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Editor:

 

President Kennedy said at his inaugural speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can be doing for your country." Did he know then that our country wasn’t going to be doing anything for American citizens and that our leaders are all power hungry and greedy?

The Democratic party, led by President Lyndon Johnson, took our social security from a trust fund and placed it in the general fund, allowing Congress to use it as it pleased.

President Jimmy Carter made it legal for immigrants 65-years-old to receive Social Security without putting one cent into it.

Vice President Al Gore’s tie breaking vote while president of the Senate allowed Congress to vote themselves a pay raise to $169,300 and a monthly cost of living allowance of $4,100. Plus they receive 100 percent retirement for serving just one term.

Our current president has put our country in debt and maybe a recession.

Go to a VA hospital, or a military retirement center and stop and think of what these citizens of this age group represented. What magnificent sacrifices they had made. The things they did for me and every American are priceless.

Men who served Merrill’s Marauders landing on Omaha Beach under ungodly dangerous situations; former prisoners of frozen Korea, the steamy heat of Vietnam, inhumane conditions of Japanese prisons and the foodless prisons of Germany.

I can go on and on. These old warriors have been forgotten by our government and have seen a lot of promised benefits taken away, yet Congress continues to spend tax dollars on pork barrel, useless and nonessential items. They do this for votes and monetary reward.

This must stop. It is time American citizens speak out. Enough is enough. Pork barrel spending could be used for housing and medical care for veterans.

I have now seen a Congress that has turned its back on the individuals who have sacrificed so much to protect our liberty and freedom.

I see a later generation that seems to be totally engrossed in abusing these same liberties won with so much sacrifice. I solidified my belief that we are losing an incredible generation and we should all take note. We must earn the respect of these gallant, brave warriors. President Kennedy said, "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." These veterans never asked, they saw their duty and they did it.

Our government and all the political parties have become greedy, only looking out for No. 1. They are forgetting why they are in office and how they got there.

When voting for the next representatives and president, don’t use race, gender or religion. Vote on their platform and what their plans are for our country. It’s time we took our country back out of the hands of the greedy and power hungry.

For God and country, God bless America and our troops in harms way.

 

Bill Helms

Helms is Sr. Vice Commander of American Legion Post 27 in Richmond Hill

 

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Showing gratitude for service
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Dear editor: Another election cycle is finally over and the voters of Bryan County have spoken. We will have three new county commissioners in January 2011.
My congratulations go out to Jimmy Henderson of District 5, Carter Infinger of District 4 and Wade Price of District 2. I look forward to working with them as we continue to take care of the business of the county.
All three races were contested, which gave the voters a choice of who they wanted as their commissioner. Those who did not prevail in this election are to be applauded for offering themselves as candidates.
Our county owes a debt of gratitude to retiring commissioners Rick Gardner with eight years of service, Blondean Newman with eight years of service as a commissioner and 30 years as tax commissioner, and Toby Roberts with 18 years on the county commission.
These three spent many hours establishing policies and procedures for our county government and many meetings with state and local officials to achieve the best possible outcomes regarding our county on numerous issues. Their many years of experience will be sorely missed.
I well remember the first time I ran for public office and lost. Sometimes those who are not elected are the winners because they don’t have to go to all the meetings – that is said with tongue in cheek, of course.
After my loss, someone sent me the following quotation from President Theodore Roosevelt, which I keep on the wall in my office:
“It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
And my wish for all the citizens of Bryan County is to have a truly blessed Christmas and a prosperous and happy New Year’s.

Jimmy Burnsed
Chairman
Board of commissioners

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