Women need health care

The Valley News disappointed me with a recent headline (“Family planning program faces budget ax”; May 6). The headline should read “Another blatant attack on women’s health care.” I have been a school nurse and family nurse practitioner for 38 years and taken care of more sexually assaulted girls, young women and women than I can count. From 7-year-olds on stretchers, to young women and former soldiers in my exam rooms, to girls coming into my nurse’s office. All needed health care. Poor or not, political affiliation or not, these girls and women were in need of care. Women have uteruses and have babies. Men do not. Women do not need to be attacked physically, yet one in four are. Political and physical attacks on women are not new. It would just be so refreshing if girls and women could receive the health care they require.

Ellen Gnaedinger

Norwich

The best of America

If you ever stop a student on the street and ask them what they know about World War II, you should not be surprised at how little they can tell you. You might get just a blank stare. That war affected every single American.

I was lucky recently to spend a whole day on a guided tour of Normandy, the site of D-Day June 6, 1944, a day when the fate of the world was on the line, the allied invasion of Normandy. The visit was of special interest to me as my high school football coach, Errico Pacilio, son of Italian immigrants, was one of thousands of paratroopers who jumped behind the German lines while allied forces landed on Omaha and Utah beaches. These are special places where we are able to put our feet in the sand and try to imagine GIs coming through the raging surf in plywood landing craft under massive enemy fire. They had to cross an open beach, stop below a small embankment and then advance uphill to take out German gun emplacements. One thousand Americans died the first day.

We also visited Point au Hoc, where the Army rangers scaled the cliffs to take out the German pillboxes while ships at sea and planes bombed the area around them. At the top of these heights is an American cemetery where 9,681 American soldiers were laid to rest. Reverent, silent, emotional crowds wander the grounds. I will never forget my time there.

This brings me back to the present day where Trump (not my president) talks about American military “suckers and losers” as he defies the Constitution and is hell bent on destroying the United States. A visit to Normandy is something every American should try to do and think about those 18-24 year olds who saved the Western world from Hitler. We can possibly lose it if we don’t continue to fight against MAGA and the insane moron in the oval office.

Eric Sailer

Lyme Center

Is this fascism?

Paramount, the owner of the CBS television network, is being investigated by the FCC, apparently to press settlement of a gossamer-thin $50 million lawsuit filed by President Trump. Newspapers like the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times are muzzled because their billionaire owners don’t want their businesses undermined. Reporters who ask tough questions have access to the White House restricted in favor of those who ask softball questions. The Trump administration is calling for a former FBI director to be jailed for posting a photo on Instagram. International students are being arrested over pro-Palestinian speech. An executive order directs investigations of former administration officials who wrote unflattering accounts of the first Trump presidency. The presidency is being used to personally enrich the president and his family.

How do you define fascism? It seems to me we’re getting dangerously close.

David Allen

White River Junction

Puppets and Muppets

I always find it interesting to see who different schools choose for their graduation speakers. They certainly run a wide range from politicians to entertainers. For instance, West Point’s graduation speaker was the sitting president of the United States while the University of Maryland had one of the classic Muppets. It does seem a bit wrong that, after four years of hard work and dedication, graduates would have to sit through a silly speech by an empty-headed puppet, but, hey, at least the Maryland grads got Kermit.

Skip Chalker

Wilder