Dear Editor,
As the mother of a Marine who is on his second deployment to Iraq, I must ask …
How is a country supposed to look when it is at war? How is Gilroy supposed to look when we are at war? Are we thinking more flags flying? More yellow ribbons up? What would people suggest that we do to make our country and city look more patriotic? I know our community would be delighted to step forward and implement their suggestions.
Flag day was big in Gilroy, although some pictures on Flag Day would have made the day even more special. Morgan Hill had.nothing … that would have been nice. Maybe both chambers could insure that flags stay up as much as possible on the main streets?
Paying attention to the war was brought up … war/politics/religion, generally I don’t discuss these things with people. Most often, people are set in their ways and polite conversations do not change minds and hearts and are too energy sapping for me. I have only so much energy in a day, and I try and use it for positive change and not disagreements.
We don’t need debates, What many military people and families want is to make sure the military vote is counted. What many military people want is to insure that our kids are taught the Pledge of Allegiance, unlike the teenager I met last year at the Sept. 11 observance who was 18 years old. Flags and yellow ribbons mean nothing if the meaning and symbolism behind them are not taught.
What the military wants is to let them do their job without being second guessed. Let us remember that you are either an infidel or not. If you are an infidel, you are targeted for death – in our country or elsewhere in the world.
People do care about our troops. Let’s give them vests that do not recalled, armored humvees so that all are not killed when attacked and insure we can target IED’s way ahead of time. Also, our returning wounded should have homes to stay in so they can have families close by. Let’s quit second guessing and being politically correct about what happens in the heat of battle. Better to be tried by 12 than carried out by 6. That’s supporting our troops.
What’s happening in Gilroy and Morgan Hill? Operation Interdependence is still collecting donations in Morgan Hill and now Gilroy, and an informational meeting with the founder will be held today (Saturday) at 1pm. Operation Care and Comfort is still collecting care package donations for troop support. Karen Humber of Gilroy will be launching a letter writing campaign with the hopes of collecting 1,000 letters to send to our deployed Marines and soldiers.
For all those serving and for all those supporting our troops, blessings to you.
Mary Ellen Salzano, proud parent of Lance Cpl. Ethan Salzano on his second tour in Iraq
