Remember the fallen - and more letters to the editors

Remember the fallen

First we have billboards on the interstate proclaiming Chattanooga the home of Sgt. Charles Coolidge and telling the story of Company K. We have other billboards remembering other Chattanooga natives who fought in WWII.

We should have large banners hanging from buildings around the courthouse, each one with the story of a WWII vet whose final resting place is the Chattanooga National Cemetery, to drive home the fact they are on hallowed ground.

And, finally, if you have a personal story from your family history, put that soldier, WAVE or WAC on a T-shirt and wear it in remembrance.

ROD YOUNG


Manuel 'clear choice'

Joe Manuel is the clear choice for chancellor. As past chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party, I came to know Joe Manuel well because he served as the party's legal counsel.

I know him to be a loyal Republican, and his roots run deep in our local party. Joe's advice and calm demeanor were invaluable to me. He guided our County Executive Committee through a significant revision of our local party bylaws, working closely with Bobby Wood, Valerie Copeland Rutledge and Jack McGill.

The better I came to know Joe, the more impressed I was with him as a person and as a skilled lawyer. Joe's career accomplishments are impressive and clearly make him the most qualified candidate to become our next chancellor.

I am voting for Joe Manuel, and I urge you to join me in voting for Joe.

MARTY VON SCHAAF


Sword not surrendered

In an April 12 op-ed piece, Roger Smith asks, "What did Lee surrender?"

Well, certainly not his sword as stated twice by Mr Smith. It is an enduring myth Lee surrendered his sword to Grant at Appomattox, but Grant refused to accept it.

In fact, Lee never offered his sword and Grant never asked for it, according to Patrick Schroeder, the historian at Appomattox Court House National Park.

Once again, Mr Smith confuses myth with fact in both his opening and closing statements. How can we take him seriously and give any credence to his tortured thesis when he consistently has his facts wrong?

In a previous piece, he misquoted and misidentified Santayana. This is becoming a trend.

JOHN C. REIS


Does Harry Reid have dementia?

Does Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have dementia? While Alzheimer's dementia comes first to many people's minds, dementia-like symptoms can be due to many causes.

In his younger years, Harry played football when protective head gear was minimal and was a boxer. Early-life head trauma can potentiate senile dementia.

Mr. Reid is 74 years old. As we grow older, our minds slow a bit; however, that does not qualify for dementia, but to forget what one has said a month earlier and say the opposite, to blow small facts out of proportion, to say something that insults those people who helped you get to where you are today (such as the Koch brothers), or to espouse a "fact" when there is no supporting evidence (such as comments about Mitt Romney) is either unethical or brain disease.

If Harry Reid is given the benefit of the doubt, that he is not purposefully being unethical, then a reasonable conclusion is he has developed some form of dementia.

For the good of our country, Mr. Reid should be medically evaluated for the possibility of having dementia, and if he does not, then sanctioned for being unethical and abusing his political power.

ROGER CATLIN, M.D.


Bennett a Constitutionist

Before this election is over, J.B. Bennett will have shaken every hand in Hamilton County. A good judge listens to all sides of a matter and reviews the facts and has a strong grasp of past judicial rulings.

I want a judge who views the Constitution and laws of the land as parameters with which to decide, not outdated documents to discard. I want a judge of known integrity. J. B. Bennett has these qualifications. He is not looking for a job. He has one and is very successful at it.

He's running to be a fair and balanced judge, a task he is fully capable of accomplishing. He has served in many of the area's civic clubs and organizations. J.B. Bennett has looked for ways to give back to our community, not ways to take from it. That's the kind of judge we need and want.

Like many of you, I know his father, Bill Bennett. The family has a tradition of public service to be proud of. J. B. Bennett is my friend, and I look forward to voting for him to be Circuit Court judge.

GEORGE JACKSON, Hixson


'Believe in Jesus'

Benjamin Franklin said "nothing [is] certain, except death and taxes." As many recently finalized their tax returns, they also could have taken time to consider death.

Is this body all there is, or is there another dimension of our being that enters an afterlife? Is there a heaven? Who obtains entry into heaven? Who is denied entry into heaven?

Many would answer with, "Well, I believe ... ." But what is that belief based on? Is it based on your own thinking, or is it based on an authoritative source? Are you ready, quite literally, to base your afterlife destiny on whatever is the basis for your beliefs?

Proverbs 3:5 says "... do not rely on your own understanding." Proverbs 14:12 says "there is a way that seems right to a man, but ..." I claim the Bible as the authoritative source for my beliefs because it is a reliable source of truth -- it is continually proved to be accurate historically, archaeologically and prophetically. It is consistent in its message, despite being written by 40-plus authors over 1,400-plus years on three continents.

Please don't buy the greatest false teaching of every generation -- "When you die, you go to heaven." Heaven is available to everyone, but God has established an entry requirement: Believe in Jesus.

DENNIS URBANIAK, Signal Mountain


'Come back under the tent'

Protestantism? Was it all a big misunderstanding? We are hearing gentle calls to come back under the tent.

Was sin redefined by Jesus' sacrifice? I think sin is just what it was back in Genesis 3 -- placing the human will above the will of God.

That's why it's so dangerous to follow the lead of anyone who claims to have authority to change God's commandments.

Let us be kind but also be clear about the rebel identity described in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation as 'Babylon' (Revelation chapters 14, 17 and 18; Daniel chapters 7 and 8).

RICHARD BURNS, Cleveland, Tenn.


Stand against neo-Nazis

On April 25-26, the National Socialist Movement will be holding its 40th anniversary celebration in Chattanooga.

This neo-Nazi group will be gathering white supremacists from across the nation in our front yard. To add further insult, this celebration is being held on Yom HaShoah, the Jewish day of Holocaust remembrance.

We as Chattanoogans have to make a stand and show we have progressed from the era of Jim Crow laws, discrimination, oppression and hate. We need to bind together and protest this event and this type of racial discrimination.

The group will be having a private dinner on the Aug. 25, but on the Aug. 26 it will be having a public rally, open to all. We need to follow the news of this event, organize and take action showing that not all Southerners harbor this notion of racial purity of the white race and racial discrimination.

Actually, contrary to Nazi and white supremacist beliefs, many studies have found racial purity to be a myth. If one goes back far enough genetically, every race of every person is mixed with another. There is no pure race.

JESSICA ROSIN

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