The VHHS "Friends"

Alumni Web Pages

The Editorial & Speak Out Page

This page is being created so that you may express your ideas and thoughts.  Since this Website was created, I have received some interesting email from former classmates and with this page, thoughts and ideas can be shared.   Essentially, this is the place to make your thoughts and ideas known to your fellow classmates.

In posting what you have to say on any subject, I will not alter or edit what you send in to be posted.  A couple of you sent in some ideas that you had and this is certainly the place where your fellow classmates can view them and respond in this open forum.  All material sent in will be posted as soon as possible.

From Mike Beckley, Class of 1966, October 19th, 2001

On 12 Jan, Ms Cindy Williams wrote a piece for the Washington Times denouncing the pay raise(s) coming service members way this year-citing that the stated 13% wage gap was bogus.  A young airman from Hill AFB responds to her article below.  He ought to get a bonus for this.

I just had the pleasure of reading your column of 12 Jan 00, "Our GIs Earn Enough," and I am a bit confused.  Frankly, I'm wondering where this vaunted overpayment is going, because as far as I can tell, it disappears every month between DFAS (The Defense Finance and Accounting Service) and my bank account.

Checking my latest leave and earnings statement (LES), I see that I make $1,117.80, before taxes.  After taxes, I take home $874.20.  When I run that through Windows' Calculator, I come up with annual salary of $13,413.60 before taxes, and $10,490.40 after.

I work in the Air Force Network Control Center (AFNCC), where I am part of the team responsible for the administration of a 25,000 host computer network.  I am involved with infrastructure segment, specifically with Cisco Systems equipment.  A quick check of http://www.monster.com under jobs for Network Technicians in the Washington, D.C. area reveals a position in my career field, requiring three years experience with my job.  Amazingly, this job does NOT  pay $13,413.60 a year, nor does it pay less than this.  No, this job is being offered at $70,000 to $80,000 per annum.  I'm sure you can draw the obvious conclusions.

Also, you tout increases to Basic Allowance for Housing and Basic Allowance for Sustenance (housing and food allowances, respectively) as being a further boon to an already-overcompensated force.  Again, I'm curious as to where this money has gone, as BAH and BAS were both slashed 15% in the Hill AFB area effective in January 00.

Given the tenor your column, I would assume that you have never had the pleasure of serving your country in her armed forces.  Before you take it upon yourself to once more castigate congressional and DOD  leadership for attempting to get the families in the military's lowest pay brackets off AFDC, WIC, and food stamps, I suggest that you join a group of deploying soldiers   headed for Saudi--I leave the choice of service branch up to you.  Whatever choice you make, though, opt for the SIX month rotation:  it will guarantee you the longest possible time away from your family and friends, thus give you the full "deployment experience."

As your group prepares to board the plane, make sure to note the spouses and children who are saying good-bye to their loved ones.  Also take care to note that several families are still unsure of how they'll be able to make ends meet while the primary breadwinner is gone-obviously they've been squandering the vast piles of cash the DOD has been giving them.

Try to deploy over a major holiday; Christmas and Thanksgiving are perennial favorites.  And when you're actually over there, sitting in a DFP (Defensive Fire Position, the modern-day foxhole), shivering against the cold desert night, and the flight sergeant tells you that there aren't enough people on shift to relieve you for chow, remember this:   Trade whatever MRE you manage to get for the tuna noodle casserole or cheese tortellini, and add Tabasco to everything. Talk to your loved ones as often as you are permitted; It won't  nearly be long enough or often enough, but take what you can get  and be thankful for it.

You may have picked up on the fact that I disagree with most of the points you present in your op-ed piece.  But, tomorrow from Sarajevo, I will defend to the death your right to say it. You see, I am an American fighting man, a guarantor of your First Amendment rights and every other right you cherish. On a daily basis, my brother and sister soldiers worldwide ensure that you and people like you can thumb your collective nose at us, all on a salary that is nothing short of pitiful and under conditions that  would make most people cringe.  We hemorrhage our best  and brightest into the private sector because we can't offer the stability and pay of civilian companies.

And you, Ms. Williams, have the gall to say that we make more than we deserve?

Rubbish.

 A1C Michael Bragg, Hill AFB, AFNCC

From Patricia McCaskill - August 23rd,  2000

Recently, reading the editorial page at our alma mater site and receiving seemingly more and more, a slew of emails from friends and online friends..covering everything from sending all your contacts emails to get free gifts, money,and even company stocks!!.. body parts such as kidneys being taken from forcibly anesthetized persons, to KFC selling lab created bio gunk, instead of chicken, to HIV infected needles in everything from McDonalds play area balls to gas pumps/public telephones. Warnings of Febreze that will kill your pets & human children, class project chain mail letters, bogus virus' (even ones that can actually kill humans). Taxes on our emails and icq, aol message services.

