HERALD AND NEWS, Klamath Fallt, Or.
Friday, December 20. 196J
...The Readers Write
Letters To The Editor . : .
PAGE (A
Day In, day out, life can be drab for
patients of the Klamath County Nursing
Home. Today it was different. This after
noon Santa Claus paid them his annual visit.
He arrived loaded down with artistically
wrapped packages for the folks confined.
Almost all of the gifts were essential things
like slippers, socks; other items of cloth
ing. But there were some "luxuries" too,
; like tobacco, shaving lotion, hand lotion and
' the things ladies always have liked in the
; cosmetic line. And there were good things to
: eat, too!
All of these items were contributed by
the people of the Klamath area. They, really,
were Santa Claus. They responded whole
heartedly to the Herald & News appeal for
aid in making the annual party at the home
bigger than ever.
None of the patients were forgotten.
Testing Our Defenses
Your chances for survival can depend
directly on the speed with which you can
mount a defense.
This is a common sense bit of military
logic that brooks little argument.
In this world of jet and rocket pro
pelled missiles, a shattering attack can be
launched in an instant, and the defense of a
nation must rise to the occasion just as
quickly or face complete annihilation.
The events of Tuesday of this week
proved that Kingslcy Field is doing its ut
most to maintain the sharpest possible
edge on its defensive capabilities.
In a 10 hour period, a total of 101 mis
sions were flown from the field.
A mission is completed when a jet
fighter Intercepts a simulated enemy air
craft and returns to base.
In the course of 10 hours, 101 jets
from the field took off, intercepted a simu
lated enemy aircraft and returned to base.
As they did, they were serviced, fueled and
took off again.
WILLIAM
By WILLIAM S. WHITE
WASHINGTON - Politicking
for the Vico Presidency, alrea
dy softly going on, will move
after New Year's Day into the
most quietly Intense such activ
ity seen in this century.
Twice within recent years,
even before the death of John
F, Kennedy, the importance of
the office of Vice President had
been so profoundly proved as to
make irrelevant and in very
bad taste all the old jokes about
fifth wheels and Throttlebol
toms. First, there was the serious
illness of President Dwight Eis
enhower which thrust Richard
.Nixon into a fur higher place
In terms of real power than had
ever before been occupied by a
second man in the American
government.
Then, at the Democratic con
vention in I960, Mr. Kennedy
took two command decisions of
historic political importance.
One was that a single "avail-
able" for the Vice Presidency.
Lyndon Johnson, was nothing
less than indispensable, both to
the success of the Democratic
campaign and to the subsequent
conduct of the Kennedy Admin
istration. Tlie old stereotype that a Vice
President was a nobody going
nowhere died for good as Mr.
Kennedy carried through Into
the operations of his Adminis
tration his full and unexam
pledpurpose to make his Vice
President a totally informed,
fully consulted and working as
sociate holding high rank In ac
tuality as well as in constitu
tional structure.
President Johnson's success
thus far in earning the country
forward without a hitch, in the
aftermath of Mr. Kennedy's as
sassination, w as a consequence.
For President Johnson had been
completely involved, all along
and at every step, in the plans,
policies and actions of Mr. Ken
nedy. The lesson that this kind
of continuity and competence is
ahsolutely necessary in the
world in which we live has been
lost on nobody and no party.
So both parties now approach
the 1954 campaign year with an
attitude of gravity toward their
ultimate choices for Vice Presi
People Are Terrific
And it would make a person's heart feel
good to watch the delight in the eyes of the
folks at the home as they received their
gifts, enjoyed the refreshments and the en
tertainment which followed.
Donors to the Klamath County Nursing
Home party remain anonymous. But there
were hundreds of them. And we are grate
ful to every last person here who had a hand
in making the party for residents of the
home a tremendously successful one. Our
only wish is that the donors could have
watched several members of the newspaper
staff working hour after hour getting the
packages ready and marked for proper dis
tribution so that the old fellow who humbly
asked for a can of tobacco wasn't given a gift
for a lady. When Santa's helpers' job was
done a pick-up truck, loaded to the guards
left for the home. It was a sight to contem
plate. People had remembered.
