The Role of Political Parties
With all the recent and nauseating flailing over the airways by something called “the political establishment,” such recalls to mind, when studying American history in the seventh grade, I raised the question of why there was not a single word in the Constitution that justified the existence of political parties in a near-perpetual binary system. Our teacher’s answer was that “they evolved as a necessary evil.” However, it has taken me roughly 69 years to conclude that contrary to “theological correctness,” no evil is necessary for there to be a contrasting good. As for “the establishment,” such is correctly defined by the first three words of the preamble of the Constitution of the United States. Read it sometime.
John E. Jersey
Hartland
Hassan Missing in Action
Gov. Maggie Hassan knows if a hiker gets lost on Mount Washington and the state launches a massive search-and- rescue effort, that lost hiker might be held financially responsible for the costs of the search.
Well, the search needs to be for the governor and maybe the state should be reimbursed.
Hassan has gone missing from New Hampshire for 40 days over the course of the last four months. I don’t know how she can be gone this much and still take on the challenges facing New Hampshire.
A leader shows up to tackle problems and Hassan’s absences are showing she doesn’t have the leadership to excel as governor, nor does she have the leadership to be a U.S. senator.
Ken Gilchrest
Meriden
The writer is a town chair for the Sen. Kelley Ayotte campaign and is running for state House District 1 as a Republican.
The A-Bomb Saved American Lives
To add to Joe Barry’s excellent May 23 Forum letter (“Facts About War Against Japan”) that noted the many reasons that President Truman decided the use of the atomic bomb was necessary to end the war with Japan, I might add that in anticipation of an invasion, the civilian population was issued rifles and ammunition to help defend the country. Additionally, when the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki Aug. 9, forcing the emperor in consultations with senior military figures to decide to accept unconditional surrender, junior officers mutinied and headed off to kill the senior officers with the desire to continue the war. The plot was discovered and most of these junior officers were finally killed or imprisoned.
Additionally, all through the war in the Pacific, starting with Guadalcanal to the last islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, almost no Japanese troops surrendered. They had to be killed. This was a brutal process that was responsible for a huge amount of American casualties.
In a May 31 Forum letter, disagreeing with Joe Barry’s conclusions, Mr. Boris von York mentions that the swift advances against the Japanese when the Soviets entered the war in the Pacific implied the army had lost its will to fight. Well, not exactly. The Soviets pincer movement encircled, but mostly did not come in contact with, Japanese troops. In the few instances that they did engage each other, the fighting was intense. The problem with drawing any conclusions about the will and morale of the troops is that the Soviets entered the war and attacked the Japanese on Aug. 8, and the war ended on the following day.
As for the terrible fire-bombing that von York notes extended from the port of Yokohama to Tokyo in early May and killed some 100,000, there is no evidence that the Japanese in any way and more important, Emperor Hirohito, had lessened his resolve to continue the war. During World War II, there were other examples of horrible bombings of civilian populations in cities –— the allied bombing of Dresden — night and day — with, in the end, the city center exploding in a fireball, and the London Blitz that lasted for eight months and killed some 43,000 civilians. None of these events shortened the war. They unfortunately just stiffened resolve to continue fighting.
Mr. von York mentions that Eisenhower, after the war, stated that “it wasn’t necessary to use that thing.” All I know is that during the war, his boss, Gen. George Marshall, along with his staff, advised Truman of the estimated half-million U.S casualties in an invasion of Japan (please read Truman by the Pulitzer-winning author David McCullough), and as such, Truman made his decision.
David Coleman
Quechee
D-H Supports Services for Seniors
The June 18 Valley News included an article detailing information from Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s recently released 2014 federal tax return.
In addition to other information, the article included a list of donations to local nonprofit organizations including ours. Grafton County Senior Citizens Council, Inc. was at the top of the list as a D-H beneficiary. First, on behalf of our participants and clients, I express great appreciation for D-H’s support for elder services in the community. D-H supports our core services of home-delivered and senior center meals, transportation for older adults and adults with disabilities, outreach and counseling, and health-related activities.
D-H also supports new initiatives, including programs to reduce the risk of falls among older adults and — coming soon — oral health care in local senior centers. Second, since 2014, D-H has provided full support for a pilot project in Lebanon to improve the “safety net” for frail elders who are living on their own in the community. The Local Interdisciplinary Geriatric Homecare Team includes highly experienced professionals — a registered nurse through the Community Nursing Project, a long-term care social worker through Grafton County ServiceLink Resource Center, and the outreach worker from the Upper Valley Senior Center. The team works closely together to put in place extra support for frail elders who want to live in their own homes and communities for as long as possible.
The team communicates closely with clients’ medical providers, makes home visits, supports family caregivers, and offers frequent and direct support to elders who are part of the pilot effort. We thank and applaud Dartmouth-Hitchcock for its financial assistance to us and to other nonprofit organizations in the community. All of us are working to support individuals’ health, dignity and independence. We are very fortunate to have a major medical system right here that understands and supports the work.
Roberta Berner
Executive Director Grafton County
Senior Citizens Council Inc., Lebanon