As of late many mailings are in regards to well-known persons such as mel
gibson, janet reno, michael jordon, jane fonda,etc.

When you receive such mailings, THINK! The internet is a wonderful tool to
research, gain knowledge, and interact with online and r/t friends. But, like
any community it has it's good people and it's bad. Sadly it seems,many are all too ready to jump on the rumor and hate mongering wagon, or when it seems easy money is offered.

The following is just one online address that enables you to research the
facts, or find sources to confirm the falsehood or truth about what you read
or hear.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends//


There are many other sites, if you simply enter ‘urban legends’ in your search engine you will be given a lengthy list from which to choose.

Let’s keep the internet a positive experience!!!

Earlier, there were some comments about Jane Fonda and her visit to North Viet Nam in the late 1960's.  Memorial Day has passed but we do have the 4th of July coming up.  In my opinion, Jane Fonda is a traitor to this nation that gave her privileged status.  Thanks to her father, Henry Fonda, I believe that she was spared prosecution.  I recently read where she now regrets making the trip to North Viet Nam and that she is a born again Christian.  I hope that she tells that to the families that she damaged by her visit to the Hanoi Hilton.

Here is Hanoi Jane "manning" an anti aircraft gun used to bring down U. S. Aircraft during a visit to North Viet Nam

Here is Jane Fonda as she is booked for inciting a riot in Cleveland, Ohio.  The charges were later dropped.  Surprising huh?

From Major Dave Robertson, USA (Ret) & Class of 1968

This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing.

America: The Good Neighbor

"This Canadian thinks that it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth.

Germany, Japan, and to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billion in debts.  None of these countries today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their rewards was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris.  I was there.  I saw it.

When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help.  This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes.  Nobody helped.

The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries.  Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans

I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane.  Does any other country in the world have a plane equal to the Boeing Jumbo jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10?  If so, why don't they fly them?  Why do all International lines, except Russia fly American planes?

Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon?  You talk about German technology, and you get automobiles.

You talk about American technology, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home again.

You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at.

Even the draft - dodgers are not pursued and hounded.  The are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.

When the railways of France, Germany, and India were breaking down through the age, It was the Americans who rebuilt them.  When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New  York central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose.  Both are still broke.

I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble.  Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble?  I don't think that there was outside help during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of  hearing  them get kicked around.  They will come out of this thing with their flag high.  And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their own troubles.   I hope that Canada is not one of those".

Stand PROUD, America!

Wear it PROUDLY!

By Gordon Sinclair, Canadian Television Commentator

Editor's note:  I remember this recording when it came out in 1974 when the US was still in the middle of the Watergate Affair.   That recording by the Late Gordon Sinclair was a hit that played on just about every radio station from Rock & Roll to Country.  Thanks Dave for sending that down as we approach Memorial Day.

From Steve Latauska, Class of 1967

Hope you all appreciate this as much as I did!


Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged
scar, a certain look in the eye.  Others may carry the evidence inside them:
a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps
another sort of inner steel:  the soul's ally forged in the refinery of
adversity.  Except in parades, the men and women who have kept America safe
wear no badge or emblem.

                You can't tell a vet just by looking.

What is a vet?

* He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating
two
gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of
fuel.

* He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose
overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic
scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

* She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep
sobbing   every night for two solid years in Da Nang.  He is the POW who
went
away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL.

* He is the Quantico drill instructor that has never seen combat - but has
saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account  rednecks and gang
members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.

* He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals
with
a prosthetic hand.

* He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him
by.

* He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose
presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory
of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the
battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

* He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and
aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes
all
day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares
come.

* He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being a person who
offered
some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who
sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

* He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is
nothing more than the finest,  greatest testimony on behalf of the finest,
greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean
over and say Thank You.  That's all most people need, and in most cases it
will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU".

Remember November 11th is Veterans Day................

"It is the soldier, not the reporter, Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, Who has given us the freedom to
demonstrate.

It is the soldier, Who salutes the flag, Who serves beneath the flag and
whose coffin is draped by the flag, Who allows the protester to burn the
flag."