This means, on an average, that a jet
took off at the field every six minutes, and
that another landed every six minutes.
This required the utmost in teamwork,
maintenance and precise workmanship. It
was a grueling test of men and equipment,
but just the fact that it could be done is
cause for the highest commendation.
As Colonel Ed Wilzenburger comment
ed, there are many new personnel at the
field and the successful completion of this
simulated defense against air attack welded
them together in an efficient working unit.
During one of the operations, a plane
landed, ground crews refueled the plane,
maintenance crews checked it over and it
was ready to go again in just two and one
half minutes.
We can only add that this performance
re-assures us that the sounds of jets taking
off and landing at Kingslcy Field are truly
the sounds of defense ready to repulse any
attack.
S. WHITE
Selection Of VP
dent never before seen. As al
ways, the Presidential nominee
of each party will no doubt
have the final say lis to the
identity of his running-mate.
But President Johnson is al
ready as good as nominated for
election in his own right, where,
as there is a long way to go
before the country can know
who is to top the Republican
ticket. Thus, interest now cen
ters, and for months yet will
center, un the probable Dem
ocratic choice (or the Vice Pres
idency. President Johnson, it goes
without saying, has not even be
gun to make a decision as to
his own preference, though
many names havo been thrown
about In speculation, they in
clude Sargent Shriver, head of
the Peace Corps and brother-in-law
of the lute President Ken
nedy, Ted Kennedy, whose qui
et, performance as a freshman
Senator from Massachusetts lias
surprised some of his early crit
ics: Gov. Richard Hughes of
New Jersey: Sen. F.ugenc Mc
Carthy and Hubert Humphrey of
Minnesota, and so on.
Teach All Of History
! enjoy the letters to the
editor very much, whether I
agree Willi tliem or not, and
this time I fell 1 must put my
say-so in.
It seems to me, that some
one is taking too much author
ity on sayuig what sliould be
kept in history books. Alter all.
It took all of tliese men and
tlieir deeds to make our
American Heritage what it is
today.
Why bother to teach Ameri
can History at all. if they are
only going to teach the lu
turo generations half of it?
OIK AMKRK'AN III H1T A(iK
By l,rn l'rlllnm
It took men like Jones n'
Hale 'n' Henry,
As well as others of Uiat
genre,
To make our world what It
Is today.
So wlio are you to have the
say
Is Vital
Now, no presidential list of
"must" qualities for Vice Presi
dent has been drawn up, or
even seriously considered, but
one factor is undoubtedly in Mr.
Johnson's mind. Everything else
being equal, it is very probable
that he would look with favor
un a running-mate who, grant
ed high general capacity, was
of the Catholic faith.
The President, himself a Prot
estant, feels that a special trag
edy in the many tragedies sur
rounding the murder of Mr. Ken
nedy was the fact that this first
Catholic President in history
w as unable to complete even his
first term.
In a broad sense, the Presi
dent's view of the characteris
tics necessary for consideration
for llio Vice Presidential nom
ination may be expected to
stress character and competence
much more than such tradition
al factors as geographic loca
tion. He has never liked the sec
tional approach to politics and
is not likely ever to make a
man's geography a decisive
point eitlier way.
Of what sliould be in history
books,
Where future generations can
not look ,
To see wlio did, or, who said
what.
Do you think that fair? Well.
I do not!
American history began 'way
back when
Ladies were LADIES and
men were MEN.
And old deeds ar important
loo.
As much as those that are so
new.
I 'poc if they should reach
the moon
They wouldn't want THAT
forgotten soon.
Weill Remember this, so
it will last:
"Tliere'd be no future if Uiere
were no PAST!"
Mrs. A. H. JVIhnen,
1U "D" Stiwt.
'Patriotism In Textbooks' Draws
Your editorial "Patriotism In
Textbooks" carried Dec. 11,
19U3, should be of the utmost
concern to every parent, teach
er and all others living in the
area served by your newspa
per. I believe that all the famed
words and deeds of our nation
al heroes should be preserved
and taught to our children in
our public schools.
