THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 29, 1996 TAG: 9603270103
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
March 29 is Vietnam Veterans Day, and we members of Chapter 22 of Disabled American Veterans would like to encourage all Vietnam veterans to join your comrades in commemorating this day.
This is the month for veterans to reaffirm our commitment as DAV members and Vietnam veterans to aid and assist worthy wartime disabled veterans, their widows, orphans and dependents. Your involvement is needed.
Most Vietnam veterans are in their 40s and 50s now. Their careers are established. Some are retired. Their children are grown or nearly so. Most of them are at a point in their lives where they have more time and opportunity to devote to assisting our fellow veterans.
Vietnam-era veterans make up 30 percent of the DAV's membership. The contributions they make to the DAV are tremendous. We at Chapter 22, located at 4648 Portsmouth Blvd., Portsmouth, are always willing to assist in any way we can. We have service officers standing by three days a week waiting to help. The time when World War II and Korean War veterans were the cornerstone of DAV chapters is passing.
Remember, these veterans who championed the DAV's cause are our fathers and grandfathers now. Many of us are no longer able to remain as active as we would like to be due to age and physical limitations. Now we are holding out the torch of service to you Vietnam veterans to accept it and carry its flame brighter than ever before and into the future.
Our doors are always open to a comrade. So come by to visit with us anytime. If our service officers can help you in any way, call us at 465-8658.
Have a good Vietnam Veterans Day on March 29. May God bless all veterans.
James F. Cerna
Commander
Chapter 22 DAV
Portsmouth Elections on TV
I, council watcher Carl Burns, ask with only 45 days to Election Day on May 7, where, oh, where are the candidates for City Council and the School Board? Where are the forums, the electronic media, the newspaper reports? What is our very own public access WCTV-23 doing?
Please get some answers for the voters. It is unfair, undemocratic, one-sided for ex-mayor and former Chamber of Commerce president Sidney Oman to ask all of the questions to all of the candidates as he has done in the past on our TV station.
Channel 23 is public property. Why can't TV questions be phoned in with citizen group leaders like council watcher Carl Burns?
Why can't we have open forums, town hall meetings in City Council chambers with direct broadcast and citizen-voters asking the questions, giving their ideas and opinions and candidates allowed to debate?
Do you know City Council refuses to allow local public access channel 23 to hook up to the Chesapeake General Hospital, a supposedly public hospital? The hospital gets thousands of hours of free advertising each year, but patients and friends cannot watch their government in action at School Board, Planning Commission and City Council meetings.
Chesapeake is the home town of Ralph Reed of the religious right and Pat Robertson of CBN and many of their henchmen. The whole world will be watching Chesapeake in the local and national elections. Wouldn't it be nice if Ralph and Pat could help restore a full and democratic government to Chesapeake?
Carl Burns
Whitehurst Road by CNB