- Father Denis Edward O'Brien, USMC

From Dave Robertson, Class of 1968

It was the Spring of 1961.   While most 11 year old boys were "playing
Army" by defeating the Germans or Japanese, my friends and I were soundly
defeating invading Yankees in the thick woods surrounding our Atlanta
homes.   It was the Centennial celebration of the War of Northern
Oppression -  or what the rest of the country called The Civil War.
Atlanta was filled with parades, speeches, and much reminiscing about "the
War".   War was a glorious adventure, an honorable and  noble calling.    No
one bled, no one died, and we were all home for supper and homework.

Seven short years later -  graduation day 1968 -  the "real world" truth
was painfully clear in Southeast  Asia.   But thankfully we were still
young, immortal, adventurous, and naive.  So, 30 years late:  To Doc (and
Julie) McHam, to Bill Fesler,  to Randy Zahn (just to name a few),  to our
classmates on the memorial page who gave all,  in fact to all our veterans
and families.  Thank you!

Fifty years late:  To our fathers, mothers, uncles and aunts that freed the
world during World War II by way of Guadalcanal, Normandy,  Berlin and
Tarawa.  Thank you!

Those that have never visited West Point,  Arlington, or The Wall have no
idea of the magnitude of what you collectively have done through all the
wars and all the years.   While perhaps not an adventure, the honor and
nobility of your service and sacrifice should never be forgotten.
Duty,  Honor,  Country.         Thank you!

Dave Robertson

From Kathy Newlon

mailto:Grammikath@aol.com

The Final Inspection
 
 
The policeman stood and faced his God, which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining just as brightly as his brass. 
"Step forward now, policeman. How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?  To my church have you been true?
The policeman squared his shoulders and said.  "No, I guess I haven't
because those of us who carry a badge can't always be a Saint."
I've had to work most Sundays and at times my talk is rough,
and sometimes I've been violent, because the streets are awfully tough.
But I never took a penny that wasn't mine to keep...
though I worked a lot of overtime when the bills got too steep.
And I never passed a cry for help though at times I shook with fear,
and sometimes, God forgive me, I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place among the people here.
They never wanted me around except to calm their fear.
If you've a place for me here, Lord, it needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much, but if  you don't...I'll understand"
There was a silence all around the throne where the Saints had often
trod.  As the policeman waited quietly for the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, policeman.  You've borne your burdens well.
Come walk a beat on Heaven's streets.  You've done your time in Hell"

From Steve Latauska

Hi all:

I lost a good friend to lung cancer just last week. The sudden death was a
surprise,  and there was so much more I wish I could have said and done. I
hope you get as much from the attached article as I did.

- Steve

=============================================================

  IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck

    I would have talked less and listened more.
    
     I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.
    
     I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much
     less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.
    
    I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his
     youth.

     I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day
     because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
    
    I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted
     in storage.
    
     I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass
     stains.
    
     I would have cried and laughed less while watching television-and more
     while watching life.
    
     I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

     I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth
     would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.
    
     I would never have bought anything just because it was practical,
wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.
    
     Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished
every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only
     chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
    
     When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later.  Now
     go get washed up for dinner."

     There would have been more "I love you's".. more "I'm sorry's" ....but
     mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at
     it and really see it ... live it...and never give it back.

     Stop sweating the small stuff.  Don't worry about who doesn't like you,
     who has more, or who's doing what.

     Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love
     us.
    
     Let's think about what God HAS blessed us with.

     And what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically,
     emotionally, as well as spiritually.

     Life is too short to let it pass you by.
     We only have one shot at this and then it's gone.
    
     *   *  .. *   .
     In memory of Erma Bombeck, who lost her fight with cancer

Editor's note:  What Steve sent in above, certainly hits close to home for so many of us.  It appears that life is way too short and the above message is certainly appropriate.

The Whole World Is Watching

Sent in by Patricia McCaskill on September 6th

Sent in by Randy Zahn

"Mommy"
   