Enclosed in my letter is a
copy of a speech made by a
relatively unknown California
educator in 1961 on the very
subject of your editorial, and
since he expresses so well what
most of us think and feel about
teaching patriotism, I do hope
that you will print his speech
on your editorial page.
This California educator
stirred up quite a storm in Cal
ifornia politics beginning short
ly after making this speech.
Despite a vicious smear cam
paign launched against him
in the November 1962 elections,
hundreds of thousands of
California's parents and other
informed and responsible citi
zens elected him the state su
perintendent of public instruc
tion, for the state of California.
I well remember the wonder
ful speech by Jenkin Lloyd
Jones, "Who Is Tampering
With The Soul of Ameri
ca." that you printed on your
editorial page. The people of
Klamath Falls and Klamath
County should be very proud to
be served by a newspaper of
the high standards of the Her
ald and News.
, Jason R. Burk.
Box 67.
Dunsmuir, Calif.
By DR. MAX P.AFFERTY
1 want to talk to you about a
vanishing species the Ameri
can patriot. I hope to show you
what you and I have done dur
ing the last 20 years to make
possiblenay, to render inovi
tible this dwindling decline
of a once noble breed. And. at
the end, I shall propose to you
a simple question: "Is this what
we want?"
First, go back with me in
time 185 years. Our country is in
a strange sort of undeclared war
against the forces of despo
tism, then as now. A young
man volunteers to go behind the
enemy lines to collect informa
tion. He is captured and Lied
as a spy and publicly ques
tioned. Surrounded by the jeer
ing foe, cut off beyond all
hope of rescue, the rope al
ready knotted around his bared
throat and the pallor of ap
proaching death already on his
cheek, he breaks his steadfast
silence. With the wind of anoth
er world cold upon his forehead, .
he speaks one short sentence,
and his words echo down the
corridors of time to us today,
ringing and lightheartcd and
magnificent: "I only regret that
I have but one life to give
for my country."
His. statue, with the throat
still bared, stands today gazing
w ith blind stone eyes across tile
green .park in New York City,
where I saw it not too long ago.
He was a schoolmaster God
rest his soul and he did not
live to sec his 22nd birtbday.
What were those blind eyes
looking for a few years ago, I
, wonder, when for the first time
in our history a substantial
number of young men sold
out tlieir fellow American sol
diers, and licked Uie boots of
brutal Chineso and North Ko
rean invaders, and made tape
recordings praising commu
nism? What do those stone ears
make of the other young men
and women who seem to .spend
yQy jjX'
every waking moment agitating
against KOTC, booing authorized
Congressional committees, and
parading in support of Fidel
Castro?
Whether we like H or not, this
is our doing yours and mine.
For the past 20 years, the great
mistake has been made by
my profession, and by the vot
ers and taxpayers who permit
ted it.
This sizable minority of spine
less, luxury loving, spiritless
characters came right out of our
classrooms. They played in our
kindergartens, went on i e 1 d
trips to the bakery, and stud
ied things called "social living"
and "language arts" in our jun
ior high schools. They were
"adjusted to their peer groups."
They were taught that competi
tion was bad. They were told
little about modern democratic
capitalism. They were persuad
ed that the world was very
shortly to become one big, hap
py family. They were taught to
be kind, and democratic and
peaceful.
These last are praiseworthy
goals. What went wrong? There
were two tilings, you see, that
we DIDN'T teach them. And oh!
how they needed to learn these.
One was that most of the in
habitants of this big, bad-tempered,
battling, planet hate our
American insides. This is hard
to teach, and unpleasant to
learn. It is the simple truth,
nevertheless.
The other should have been
simpler. It was to teach the
children Hie real meaning of
Decatur's great toast: "Our
country? In her intercourse
with foreign nations, may she
always be right, BUT our coun
try, right or wrong."
Had they been taught these
things, they would not now be
wondering what all the fuss is
about. They would know that
their country was in danger,
and that would be enough. It
was enough is 1898, and 1917,
and 1941. It's not enough today.
Too many of them neither know
nor care.
