DATE: Tuesday, August 26, 1997              TAG: 9708260006

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 

                                            LENGTH:  142 lines

LETTERS TO EDITOR -- THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

TERRORISM

Replace McVeigh

mug with victims'

No sooner are we relieved from having to look at Joe O'Dell's grinning mug in the paper on a daily basis than it's replaced by Timothy McVeigh's arrogant stare.

While the print media help McVeigh over the coming years to spread the lies and fantasies meant to spare his life, do the public a favor. Either omit his image, or place beside it the pictures - one at a time, in alphabetical order - of his 14 dozen victims.

William D. ``Bill'' Harrell

Chesapeake, Aug. 19, 1997

LABOR

Thank unions for

their pre-strike pay

In his Aug. 19 letter, G. D. Lewis asks why a man who makes $1,000 a week would take an oath to a union that would pay him only $55 a week in strike benefits.

Who made it possible for this man to make the $1,000 in the first place? Do you think this money was not fought for, or benefit packages not bargained for, by this same union?

Before anyone slams unions, they should look back at the working conditions changed by them, the pay and benefits earned by them. Then decide this: In this day of corporate downsizing and layoffs, and the use of part-time help with little or no benefits, do I really need someone to look out for me? I am glad to be a union member.

Hank Stafford

Virginia Beach, Aug. 19, 1997

TAXES

Pilot, City Council

have skewed priorities

Your Aug. 19 editorial, ``Ostrich campaigns,'' leads one to believe that we Virginians are taxed too little.

You defend former congressman L. F. Payne's questioning of personal property tax cuts for Virginians and state that, because funds are needed for repairs to ``the crumbling physical plant in the Virginia Beach school system,'' etc., we Virginians cannot afford a tax cut.

Payne, as a member of the 103rd and 104th Congresses, voted for Clinton's deficit-reduction plan (the largest tax increase in U.S. history), against welfare reform, against term limits and against tax cuts. Like you, Mr. Payne thinks that more government is the answer to all of our problems.

Furthermore, your Aug. 12 paper indicates that Virginia Beach real estate taxes may have to be raised to repair school buildings, due to a lack of city funds. In the same issue, an announcement was made that $300,000 was available through the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission to be given to nonprofit, tax-exempt arts and humanities organizations. More recently, $750,000 was approved for CBN University to build a retirement community.

The Pilot, the City Council and the rest of the municipal politicians have their priorities mixed up. My vote will be for Jim Gilmore in November.

Jack King

Chesapeake, Aug. 19, 1997

ECKERD TAKEOVER

Don't put blame

on the pharmacists

I have dealt with the Eckerd drugstore on Military Highway for some time. It seems to me that the pharmacists who had nothing to do with upper-management decisions to sell the firm are taking too much flak for the long lines, mistakes and lost or incomplete pharmacy records. These individuals, at least in this location, are high caliber, friendly, helpful and professional. They should be credited for their expertise instead of continually blamed and talked about throughout the media's attention.

I am a local business owner and know if I made bad decisions, I would not allow my staff to bear the unrelenting turmoil that continues with the pharmacists and Eckerd Drug.

MaryBeth Draxler

Virginia Beach, Aug. 13, 1997

MILITARY

5 easy steps

to losing a war

I have just determined that the United States will lose the next war through the following scenario:

1. Female enemy agents infiltrate U.S. military.

2. Female enemy agents charge warrior-type armed forces jocks with sexual harassment.

3. Warrior jocks are kicked out of the armed forces.

4. War starts. Only military incompetents are left to run war.

5. America loses war.

Lois McLellon

Norfolk, Aug. 19, 1997

THE `60s

Time for a reunion

of the Tiger Platoon

As a member of the Class of `67, I want to thank staff writer Paul Clancy for his wonderful blast back to the past with his ``Seared by the Sixties'' article. From dancing at the Nansemond Hotel with the Rhondells to cruising the five-mile stretch, hanging out at Shoney's and everything in between, it was indeed a magical time. You had to be there to know.

Our time was magic - until we graduated. Like all males 18 and over, I knew Uncle Sam was waiting in the wings. To avoid the draft, which usually meant infantry, I enlisted for guaranteed training.

I'm sure many of you remember the No. 1 radio station in the mid-`60s was WGH. It had a promotion for local enlistees, which allowed about 200 of us each year to enlist and train together. We were known as the WGH ``Tiger Platoon.'' We set records in both physical training and shooting skills. The Tigers kicked butt.

Now would be a great time for WGH or the cities of Hampton Roads to sponsor a reunion and a welcome home for us Tigers. There must be 1,000 or so of us still here.

In a time of war protest, we did our job and asked for nothing. And when we came home we got nothing. A little recognition now that most of us are 50ish might give us a sense of satisfaction for a job well-done and a time to remember those like Bill Smith, Leon Fentress and the rest of our local heroes who didn't come home but deserve not to be forgotten. Thanks again, Paul.

H. B. ``Bev'' Baker

Tiger Platoon 1967

Virginia Beach, Aug. 12, 1997

NORFOLK

No park or gardens

- it's a Tiger Mart

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Exxon station at the corner of Llewellyn Avenue and Virginia Beach Boulevard had been razed.

What will the city of Norfolk allow for this prime spot at the cultural center of the city?

A tree-lined walk to approach the Harrison Opera House? A garden to lead to the downtown historical area? Or a lovely landscaped background to the Chrysler Museum?

No such luck!

Now I see it's a Tiger Mart.

After the city of Norfolk and the patrons of the museum and the Virginia Opera have made costly improvements here, I would have thought that this property should have as rigid a building code and zoning requirement as Ghent and the Freemason Street district.

I am aware that parks do not bring in tax revenues, but some sacrifices must be made for the sake of aesthetics, especially if the city expects to bring people downtown.

Bette Cassidy Stant

Norfolk, Aug. 19, 1997

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