WWII Aviator Helped Islanders

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

First of all, let me say how much I enjoyed and was truly inspired by the recent news story, "Many Happy Returns." For those who did not read it, I urge all to do so. To sum it up, an American pilot, Fred Hargesheimer, who was shot down by a Japanese fighter during WWII near New Guinea, was saved by primitive islanders on a Japanese-occupied island where he landed after bailing out of his plane. He eventually returned home, but during the next 63 years never forgot the villagers who had saved his life, returning to the island many times. Through his efforts funding was raised for schools, clinics, and eventually a new way of life for the people there.

In a world that is weighed down by poverty, wars, prejudices, crimes, and hate, I urge more stories such as this to show what can happen when, regardless of who, where, or why, people help people.

Carolyn Shearin. Chesterfield.

Torture Statement Rings Hollow With Veto

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

I am extremely disappointed that President George Bush vetoed the intelligence authorization bill, which prevents the Central Intelligence Agency and other U.S. agents from using waterboarding, sexual humiliation, dogs, and other techniques that amount to torture and ill-treatment. The Bush administration continues its stubborn and reckless disregard for basic decency and values the United States should model. The president's action further compounds the incalculable damage to the United States' standing at home and abroad.

I applaud Congress for rejecting the bogus arguments validating torture as an interrogation tactic and passing the bill. Bush's assertion that the U.S. does not torture, as he vetoes anti-torture legislation, rings more hollow than ever.

Ken Haubrock. Richmond.

Energy Independence -- Way Too Simple an Idea

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Former governor, now Senate candidate, Jim Gilmore recently came out with another old idea, which apparently doesn't make sense because it's just too simple. The idea of energy independence for America has been around for years. With energy independence, we could remove the stain of having to buy oil from terrorist nations and maybe also remove our troops from harm's way in the process.

Maybe we could keep ourselves out of recession by lowering the price of oil and creating jobs. This seemingly new (but old) commonsense idea has been continually repressed by the moribund minds of the less-than-courageous leadership in the Senate and very well misrepresented by its opponents.

Gilmore's proposals to open up the 18 billion barrels of oil reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), drill offshore on the East and West Coasts of the U.S., and to remove political barriers to building new domestic refineries, are simple solutions to seemingly complex problems. In addition to ANWR, what if we found another 8 billion barrels or so off of Virginia's coast just like Brazil just found off the Atlantic coast this year? That one simple 8-billion-barrel discovery instantly transformed that country into a global top-10 producer and ensured its energy self-sufficiency for years to come.

What if all the economic activity necessary to exploit these proven resources creates tens of thousands of jobs, keeps us out of recession, and lowers inflation? After all, what if this investment in America in turn supports stock prices and the millions of retirees who own that stock?

It's just too simple. So, I ask, is moving up the November election to lower the price ($110/bbl crude and $5-pergallon gasoline by summer's driving season) too simple a solution?

Bob Marcellus. Manakin-Sabot.

Oratorio Conveyed Stirring Message

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Sen. John McCain's home-state orchestra commissioned "Enemy Slayer: a Navajo Oratorio" as the centerpiece for its 60th anniversary season. Too bad neither he nor his Democratic opponents could be there when it premiered on Feb. 7.

"Enemy Slayer" draws on an ancient Navajo awareness that all who engage in war need spiritual rehabilitation. The newspaper for the Navajo nation cites various sources as saying, "Monsters exist within everyone and in the world and the way to overcome those monsters is through living on the path of" beauty (wholeness, harmony). For the Navajo -- whether a war is just or unjust, lost or won -- the warrior needs to undergo a lengthy ceremony of healing and reintegration.

"We, the Navajo people, have understood for eons that war injures everyone it touches, whether or not those injuries show . . . .And we had a way to heal someone suffering from" post-traumatic stress disorder.

"'Enemy Slayer' is not about war; its about the people who fought the wars . . . .It's about the soul of the soldiers, men and women all over the world. It's a story that has been going on for all of history."

Kudos to the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and to the Navajo people and to the Navajo Times for its extensive coverage of composer, librettist, and others responsible for "a Navajo Oratorio."

It is humbling to compare such insights with our own; with a rhetoric, essentially partisan, that seems to begin and end with "we're winning" or "we're losing."

H. Peter Pudner. Richmond.

Birth Control Must Be Affordable

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Affordable birth control is very important. Because of a simple legislative error in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, implemented in January 2005, college health centers and other safety-net health care providers were cut out of the nominal drug-pricing discount program. Prices for birth control have risen dramatically. More than 3 million college students and hundreds of thousands of low-income women have been affected.

Birth control is a basic health care issue for women. It has been proven that affordable birth control is the best way to prevent unintended pregnancies, so it seems to make sense that members of Congress would do everything in their power to restore affordability. It would be easy to fix this error at no cost by passing the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act. Sen. John Warner could make a difference when this vote comes up in the near future. I believe he would like to see the rate of unintended pregnancies reduced. Here is his opportunity to show his constituents his true feelings. I urge Warner to vote to pass this legislation.

Anita Kozakewicz. Richmond.

Teachers Should Show Commitment to Values

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

I applaud the Chesterfield School Board for firing Stephen Murmer ["Fired Art Teacher Settles Suit"]. As a parent of two teenagers attending Chesterfield schools, I am pleased the board wants teachers who practice the core values that are taught to students: respect, responsibility, accountability, and honesty.

Murmer states he is "sort of upset" that his painting style has become so public. As a taxpayer, I am "sort of upset" that the county will have to pay him $65,000 to keep him out of the classroom.

One of the attorneys associated with the ACLU said Murmer's lawsuit has sent administrators a message about free speech. I believe the School Board has sent its own message: When it hires a teacher, it expects him or her to be a leader who exhibits core values both inside and outside the classroom.

Karan Dunnavant. Chesterfield.