It's our own fault. What wilt
History have to say of my
generation of educators the
generation of the '30s, the '40s.
and the '50s? We were so busy
educating for "life adjustment"
that we forgot that the first
duty of a nation's schools is to
preserve that nation.
Words that America had
treasured as a rich legacy, that
had sounded like trumpet calls
above the clash of arms and the
fury of debate, we allowed to
fade from the classrooms and
the consciousness of the pupils.
"Liberty and Union, now and
forever, one and insepar
able . . ."
"We have met the enemy and
they are ours . . ."
"Millions for defense, but not
one cent for tribute . . ."
Search for these towering
phrases in vain today in too
many of our schools, in the
hearts and minds of too many
of our children. The golden
words are gone, and in their
place brain - numbing projects
on the nation's second class
mail service, units on tlie or
ange packing industry of Los
Angeles County, or accounts of
tlie trucking business on High
way 6fi. We must all, you see,
grow up to be orange packers
or mailmen or school adminis
trators. We have no further
need of Websters nor of Nath
an Hales.
Our sin was greater than this,
however. Patriotism feeds upon
hero-worship, and we decided
to abolish heroes. Even t h e
fairy tales and nursery rhymes.
'And That's an Order!"
0$
,
IT l -TV X
beloved by generations of chil
dren, we pronounced too "vio
lent" and "brutal" for the chil
dren to hear until after we had
tinkered with them. Hansel and
Gretel j neutralized to the
status of children on a Sunday
School picnic, and Jack the Giant-Killer
to a schoolboy swat
ting flics. Everything that was
fearful and wonderful, we lev
eled off to the lowest COM
MON denominator.
Ulysses and Penelope have
been replaced by Dick and Jane
in the textbooks of our schools.
The quest of the Golden Fleece
has been crowded out by the vis
it of Tom and Susan to tlie Zoo.
The deeds of the heroes before
Troy are now passe, and the
peregrinations of the local milk
man as he w e n d s his way
among the stodgy streets and
littered alleys of Blah City are
deemed worthy of numberless
cages in our readers. Tlie ster
ile culture of the Pueblo Indians
looms large in our curriculum,
but tlie knightly Crusaders are
glossed over.
Bobby and Betty pursue their
insipid goal of a ride in the dis
trict garbage truck with good
old crotchety Mr. Jones, whi'e
the deathless ride of Paul Re
vere goes unwept, unhonored,
and unsung. It is interesting
and significant, I think, that ed
ucation has deliberately de
bunked the hero to make room
for tlie jerk.
Today's hero if there is one
is fashioned in the blasphe
mous image of Ourselves.
He is "Daddy" in the sec
ond reader, who comes mincing
home with bis eternal briefcase
from his meaningless day in
his antiseptic office just in time
to pat Jip the dog and carry
blonde little Laurie into the inev
itable white bungalow on h i s
stylishly padded shoulders.
He is "Mommy" in the third
grade books, always silk-stockinged
and impeccable after a
day spent over tlie electric
range, with never a cross word
on her carefully made-up lips
and never an idea in her empty
head.
He is all the insufferable non
entities who clutter up the pages
of our elementary textbooks
w ith their vapid ditherings
about humdrum affairs which
could never be of conceivable
interest to anybody.
In my right hand I hold one of
our California third grade read
ers. Two of the main char
acters are Paddyfoot tlie Indian
iBoy, and Uncle Will the Cotton
Picker. Harmless they are
and gentle and as dull as
dishwater.
In my left hand I hold a Me
Guffey third grade reader, pub
lished in 1879. It contains a
hair-raising description of a trip
through the Himalayas to Tibet,
a short story illustrating the hor
rors of drink, a series of fictional
talcs dramatizing Aesop's Fa
bles, and several poems by
Wordsworth and Whittier.
Quite a contrast.
Now, please don't quote Max
Ralferty as advocating a return
to McGuffey. Some of this old
fashioned material we would
consider unsuitable for today's
children especially the story of
the town drunk who ends a
career of crime breaking b i g
ones into little ones at the coun
ty rock pile.
But it moves. It sparkles. IT
INTERESTS.
