Letters to the Editor

HONOR THOSE LOST AT PEARL HARBOR

My husband and I were stunned and angry when we opened our Friday morning newspaper and found no mention of the anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day. We are fully aware that a great American President, George H.W. Bush, passed away and deserves the praise he has received but surely a small portion of your front page could have been reserved to honor the men and women who lost their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In our opinion this omission is extremely disheartening to all veterans who have honorably served in the armed forces and to those who are currently serving.

Tom and Sharon Tipton, Tyler

US MOTIVATION SAVED THE WORLD

Since it appears that so many of the current “Millennial Generation” have little knowledge of World War II, its significant dates or its primary participants and outcome, here is the “nutshell” history version for them. In the late 1930s, Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan began military actions and takeovers of some of their neighbor countries. On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan suddenly attacked the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, bringing this country actively into the war. In 1942, the U.S. Navy essentially destroyed the Japanese Navy aircraft carrier fleet in the Pacific and the U.S. Army went across the Atlantic and invaded Nazi Germany controlled North Africa. On “D-Day,” June 6, 1944, U.S.-led invasion forces under U.S. Gen. Eisenhower came ashore in northern France from England. The U.S. and many allies attacked the Nazis from the west and the Russians attacked them from the east. “VE Day” stands for Victory in Europe, which occurred in spring 1945. U.S. President Roosevelt died shortly afterward and Vice President Truman took over leadership. A few months later in 1945, “V-J Day,” which stands for Victory over Japan, took place. WWII was finally over! The USA and all its citizens were involved in either the military fronts or the civilian home front. The extraordinary motivation and efforts of the USA saved the world from ruinous and cruel military dictatorships worldwide!

John S. “Jack” Gibson, Hideaway

STABLE TRIKES

I found the article on recumbent trikes in the Nov. 28 paper interesting, ironic and factually incorrect in some cases. As someone who has ridden recumbents for over 10 years due to back issues, I feel like I have a good idea of what I am talking about. The factually incorrect part was talking about the trikes not being stable at higher speeds. A properly setup recumbent trike is actually very stable at high speed. I’ve been on a tandem — yes, they make two-person trikes — at over 30 mph with no issues. The irony comes in, for me, in the fact that Tyler is the most bike unfriendly place I have ever lived. What bike lanes there are in town right now are frankly a joke. The markings start and stop with no apparent rhyme or reason. There is only one way that I would ride a bike of any kind on most city streets. That would be if I had an incurable disease that would cause a slow painful death. Riding on the city streets would keep that from happening. Otherwise, there are only two safe places to ride in town. One is the Rose Rudman Trail. That keeps the rider away from cars, but then subjects them to walkers and runners with their headphones in, but that is for another letter. There is supposedly a new trail out on the south end of town near Old Jacksonville that goes down to Bullard. I haven’t had the opportunity to check that one out yet. Finally, any bike needs a bike shop to work on them. There really isn’t one, anymore, here in Tyler, that seems to want to work on any recumbent bike or trike. That means a trip to Lancaster, but it is worth it to be able to keep riding.

Brent Hendrix, Tyler