4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| NOVEMBER 28, 2018
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
C
The First Amendment
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Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon.
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Jenna Bar tlett
Ned H ickson
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Publisher, ex t. 318
Editor, ex t. 313
Co n s u l t i n g E d i to r 8 3 1 -7 6 1 -7 3 5 3
echalhoub@register-pajaronian.com
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Pro d u c t i o n Su p e r v i s o r
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Letters to the Editor policy
Know the true history, meaning behind fl ag’s symbols
(Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submis-
sions on this and other topics are always
welcome as part of our goal to encourage
community discussion and exchange of
perspectives.)
I
n the Nov. 24 edition of the
Siuslaw News, a Letter to the
Editor was published which
included inaccurate and false
statements.
Gene Olson’s letter (“Don’t
Drag Disrespectful Symbols Into
Veterans Parade”) in reference to the flag
I have on my military jeep, the “Don’t
Tread On Me” flag, was described as “in-
sensitive and inappropriate.”
Olson’s lack of knowledge concerning
the history of this flag has presented a to-
tally false description of the background
behind this flag.
Its long and distinguished history goes
back to the colonial days of our nation.
In the fall of 1775, the Continental Navy
created the “first U.S. Navy Jack” and has
traditionally been shown as consisting of
13 horizontal alternating red and white
stripes with a superimposed rattlesnake
and the motto “Don’t Tread on Me.”
The rattlesnake had long been a symbol
of resistance to British repressive acts in
Colonial America.
In August 1977, the Secretary of the
Navy specified that the ship with the lon-
gest total period of active service display
the First Navy Jack until decommissioned
Guest Viewpoint
By Sam Spayd
Colonel USAF, retired
or transferred to inactive service, at which
time the flag shall be passed to the next
ship in line with appropriate honor.
On May 22, 2002, the U.S. Navy or-
dered all ships to display the First Navy
Jack during the War on Terrorism. Cur-
rently the amphibious command ship
USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) has the honor
of flying the First Navy Jack.
As recently as last January, the U.S.
Navy hoisted the First Navy Jack un-
der Old Glory at Joint Base Pearl Har-
bor-Hickam to honor the 17 shipmates
we lost on USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) and
USS John S. McCain (DDG-56).
It represents a historical reminder that
our warfighting edge is not only back but
renewed and forged with purpose.
To describe this symbol of our rich
American history as “divisive, disrespect-
ful and generally offensive” shows a total
lack of knowledge of our American tra-
ditions.
Once again, false and misguided
information is promulgated by “do
gooders” who add to the false
narrative and spread half truths
and misrepresentations without re-
searching the full facts.
I will continue to display this
“First Navy Jack” on my military jeep as
a symbol of the respect I hold for all the
men and women who have honorably
served in the armed forces of our great
nation.
I hope Mr. Olson will find some pos-
itive way to express his good fortune to
live in a country where you have the right
and freedom to express yourself freely
and without fear of reprisal.
(Editor’s Note: The Nov. 24 Letter to
the Editor from Gene Olson mentioned
the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag and also
the Confederate Flag, which was flown
on a different vehicle in the Veteran's Day
parade.)
LETTERS
Celebrate the
‘exploding whale’
I am writing in response to the Nov.
14 article (“In Memorium of Florence’s
Exploding Whale”) on the exploding
whale celebrations.
I think that the exploding whale is
and always will be considered a funny
moment in Florence’s history. There
are some people that view the whale
explosion as an embarrassing event
that should be buried like the whale
should’ve been.
It was a silly decision to blow up the
whale with some dynamite, but most
people view it as a funny event that just
made Florence famous. I’m glad that
no one actually died from falling blub-
ber or else the event might have been
considered a grave mistake.
I haven’t heard of any other celebra-
tions for the anniversary of the explod-
ing whale, but what happened on the
48th anniversary was funny. I liked
the re-enactment of the explosion at
the beach. It created a fun and positive
view on a city’s mishaps. The people
who re-enacted the explosion proba-
bly got a good laugh out of it. Like the
article said, the median age for people
in this town is around 60, so doing the
re-enactment gives the younger people
something fun to do.
For the 50th anniversary, it would be
cool to have a bigger celebration done.
This year’s whale had about 10 people
used to make it. I think it would be
exciting to have a huge re-enactment
done by the whole town or a couple
hundred people. It would generate
more excitement in Florence for the
younger people in this city, and could
create more publicity for Florence.
Some tourists might hear about the
event or be passing by and want to join
in or spectate.
—Daniel Olson
Florence
Grease the wheels of
local discourse
I am hopeful that we can bridge the
political divides in our town, and I
liked seeing letters in the paper recent-
ly about participating in democracy.
I may have missed a few, but two
I saw were about voting and about
bringing concerns to the Florence City
Council in person.
I say, Bravo!
What are other ways we can grease
the gears of our local — and perhaps
national — discourse? Letter writing
parties? Phone banks on important is-
sues? Weekly discussion groups with
a focus and a facilitator? Monthly fo-
rums on topics of interest or concern?
I participate in some activities like
these and I encourage others to do the
same. Start a forum or activity if what
you want to do is not around yet; if you
build it, they will come.
From the resulting enriching and
thought provoking interactions comes
guidance, support and camaraderie.
—Ivy Medow,
Florence
Fire tragedy was largely
preventable
While the fi res in California were
horrendous, the terrible loss of life and
property was largely preventable. Pres-
ident Trump was 100 percent correct
when he said the forest was mishan-
dled.
We are now seeing the end result of
decades of lawsuits designed by “en-
vironmentalists” designed to not cut
trees and stay out of the forests.
Remember the warnings (lies) about
the spotted owl, wolves and cougar
hunting?
We need to clear-cut, thin and take
out trees that are infected with bark
beetles or that are just plain unhealthy.
Th ere is a lot of lumber in the forest,
so why buy from Canada?
Th ey need to take big tractors, crush
the undergrowth and dig up the dried
grass.
Two years ago, California had heavy
rains which fi lled all the reservoirs. Ev-
erything grew like crazy. A few years
later, it burned.
Th is cycle has been going on forever
and will not stop.
— Martin Cable
Dunes City
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor as
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Emal letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
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
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 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
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
(4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
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
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
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