Tlie boys and girls who were
raised on this fare never for
got it. Even today, some old
gaffer is apt to walk up to me
after one of these talks and
quote McGuffey verbatim alter
60 or 70 vears. Which of our
0
o
Replies
present-day pupils, I wonder, is
going to recall after even one
year how Richard Lane and
nice Miss Allen planted the
flower bulbs in the school win
dow box for 15 pages and 2600
words in today's reader?
No wonder so many of tliem
don't read very well. We
haven't given them anything
worth reading for almost a
generation.
When I think of tlie doors
we've closed upon tlie children!
Tlie wonderful pantheon of
youthful gods and goddesses
that my generation knew and
loved; tlie great parade of he
roes who made old Earth a ma
gic place for boys and girls.
Wilford of Ivanhoe rode stir
rup to stirrup w ith Richard tlie
Lion-Hearted, and the evil hold
of Torquilstone burned eternal
w itness lo the power of youth
and goodness. Laughing and
shouting in the same great com
pany rode Arthur with his Ta
ble Round, forever splintering
their lances in the cause of
Right. Roistering and invincible
swaggered Porthos, Athos and
Aramis, with the young D'Ar
lagnan, ever ready to draw
those magic blades for truth and
glory and the Queen.
Remember?
The horn of Roland echoed
throuch tlie pass at Roncevalles,
and somehow caught and min
gled in our memories with the
far-off blast of Robin Hood,
calling down the misty years
upon his merry men of Sher
wood. Were not these fit heroes for
the children?
Apart and in a happy com
pany leaped and plaved the
Child IMMORTALS. Hand in
hand with longhaired Alice
walked Christopher Robin,
bright eyes alert for talking
rabbits and greedy little bears.
Sturdy Jim Hawkins counted his
pieces of eight and chatted with
Captain Flint, while young Tom
Sawyer kept a wary lookout for
the menace that was Injun Joe.
A battered raft floated to im
mortality upon tlie broad bosom
of the Father of Waters, and
Huck became the apotheosis of
all boys everywhere. Meg. Jo
and Beth chattered gaily to
Amy, and Dorothy skipped arm
and arm with the Scarecrow
down the Yellow Brick Road.
Remember?
When in any age have chil
dren had such shining exem
plars? It remained for our genera
tion to turn its back upon the
heroes of the children. For Sieg
fried in the lair of Fafnir,
we have substituted Muk - Milk
the Eskimo Boy, and we have
replaced Horatius at the Bridge
with little Pedro from Argenti
na. Mark this. Until the coming
of Ccnant a few years ago,
most schools on all levels were
teaching trivia. Today, too
many especially on the elemen
tary level are still doing so.
If you doubt this, don't take
my word for it. Visit classroom
after classroom in widely sep
arated regions of this country,
as I have done.
Watch the abler pupils grow
dull and apathetic, bored and
lackluster, as they yawn over
Bill and Tom's trip to the
Farm, or Sally's Fun at the Or
ange Grove. Then, suddenly
as though opening an enchanted
window un a radiant pageant
give them the story of the
wrath of Achilles. Let them
stand w ith Casabianca upon the
burning deck. Trek with them
in spirit to the Yukon, and with
glorious Buck let them answer
the call of the wild. Place them
upon the shot - swept shrouds of
the BonHomme Richard and let
them thrill to those words
flashing like a rapier out of our
past, "1 have not yet begun to
fight."
Kneel with tliem behind the
cotton bales at New Orleans
w ith Andy Jackson at their side,
as the redcoats begin to emerge
from the Louisiana mist and the
sullen guns of Lafitte begin to
pound.
Watch tlieir faces. See the
eyes brignten and the spirits
ruffle. See the color come, the
backs straighten, the arms go
up. They dream, they live, they
glow. Patriotism will come eas
We Must Teach Liberty
I read your editorial of Dec.
11. regarding history books
which tend to eliminate teach
ing patriotism in schools and
those gems of wisdom by past
statesmen. I heartily agree wiih
jou.
