Letters: Readers discuss powerful respect for a veteran, potholes and Trump’s pardons
A simple gesture
In today’s fast-paced world, many of us do not show respect and honor, especially at funerals. However, a single individual made a heartfelt impact on my wife, her mother and the rest of the family on Feb. 13.
Charles William Snyder, my mother-in-law’s brother, recently passed away. As a military veteran, he was taken to Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery by an escort of police and members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. A dark-colored minivan pulled over on the other side of the divided highway as we approached. Although it was bitterly cold, the driver — a woman in a red coat — exited her vehicle and stood by the roadside, placing her hand over her heart as the processional drove by.
It brought my mother-in-law to tears, as it did everyone in the funeral procession who saw the woman.
To this motorist: Your actions had a profound impact on all of Charles Snyder’s family. Thank you for taking the time and paying your respects to someone you did not even know.
- Gordon Woods, Nevada, Iowa
Hopping holes
In the street on the east side of the intersection at State Line Road and 85th Terrace resides an impressive pothole. It is so big and deep that two to three feet of the sensor wire for the traffic light lies loose in the bottom. It has existed at this busy intersection for at least a month.
I am not sure where all the infrastructure money that voters approved in April 2017 has gone. Wait, I know. With all the tax abatements given to developers of luxury apartments and fancy office buildings, the city’s general fund is depleted.
An appropriate message of disapproval to Kansas City’s leaders might come in the form of voting against the earnings tax the next time it is on the ballot.
Face it: Our government is corrupt at all levels.
- John Kenney, Leawood
My free choice
I recently learned of The Star Editorial Board’s disapproval of the Russian government’s Radio Sputnik show being aired on Kansas City radio. (Jan. 19, 19A, “Tune out that Russian radio in KC”)
I have heard people say this will be divisive in our families. I don’t know about others, but I can decide for myself to embrace or to discard any information given.
Also, how different is having Radio Sputnik in the U.S. from Radio Free Europe’s broadcasts across Eastern Europe and the Middle East?
- James Choquette, Warwick, Rhode Island
Editor’s note: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a U.S. government-funded organization based in Prague, Czech Republic, that broadcasts news to countries where a free press is banned or restricted.
We’re prepared
Recently, I discussed the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win with my Scout troop. The hometown fans kept the faith even in the worst of the five decades between Super Bowl appearances. The team never gave up, even as it changed over the years.
The filing of bankruptcy by the Boy Scouts of America appears to a casual observer as a team hitting bottom. But, as a Scout team member and a hometown fan, I refuse to believe we’re down and out.
On a local level, scouting is as vibrant and relevant as ever. Last year, volunteers like me served more than 26,000 K-12 boys and girls, delivering a fun and challenging program that builds appreciation for our environment, self-reliance and leadership skills for tomorrow.
We willingly subject ourselves to comprehensive background checks and regularly complete training to make sure that today’s scouting is safe from the likes of those who preyed on the young decades ago.
The Boy Scouts of America looks different from my days as a youth. And it will look very different after the dust has settled on this bankruptcy filing. But I firmly believe that upcoming generations will continue to improve scouting and return it to the top.
- Jeremy Fuksa, Scoutmaster, Scouts BSA Troop 1247, Kansas City
‘Justice’ for one
Well, I guess we know now that in addition to President Donald Trump being able to do anything he wants (including committing murder on Fifth Avenue), he also has a “get out of jail free” card, which he can use for his shady friend Roger Stone if he so chooses.
Can we say “liberty and justice for all”?
- Mary Jo Saviano, Kansas City
Jesus’ truth
When my late husband and I returned from a trip to Jerusalem, an acquaintance asked if we were Jewish. I said no, but I worship Jesus, who was Jewish.
She didn’t know that. I wonder how many other people don’t know it, either. In these days of heightened anti-Semitism, I thought it was important to remind people of this.
- Georgette S. Page, Kansas City