4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ DECEMBER 7, 2016
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
The danger of forgetting our ‘Day of Infamy’
I was nine years old the last
time our nation fired a shot
while openly declaring war
with another nation. And
while we have certainly spent
the majority of the last few
decades fighting abroad and
sacrificing the lives of our
young men and women in
places like Kuwait, Qatar,
Baghdad and Syria, the horrif-
ic attacks of Sept. 11 are the
closest that many of my gener-
ation have come to experienc-
ing war first-hand.
As a child, I was only
peripherally aware of the
Vietnam War and even less so
of the Korean War, which
ended before I was born.
Yet, as the last shot was
being fired in Vietnam, I
already knew what Pearl
Harbor was.
I knew how, on Dec. 7,
1941, a quiet Sunday morning
was transformed into a fiery
nightmare by Japanese planes
that claimed the lives of more
than 2,400 servicemen.
I knew about the USS
Arizona, and how in less than
nine minutes more than 1,000
men became entombed in the
wreckage that now rests like a
shadow below the harbor’s
surface.
I also knew it was a morn-
ing filled with as many acts of
heroism and sacrifice as there
were moments of the horrific.
Over the years, images in text
books, commemorative issues
surface each year — much
like the slowly recurring
“black tears” of oil that still
bubble to the surface from the
USS Arizona — serve as a
reminder of the ultimate price
demanded by a world at war.
In an age when many of our
From the Editor’s Desk
N ED H ICKSON
from publications like Time
magazine and stories captured
in movies impressed upon me
the virtues of valor.
At the same time, and per-
haps more importantly, those
images and the stories that
youth entertain themselves
with gaming systems that cen-
ter around killing enemies
with everything from grenades
and knives to sniper fire and
IEDs (Improvised Explosive
Devices), lessons learned from
the sacrifices of the past are in
danger of becoming diluted by
pre-packaged valor and condi-
tioned gaming responses.
Admittedly, my friends and
I spent countless summer days
of our youth as soldiers rescu-
ing our platoon and driving
the Nazis out of our back-
yards. The difference between
then and now is that, as kids,
we were drawing from those
text books, commemorative
magazine articles and movies
that dug such deep grooves in
our memories.
Without knowing it, we
were reinforcing our own
understanding of war based on
what we knew of history —
and in particular the sacrifices
made by soldiers at places like
Pearl Harbor and the beaches
of Normandy.
Today, the knowledge of
those sacrifices — and the les-
sons learned from them —
aren’t digging nearly as deep a
groove in the minds of our
children as they once did.
As they say, history forgot-
ten is a history bound to repeat
itself.
Unless we take the time to
ensure that each generation
understands what our “Day of
Infamy” truly means, the
black tears slowly surfacing
from the USS Arizona will be
for more than the servicemen
who came to rest within it.
Write Siuslaw News editor Ned
Hickson at nhickson@thesiuslaw
news.com.
LETTERS
No more fighting and hatred
I’m sorry, but the daily disrespect and rants
against President-elect Donald Trump is growing
to truly negative proportion. Some people need
to take a look in the mirror if they want to see
who is causing division in this country.
The letters to the editor and the majority of the
news media keep fueling the fire. Eight years
ago, when Barack Obama was elected, a lot of
people weren’t happy but for the most part they
moved forward to give the man a chance.
Now it’s time for people to stop spreading the
hatred flowing through the fiber of America and
USPS# 497-660
give this President-elect a chance to do the job
set before him in order to see our country thrive.
Just yesterday, while having lunch with
friends and having a quiet personal conversation,
we were verbally attacked when the man next to
us, while he was leaving the restaurant, stopped
to ask, “You voted for Trump and you are
Christians?”
He sneered as he left saying. “You will get
what you deserve.”
This is Florence, a place we don’t think can
have those kinds of raw outbursts towards others.
It’s true we don’t all think alike, but it’s time to
start working together for the sake of the com-
Welcome addition
I want to congratulate the City of Florence for
resconsidering the plan and creating the bike and
walking lanes along Rhododendron Drive.
The paths now exist exactly the way they were
envisioned when first presented at the Greentrees
annual meeting a few years ago.
They are completely in keeping with commu-
nity’s wishes and are a welcome addition to our
beautiful Rhododendron Drive. I feel safer walk-
ing and bicycling and enjoy the greenway very
much.
Thank you.
Kathy Blok
Greentrees resident
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John Bartlett
Jenna Bartlett
Ned Hickson
Susan Gutierrez
Cathy Dietz
Ron Annis
Jeremy Gentry
mon good.
Ten years from now, do you want to see suc-
cess or failure?
What part will we play in it?
At stake are our future families, who deserve
to have some of the same opportunities we all
have had. For this reason most of all, the fighting
and hatred needs to subside.
Donna Dobson
Florence
Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us