Letters: KC readers discuss WWI realities, destructive protests and gun violence
Be there yourself
During this Memorial Day week, I think it’s appropriate to recommend that if you can, and you are not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, please take in the National World War I Museum and Memorial’s virtual reality experience, “War Remains.” You must be at least 14 years old and book tickets in advance.
I have to admit that my emotions very nearly overwhelmed me as I was immersed in what these men endured — and often didn’t survive — when attempting to go “over the top” into No Man’s Land. There’s no need to go into detail here — just visit “War Remains” and experience it yourself, grateful that it is “only” a terrifying simulation of an awful reality.
- Alan Perry, Kansas City
Drop the label
Whether in a newspaper or on TV, whenever politicians are quoted or speak, their political affiliations are often included: “Sen. Tim Smith (D).” Why is this done? As soon as we see the affiliation, we decide whether we agree. I don’t see the benefit.
If the affiliations were eliminated, we might listen, form our own opinions and find out we are wrong on some things.
- Frank Fernholz, Overland Park
Protest parameters
Peaceful protests only remain so if there are limits on behavior. Trespassing, destruction of property and throwing bottles go beyond what is acceptable and should be prosecuted. It does not matter what is being protested.
- Rex Nowland, Kansas City
Hole in education
I never learned about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — when white mobs destroyed the city’s prosperous Black Greenwood District, killing hundreds — in my American history courses. And I gather that many Republicans — such as Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who joined 19 other state attorneys general telling the Education Department they oppose teaching critical race theory — would like it to stay that way.
- Gordon Risk, Kansas City
Make it visible
As the country mourns the victims who died or were injured in another mass shooting, and given the realization that every day more than 100 Americans are killed with guns, you may be asking yourself what can be done to address this public health crisis.
To send a message to our legislators that we demand change and commonsense gun laws, please consider wearing orange this Friday, June 4, on Gun Violence Awareness Day. Orange was chosen to symbolize the value of human life and sends a signal that the wearer does not want to be the next victim of gun violence.
- Donna Euston, Leawood
Musical therapy
There are so many people who contribute to the culture of the Kansas City area, and I want to draw attention to one. Last Friday on community radio KKFI 90.1 FM, Mike Lytle, host of “The Real Deal” program, paid tribute and memorialized his nephew Kyle, who recently passed away at age 31.
For two hours, Mike played a variety of rock music — music that he and his nephew loved and shared, and music for his friends and family to deal with their loss, celebrate Kyle and his life, and for listeners to tap into their own experiences and emotions from their own lives and losses. There were songs about death and loss, songs about drug use and abuse, and the program ended with songs about faith, love, hope, family and friends.
I strongly encourage people to listen to this program in the station’s archives, available at archive.kkfi.org. The program is available in the archives until June 10, and people will be glad and moved to experience this music.
- Darrell ‘Doc’ Gould, Kansas City
Real peril
Just as predicted, all four U.S. senators from Missouri and Kansas opposed the commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Like everyone who follows the news, I expected they would be against it, yet I am still aghast.
Jan. 6 wasn’t merely an attack on a building. It was an attack on our whole system of government — our democratic republic.
Most democracies in the world have parliamentary forms of government (with multiple parties), so if one party goes off the rails, that party simply loses power and can drift into irrelevance. But America has a long-established two-party system, so our country is truly in jeopardy if one of those parties operates without regard for facts, rationality or stability. Our system requires two functioning parties.
Also, unlike other industrialized countries, the United States is further imperiled because of the millions of military-grade weapons owned by private citizens.
I think this is a dangerous time for our country.
- Mary Lindsay, Kansas City
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: KC readers discuss WWI realities, destructive protests and gun violence."