Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 26, 1994 TAG: 9411180010
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Unfortunately, fact often gets in the way of fiction.
The black community knows the facts about the Civil War, and what the Confederate flag represents. We know the Confederacy was a Third World nation of ragtag revolutionaries who were committing the ultimate act of treason in trying to overthrow the authority of the U.S. government. We know the Confederacy was a nation founded on principles of white supremacy and racial separation. We know the Southern cause wasn't one of nobility, but a cause for the preservation of the Southern way of life - namely, slavery and racial superiority. The symbol of all of this is the Confederate flag, the most racist symbol in this hemisphere.
The black community knows what the flag stood for in 1860 and today, best illustrated when every redneck from here to Timbuktu waves it whenever he or she wishes to show racial animosity.
There is nothing wrong with being proud of being a Southerner, and having pride in your heritage. But why insist on using a racist symbol to show this pride? Do proud Germans fly the flag of Nazi Germany to celebrate their heritage? If this symbol of racism must be flown, place a picture of a black slave family in chains on one side of it, and a picture of a black church that has just been firebombed by the Ku Klux Klan on the other side. At least then, the Confederate flag will be historically correct. Enjoy your fantasy.
JEFF ARTIS ROANOKE
North's principles are wrong-headed
``ONE OF [Oliver] North's greatest virtues is that he is committed to principle,'' says John J. Engel (Oct. 3 letter to the editor, ``North has liberals gnashing their teeth''). I agree. However, the principle is a narrow-minded megalomaniacal concept that what North thinks is right or should be done, can be done, regardless of the fact that it's against the law.
Forget Iran-Contra. What about simple trespass? North requested permission to campaign on the Oceana Naval Air Station property. He was told no. He did it anyway. If this was your 8-year-old child, how would you react? I would punish my child, not necessarily for the act itself, but for the principle of simply and flagrantly breaking the rules.
One must learn to respect our society and laws, to challenge what is wrong, but to do so within bounds.
JENNIFER MULLIGAN ROANOKE
Correction
AN EDITING error gave a sentence in James R. Ruhland's Oct. 22 letter (``Botetourt's growth requires new schools, other facilities'') the wrong meaning. It should have read: ``The Botetourt school system cannot move forward without the middle-school projects.''
North and Robb are true to their causes
THE NORTH/ROBB Senate race brings into sharp focus an ageless ethical dilemma. Which is preferable: to sin on behalf of a good cause, or behave in support of a bad one?
When the Revolutionaries tossed the tea into Boston Harbor, this was a serious criminal act. On the other hand, what about those who gave tacit support to the events in Germany during the late '30s, which eventually led to the Holocaust? Were they not ``good'' citizens of the Reich? When are active and passive extremes justified? It was Barry Goldwater who reminded us that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.
Both North and Robb, each in his own style, have a deep commitment to cause and, perhaps, therein is where we should look to better understand their ethics. Oliver North's cause celebre was the Nicaraguan freedom fighters, and their pursuit of democratic reforms. He, like many conservatives, seems obsessed with this notion of liberty. On the other hand, Sen. Charles Robb has been a good soldier for the Clinton administration, which only wants to help us.
The reason this campaign bothers some folks is the clear and distinct opposition of ideologies it offers. No place for the philosophically lazy to hide this year. The supposed experts would like to convince us that we have two marginal choices. And, oh my, what is the rest of the nation to think if we send either to Washington? Please, don't patronize us.
Virginians shouldn't be troubled over the behavior of North or Robb. Predictably, both have acted consistent with their beliefs. Not since Patrick Henry stated his famous options have we had it so easy. In November, Virginians will, as they have for the past 300 years, do what is needed to keep state and country on the right track.
BYRON R. DICKSON ROANOKE
Gratefully alive due to the bomb
REGARDING Allyn Moss' Sept. 16 letter to the editor ``U.S. owes Japan an expression of regret'':
Where was this person during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese? I was on Corregidor, and on May 6, 1942, I surrendered to the Japanese and spent 31/2 years in ``hell'' as a prisoner of war under them.
If this person had been on the death march, or on Hell Ships taking POWs to Japan, this letter wouldn't have been written. I was one of 300 POWs working as a slave laborer, building an air strip with pick, shovel and wheelbarrow on Palawan. Including me, 150 POWs were taken from Palawan and put on a Hell Ship for Japan. The Hell Ship I was on was so horrible that POWs named it ``Benjo Maru'' or the ``Horror Maru.''
On Dec. 14, 1944, the 150 POWs left on Palawan were ordered to get into air-raid shelters. Gasoline was poured into the shelters, then torched. Men screaming and trying to get out of the inferno were machine gunned or bayoneted. The Japanese laughed and had a big party. However, 11 POWs escaped and told what happened.
When the atomic bomb was dropped, I was a slave laborer in Japan. The Japanese had orders to kill all POWs if their mainland was invaded. I'm alive today because the atomic bomb was dropped. I'll forever be grateful to President Truman for deciding to drop the bomb. Had Japan had it, they would have used it. This bomb was merciful compared to the atrocities imposed on American POWs by the Japanese. The United States doesn't owe Japan any apologies or expression of regret.
The United States rebuilt Japan. What did Japan do for Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, or other Pacific islands? When I left Corregidor, it had been so destroyed that there wasn't a tree standing.
It's easy to forgive, but you can never forget what happened. Nightmares will follow me to my grave.
COY E. DAUGHERTY SALEM
Yes, Clinton is North's commander
YOUR Oct. 15 editorial (``On a constitutional point, North is right'') is wrong! Oliver North is no ordinary U.S. citizen. He's a retired military officer; as such he still receives retirement pay and is subject to recall to active duty. Unless he has recently resigned, the oath he took when he accepted his commission is still valid, and the constitutionally elected president of the United States is North's commander in chief.
DENNIS V. GENTRY JR. BLACKSBURG
Citizens must follow presidential orders
I FEEL fully justified in calling you ``bonehead.''
Your Oct. 15 editorial (``On a constitutional point, North is right'') is pure bonehead. Military retirees - and North is one - never completely sever their responsibility to the military or to the commander in chief, who is President Clinton. Technically, they continue to be subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and can be recalled to active duty until they're 60 years old.
The statement that no citizen, unless in the military, has to take orders from a president is pure bonehead. There are hundreds of executive orders (presidential orders), and citizens who fail to follow them can suffer jail time. You need to rewrite the whole editorial, and not let your lies stand.
FRANKLIN M. RIDENOUR ROANOKE
Editor's note: According to the U.S. Constitution, "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States." Military retirees, reservists when not on duty, and other Americans are not mentioned.
This suggests that President Clinton would be North's commander in chief if and when North is recalled to active duty, but not otherwise.
by CNB