinary pursuits; at various times he worked as a streetcar conductor, a soldier, a railroad fireman, an insurance salesman and a service-station operator. In 1929, when Sanders was about 40 years old, he opened Sanders’ Cafe in the back of a service station in Corbin, Ky. - a rather humble beginning for today's KFC empire. * Are you a crytoscopophiliac? If you are, | hope you don't live in my neighborhood. That's a term used to describe a person who feels an overwhelming urge to look into other people's windows. e Comedian Groucho Marx got into show business when he was a young boy - as a soprano singer. ® |t's still not known who made the following sage observation: “Computers come in two varieties: the prototype and the obsolete.” e Cotton is a ubiquitous substance. Everyone wears cotton clothes, but rarely does anyone give much thought to the raw material. Con- sider this: Each cotton fiber is actually made up of a single cell - it's just 3,000 times longer than it is wide. * The Eiffel Tower may look a bit flimsy, but it's actually remarka- bly strong. In 1999 a violent storm struck Paris - so violent, in fact, that it knocked down more than 100,000 trees. Instruments at the top of the tower recorded a wind speed of 133 mph, the strongest ever observed there. The tower itself was fine, though; despite the record-breaking winds, it swayed less than 4 inches. * When King Louis XVI of France was led to the guillotine in 1793 amid a mob of revolutionaries, he reportedly said to the crowd, “May my blood cement your happiness.” %* kk Thought for the Day: “Woman begins by resisting a man's ad- vances and ends by blocking his retreat.” - Oscar Wilde (c) 2006 King Features Synd., Inc. We all lose our way sometimes. Many times, it's our own fault. Other times, we have no control over the hand we're dealt. Regardless - no matter how out of place we may feel - it always helps to make the best out of a bad situation. LIBRARY NEWS Fiction, mystery books added to library shelves The following new books and books on CD have been added to the collection at the Back Moun- tain Memorial Library, 96 Huntsville Road, Dallas. For more information, call the li- brary at 675-1182. EXPRESS (1 WEEK LOAN) “Light from Heaven” by Jan Karon “Christ the Lord: out of Egypt” by Anne Rice “Turning Angel” by Greg Iles “On the Run” by Iris Johansen FICTION “Cold Hit” by Stephen J. Can- nell “Red Lily” by Nora Roberts “Long Time Coming” by Sandra Brown . “Creepers” by David Morrell “The Protégé” by Stephen W. Frey “Final Scream” by Lisa Jack- son “Night Tales” by Nora Roberts “Dancing in the Dark” by Ma- ry Jane Clark “Panic” by Jeff Abbott “Candy Apple Red” by Nancy Bush “Sudden Death” by David Ro- senfelt NONFICTION “Healthy Aging” by Andrew Weil “The Mom Factor” by Nora Lee “Autodata Technical Data: do- mestic & imported motorcycles, dirt bikes and ATVs” “Two Happy Homes” by Shir- ley Thomas “God Created the Integers” edited with commentary by Ste- phen Hawking MYSTERY “The Cradle Robbers” by Aye- let Waldman “The Killing Club” by Marcie Walsh “Sentenced to Die” by JA. Jance “The Goodbye Body” by Joan Hess “Sympathy Between Hu- mans” by Jodi Compton BIOGRAPHY “The Year of Magical Think- ing” by Joan Didion REFERENCE “The Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer” “Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006” LARGE PRINT FICTION “Perfect Nightmare” by John Saul “The House in Amalfi” by El- izabeth Adler “The Circle” by Peter Lovesey “A Christmas Visitor” by Anne Perry “Zipporah, Wife of Moses” by Marek Halter “S is for Silence” by Sue crf) ton ft BOOKS ON CD “Red Lily” by Nora Roberts “Toxic Bachelors” by Danielle Steel “Speedbumps” by Teri Garr “Dark Watch” by Clive Cussler “Ordinary Heroes” by Scott Turow r “Teacher Man” by Frank McCourt : THE POST TIMES®LEADER Community Newspaper Group ¢ 15 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 18711 ® 570-675-5211 thepost@leader.net Patrick McHugh PUBLISHER David C. Konopki EDITOR Erika Calvert ADVERTISING “On the Run” by Iris Johansen “Turning Angel” by Greg Iles 70 YEARS AGO Jan. 10, 1936 FIGHT IMMINENT OVER UTILITY RATE INCREASE Prospects of a long battle over ~ the in- creased rates filed by Dallas Wa- ter Compa- ny with the Public Ser- ONLY vice Com- YESTERDAY mission loomed this week as consumers — with busi- ness men in the vanguard — pre- pared to launch a protest. The Dallas Taxpayers Associ- ation has called consumers to a meeting next Monday night in the Dallas Borough High School to plan method of protest. It pays basketball players to elect basketball experts to school boards. At least the pres- ence of Jack Roberts, longtime basketball manager on Dallas Borough School Board, has saved some high school players from possible embarrassment this season. : Players who spend long hours practicing free throws would have been mystified by their in- accuracy had not Mr. Roberts discovered the other night that one basket in the high school gymnasium is 18 inches too far from the foul line. The board or- dered that the basket be moved to its correct position. 