Our educational system is
costing more money and there
seems to be no end to the de
mands. Less is being written
and comcidentally taught about
the wonderful privilege of liv
ing under a free republic. In
stead, Mr. Minear says we
must teach Communism. It
makes my heart sick because I
love my country and I love lib
erty. Only last year an attempt
was made in Oregon to take
aay our religious freedom
through Sunday legislation. We
ily to them now, as h does to
all of us who know our nation's
past and love H.
Teach them the grand old
songs. How long has it been
since California children learned
to sing "Columbia, the Gem of
the Ocean?" And why was it
dropped? Probably because
someone decided that the lines
which end, "The Army and
Navy forever! Three cheers
for the RED. WHITE, and
BLUE?" were hopelessly out of
p 1 a c e in our brave new world
of foreign aid and peaceful co
existence and collaboration.
I say t h a t we had better
thank God for the Army and
Navy. And with half the world
at our throats we had better
teach our children that it is not
a disgrace, but a priceless priv
ilege, to wear our country's
uniform.
The crux of the problem, of
course, is this: "Do we believe
it ourselves?" I am convinced
with all my heart that we do.
It's not the fault of teachers
that our wofession has been
brainwashed for 30 years with
slogans like: "There are no
eternal verities"; "Teach t h e
child, not the subject"; and
worst of all "Nothing is
learned for the sake of learn
ing." The results are plain for all
to see: tlie worst of our young
sters growing up to become
booted, sideburned. ducktailed,
unwashed, leatherjacketed
slobs, whose favorite sport is
ravaging little girls and stomp
ing polio victims to death; the
best of our youth coming into
maturity for all tlie world like
young people fresh from a dizzy
ing roller-coaster ride, with ev
erything blurred, with nothing
clear, with no positive stan
dards, with everything in doubt.
No wonder so many of t h e m
welsh out and squeal and turn
traitor when confronted with the
grim reality of Red military
force and tlie crafty cunning of
Red psychological warfare.
We as a people have been
taunted and reviled and chal
lenged in the last few years
as we thought no one would
ever challenge us. A soulless
tiling slavers at us today on all
the continents, under all the
seas, and out into the void of
interplanetary space itself a
rotten, hateful, vicious entity.
Our national nose has been first
tweaked and then rubbed con
temptuously into the dirt. Tlie
flag for which our ancestors
bled and died has been torn
down and unspeakably defiled
by a dozen little pipsqueak comic-opera
countries emboldened
by our spinelessness and en
couraged by our sneering Ene
my. I don't know when at long
last the American people will
rise in all the power and ma
jesty of their great Uadition to
put an end to this role of inter
national doormat w h i c h we
have assumed of late, and
which becomes us so poorly.
But I do know one thing.
When that time comes and it
cannot be too far distant we
educators had better not be
caught short. We had better not
be caught withholding from the
nation's children the wonderful,
sharp-edged glittering sword of
Patriotism.
What is the alternative? You
see that all about you now. in
all the headlines. Do you like
it? As I said in the beginning,
"Is this what we want?"
Or rather, do we want our
young people informed and dis
ciplined and alert militant for
freedom, cleareyed to the filthy
menace of Communist corrup
' tion? Do we want them happy
in their love of country?
If your answer is "Yes."
then go home and get busy.
It is to this that I propose that
we dedicate ourselves in the
years to come. We have not an
hour to spare. If Almighty God
grants us the time and the will,
we may still be able to pre
serve this lovely land of ours
as it once was and please
God will yet be again: a na
tion fit for heroes serene in
the knowledge of our past con
fident and ready for whatever
the future may bring stretch
ing in w armth of heart and uni
ty of purpose "from sea to
shining sea."
need to get back to the Constitu
tion. For several years now spon
sors of the proposed Liberty
Amendment have attempted to
have this amendment broueht
to a vote in our state legisla
ture. Unfortunately the bureau
crats, using our tax money, are
so strong and they ' have
brought so much pressure to
bear they have prevented it.
This amendment would provide
for a return to our Constitution
and freedom from excessive tax
ation. Every ciUzcn and every
school child should acquaint
themselves with it. Incidentally
Mr. Editor, couldn't we have a
little more publicity on the sub
ject? Rosie Wilkins,
Keno.