    Johnny brought a gun to school,
   He told his friends that it was cool,
 And when he pulled the trigger back,
It shot with a great crack.
Mommy, I was a good girl, I did
 what I was told,
I went to school, I got straight As',
I even got the gold!
 But Mommy, when I went to school that day,
 I never said goodbye,
 I'm sorry Mommy, I had to go,
 But Mommy, please don't cry.
 When Johnny shot the gun,
 He hit me and another,
 And all because Johnny,
 Got the gun from his older brother.
 Mommy, please tell Daddy;
 That I love him very much,
 And please tell Chris; my boyfriend;
 That it wasn't just a crush.
 And tell my little sister;
 That she is the only now,
 And tell my dear sweet Grandmother;
 I'll be waiting for her now,
 And tell my wonderful friends;
 That they always were the best,
  Mommy, I'm not the first,
 I'm no better then the rest.
 Mommy, tell my teachers;
 I won't show up for class,
And never to forget this,
 And please don't let this pass.
 Mommy, why'd it have to be me?
 No one deserves this,
 Mommy, warn the others,
 Mommy, I left without a kiss.
 And Mommy, tell the doctors;
 I know they really did try,
 I think I even saw a doctor,
 Trying not to cry.
 Mommy, I'm slowly dying,
With a bullet in my chest,
But Mommy, please remember,
 I'm in heaven with the rest.
 Mommy, I ran as fast as I could,
 When I heard that crack,
 Mommy, listen to me if you would,
 I'm not coming back.
 I wanted to go to college,
 >    I wanted to try things that were new,
 I guess I'm not going with Daddy;
 On that trip to the new zoo.
 I wanted to get married,
 I wanted to have a kid,
 I wanted to be an actress,
 Mommy, I wanted to live.
 But Mommy, I'm must go now,
 The time is getting late,
 Mommy tell my boyfriend,
 I'm sorry, but I had to cancel the date.
  I love you Mommy, I always have,
 I know; you know it's true,
 And Mommy all I wanted to say is,
 "Mommy, I love you!"

The following is what one of our former classmates sent to me regarding an incident during the Viet Nam War which so many of us remember.  This WebSite has a Viet Nam Memorial Page that contains the names of many of our friends and former classmates that paid the ultimate price in serving the United States.

When I put this page up, I said that I would not edit or alter the content of your thoughts and words.  These are the statements of some former POW's and because it was submitted from an alumni, it is posted.

The following is in regards to the infamous visit of actress Jane Fonda to North Viet Nam.  I was a junior at VHHS when this trip took place.

Sean Curtis

The first part of this is from an F-4E pilot. The pilot's name is Jerry
Driscoll, a River Rat.

Folks,

There are few things I have strong visceral reactions to, but Jane  Fonda's
participation in what I believe to be blatant treason, is one of them.  Part
of my conviction comes from exposure to those who suffered her attentions.

In 1978, the Commandant of the USAF Survival School was a former POW  in Ho
Lo Prison-the "Hanoi Hilton".  Dragged from a stinking cesspit of a cell,
cleaned, fed, and dressed in clean PJs, he was ordered to describe for a
visiting American "Peace Activist" the "lenient and humane treatment" he'd
received.  He spat at Ms. Fonda, was clubbed, and dragged away.  During the
subsequent beating, he fell forward upon the camp Commandant's feet,
accidentally pulling the man's shoe off-which sent that officer berserk.  In
'78, the AF COL still suffered from double vision-permanently grounding
him-from the Vietnamese COL's frenzied application of wooden baton.

>From 1983-85, COL Larry Carrigan was 347FW/DO (F-4Es).  He'd spent 6 years
in the "Hilton"-the first three of which he was "missing in action".   His
wife lived on faith that he was still alive.  His group, too, got the
cleaned/fed/clothed routine in preparation for a "peace delegation" visit.
They, however, had time and devised a plan to get word  to the world that
they still survived.  Each man secreted a tiny piece of  paper, with his SSN
on it, in the palm of his hand.  When paraded before Ms. Fonda and a
cameraman, she walked the line, shaking each man's hand and asking little
encouraging snippets like: "Aren't you  sorry you  bombed babies?" and "Are
you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors?"

Believing this HAD to be an act, they each palmed her their sliver of paper.
She took them all without missing a beat.  At the end of the line and once
the camera stopped rolling, to the shocked disbelief of the POWs, she turned
to the officer in charge...and handed him the little pile.  Three men died
from the subsequent beatings.  COL Carrigan was almost number four.

For years after their release, a group of determined former POWs including
COL Carrigan, tried to bring Ms. Fonda and others up on charges of treason.
I don't know that they used it, but the charge of "Negligent Homicide due to
Depraved Indifference" would also seem appropriate.  Her obvious "granting
of aid and comfort to the enemy", alone, should've been sufficient for the
treason count. However, to date, Jane Fonda has never been formally charged
with anything and continues to enjoy the privileged life of the rich and famous.

I, personally, think that this is shame on us, the American Citizenry.  Part
of our shortfall is ignorance: most don't know such actions ever took place.
Thought you might appreciate the knowledge.  Most of you've probably already
seen this by now...  only addition I might add to these sentiments is to
remember the satisfaction of relieving myself into the urinal at some
airbase or another where "zaps" of Hanoi Jane's@#&#$% face had been applied.