60 YEARS AGO Jan. 11, 1946 PORK PRODUCTS CANNED IN A JIFFY A break in the usually frigid Ja- nuary temperature has created a stir of activity at Lehman Com- munity Canning Center where the big kettles have been busy for several days taking care of pork and pork products for farm households and others who have butchered pigs. One of the steam jacketed ket- tles holds forty gallons of fat and produces the purest whitest lard in less than an hour without fuss, mess or bother. Many persons have brought their own casings and stuffed sausages on the Can- ning Center sausage press. A Trucksville young man, serving in the American military government, has been placed in charge of the finance depart- ment of Kuwang, a southern Ko- rean city with a population of 90,000. He is First Lieutenant Willard Woolbert, son of Mr. and Mrs. Archie Woolbert, Holly Street. Lt. Woolbert, a graduate of Kingston Township, joined the Army at Philadelphia in the spring of 1941. He was commis- sioned the following year at Camp Lee, Virginia and was later stationed the University of Vir- ginia Charlottesville and the University of Michigan, Ann Ar- bor where he studied the princi- ples of AMG and the Japanese language. 40 YEARS AGO Jan. 13, 1956 LITTLE GIRL FINDS $10 BILL IN PUDDLE Emily Botsford, 7, on her way home from Dallas Elementary School, found a $10 bill in a pud- dle on Lehman Avenue. She picked it up and put it back in an access of honesty. Arrived at home, she told hermother about the find and Mrs. R.B. Botsford told her to run right back out and get it, quick. Then. Mrs. Botsford, drying out the bill on a radiator, followed estab- lished custom by calling the Dal- las Post. The Dallas Post said it would inquire. Turns out the bill had been frozen ever since Christmas time, the Wednesday thaw finally releasing it. Earl McCarthy, Dallas post linotype operator, who had stuffed the bill into his pocket loose, and had bemoaning its’ loss for weeks was pretty glad to hear about it. The 1956 Senior Grand Cham- pion Bull of the Milking Short- horn Breed at Pennsylvania Farm Show this week is Barring- ton King Nuggett, owned and show by Hillside Farms Inc. Trucksville. Hillside Farms has been ‘showing Milking Short- horns at the Farm Show since 1949. 40 YEARS AGO Jan. 6,1966 BOMB HOAX KEEPS POLICE BUSY A bomb hoax perpetrated by a phone from Harveys Lake had law enforcement officers comb- ing through the Back Mountain schools on Sunday, but the coast was clear when school convened the following day. No bomb was found in the Dallas and Lake- Lehman school districts, al- though police and helpers, both civilian and firemen, checked ev- ery school in the district. They even checked some pay phones. According to police, a youth- ful male voice threatened a school at the lake. He said it was an elementary school, but police thought it could be an elemen- tary school in the area. The call was made from a pay phone in Harveys Lake (there are eight in the area). Daniel C. Roberts Fire Compa- ny of Harveys Lake is still oper- ating an ambulance following a collision of the old one in Lu- zerne last week. Practically iden- tical to the old one, a new ambu- lance has been lent by Wolfing- ton Body Company of Philadel- phia. A member: of the emergency squad says the 1965 Cadillac now in use in Lake Township happened to be ih ceived at the Philadelphia com- pany on the day following the crash. 30 YEARS AGO Jan. 8, 1976 STRIKING WORKERS VOTE DOWN PROPOSAL Members of the local Commu- nications Workers of America on strike against the Common- wealth Telephone Company since December 13 voted over- whelmingly on Monday night to - reject the company’s offer of a 9.4 percent across-the-board raise and a 1.25 percent increase in fringe benefits. Robert Mack, president of the Dallas local Commonwealth’s corporate headquarters, said company-wide voting results were 393-21 opposed to the offer. He said the vote was pretty much what union leaders pected. Four re-elected Dallas Bor- ough councilmen were sworn in- to office on Monday night at the borough building. Oaths of of- fice were administered by Dis- trict Magistrate Earl Gregory to William Carroll, Kenneth Young, Harold Brobst and Peter Ar- naud. Jerry Machell was re-elected as president of the council and William Berti was elected vice president. Ralph Garris was reappointed as secretary and al- so as superintendent of roads. William Baker was reappointed as council treasurer. St. John’s basketball team pulled off a mild upset by defeat- ing head coach Joe O’Donnell’s Mountaineers, 67-65, in a close contest at the Johnnie’s home court in Pittston. High scorer for Dallas was Mike Carey with 24 points. Other Mounts hitti double figures were Bruce fenstahl (15 points) and Jeff Su- pulski (11).
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers