Columnist off base on heritage center
David Cook's column last Sunday was a contemptible attempt to conflagrate the desire of many in the community to fulfill the original intent of Coolidge Park to honor and memorialize the sacrifice of veterans in general, and Charles Coolidge in particular, and the lynching of Ed Johnson.
The city of Chattanooga sought to honor the heroism one of its own, Charles Coolidge, upon his return to Chattanooga after World War II. Mr. Coolidge did not seek the honor but requested that the park honor veterans. It took a couple of generations for the park to become the reality it is today.
I don't recall complaints about the diminution of green space when the carousel and Theatre Centre were proposed. Yet when 4,200 square feet, one tenth of an acre, is requested to fulfill the city's commitment to Mr. Coolidge and veterans, Mr. Cook complains that we can't sacrifice a square inch of green space to honor those who would sacrifice their own lives for freedom.
Those are the men and women who risked their lives to defeat nations who were overtly and proudly militaristic.
Fred Decosimo
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Time for a change; vote for Whitfield
Once again, many homeowners in Walker County have seen their property taxes go up. This time properties were revalued, causing taxes to more than double for some owners.
This latest tax increase comes on the heels of two previous annual county property tax increases.
You would hope that with the increase in county property tax county debt would be kept at a minimum. However, that is not the case. During her time in office, Commissioner Bebe Heiskell has increased the county debt more than $70 million. Now the total county debt exceeds $85 million.
Under Commissioner Heiskell, we have experienced higher taxes, higher debt and the lowering of the county's credit rating. Unfortunately, annual county property tax increases are becoming the norm in Walker County.
It's time for a change - Shannon Whitfield for Walker County sole commissioner.
Dean Kelley, Rossville
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Cook's comparisons do not make sense
In response to last Sunday's page A2 column by David Cook about the proposed Medal of Honor Heritage Center "continue(ing) the soft glorification of warfare"... and "celebrating war."
Those statements make as much sense as saying the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., glorifies the extermination of millions of Jews and other minority groups, or that the Towing and Recovery Museum celebrates car crashes.
Sure, no one likes war. I believe all of us wish we lived in a world that never saw another war. B
ut the reality is that we have had war, and, the Heritage Center's intent is to honor the men and woman who earned the nation's highest military honor - not warfare.
It seems to me trite to drag in bromides such as "You can no more win a war than win an earthquake" (said in 1917). No - but at least we can build with earthquakes in mind and, if one takes place, celebrate afterwards those who through heroic measures saved lives at risk of their own.
The time to build this in Coolidge Park is long overdue.
Francis S. Kalinowski II, Hixson