To whom it may concern:

I was a civilian economic development advisor in Viet Nam, and was  captured
by the North Vietnamese communists in South Viet Nam in 1968, and held for
over 5 years.  I spent 27 months in solitary confinement, one year in a cage
in Cambodia, and one year in a "black box" in Hanoi.  My North Vietnamese
captors deliberately poisoned and murdered a female missionary, a nurse in a
leprosarium in Ban me Thuot, South Vietnam, whom I buried in the jungle near
the Cambodian border.  At one time, I was weighing approximately 90 lbs. (My
normal weight is 170 lbs.).

We were Jane Fonda's "war criminals."  When Jane Fonda was in Hanoi, I was
asked by the camp communist political officer if I would be willing to meet
with Jane Fonda.  I said yes, for I would like to tell her about the real
treatment we POWs were receiving, which was far different from the treatment
purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by Jane Fonda, as "humane
and lenient." Because of this, I spent three days on a rocky floor on my
knees with outstretched arms with a piece of steel rebar placed on my hands,
and beaten with a bamboo cane every time my arms dipped.

I had the opportunity to meet with Jane Fonda for a couple of hours after I
was released.  I asked her if she would be willing to debate me on TV.  She
did not answer me, her husband, Tom Hayden, answered for her.

She was mind controlled by her husband.  This does not exemplify someone who
should be honored as "100 Years of Great Women."

After I was released, I was asked what I thought of Jane Fonda and the
anti-war movement.  I said that I held Joan Baez's husband in very high
regard, for he thought the war was wrong, burned his draft card and went to
prison in protest.  If the other anti-war protesters took this same route,
it would have brought our judicial system to a halt and ended the war much
earlier, and there wouldn't be as many on that somber black granite wall
called the Vietnam Memorial.  This is democracy.   This is the American way.

Jane Fonda, on the other hand, chose to be a traitor, and went to Hanoi,
wore their uniform, propagandized for the communists, and urged American
soldiers to desert.  As we were being tortured, and some of the POWs
murdered, she called us liars.  After her heroes-the North Vietnamese
communists-took over South Vietnam, they systematically murdered 80,000
South Vietnamese political prisoners May their souls rest on her head
forever.

Sent in by Steve Latauska - August 17th, 1999

The following is a quote from Janet Reno on a Sixty Minutes interview on
6/26/99.

Regardless of your religious affiliation-this is what your governmental
leaders think of you.

=======================================================

Subject: Alarming Statement from Janet Reno

"A cultist is one who has a strong belief in the Bible and the Second
Coming of Christ; who frequently attends Bible studies; who has a high level of financial giving to a Christian cause; who home schools for their
children; who has accumulated survival foods and has strong belief in the
Second Amendment; and who distrusts big government.

Any of these may qualify a person as a cultist but certainly more than one
of these would cause us to look at this person as a threat and his family as
being in a risk situation that qualifies for government interference."

Janet Reno, Attny. General, USA
Interview on 60 Minutes
June 26, 1999

Do you qualify?

Are you (as defined by the US Attorney General) a threat?
This concerns me.  Does it bother you?  Everyone in this country - "The land of the free" with computer access should copy this and send to every other man, woman and child who can read.

Why is it that we aren't compelled to respond strongly to such words?

It Was Never Like This At VHHS In The 1960's

On August 10th, a gunman loaded with weapons open fired on some little children at the Jewish Community Center in the San Fernando Valley and in cold blood, shot and killed a Post Office Letter Carrier.   This is really just a stone's throw from Sunland - Tujunga but it could have been anyplace.

When this tragedy took place I was thinking that during my tenure at Verdugo, I never did recall any problems with the kids and race problems.  Verdugo was not all white as I recall.  I recall that we were a school that had a mix of Hispanics, Asians and a smattering of others that all seemed to get along well. 

Within a few blocks of each other, we had a Synagogue, Catholic Church, and Episcopal Church.  I always thought at the time that we were all different but also the same as we respected each other and accepted each other.

Over the years, the reputation of Sunland - Tujunga has changed.  During the time that I lived there, and that was from 1954 -1968,  I had friends and acquaintances from different backgrounds and religions.

What I am trying to say is that during our time in school at VHHS we were all taught to get along with one another and that came pretty much from home.  We had accepted all of our classmates for who and what they were and it was my observation that we all looked beyond skin color and religion.   Considering that our generation had been called many things, racists at VHHS during that time period cannot be one of them.  Like Martin Luther King once said, about judging the content of one's character and heart instead of one's skin color, I believe that we did that and we are a lot better for it too.

What that suspect in the shooting of the children and the killing of the Post Office Letter Carrier did, was bring all of us down another step on the ladder.

These are my thoughts for the day...... I welcome yours

Sean Curtis - August 12th

From Bill Fesler

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