Hearing that our government is taking away imminent danger pay from our military heroes, I would like to share with those of you who have not experienced the hardships of a military family. Seven dollars and a few cents a day may well seem like pocket change for most of us. However, for a family of a low-ranking member of our armed forces already struggling to make ends meet, this can be catastrophic.
In no way do I compare my service with those who have spent tour after tour away from their families fighting the wars following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Although my service experiences were somewhat uncommon, they were not unique.
I joined the Navy on Sept. 19, 1957 — my 17th birthday. I never looked back over the next 20 years. Of these 20 years, almost 10 were away from my family. My early years consisted of working “port and starboard” duty at military hospitals — 12 hours on and 12 hours off seven days a week. That does not leave much time for family. After gaining a bit of rank, I was assigned to the Fleet Marine Force. Duties there were different and more rewarding. However, it did little to enhance “family time.” When not in the field for weeks at a time, we were on six-month Mediterranean cruises. After a year in Vietnam, I entered the submarine service only to be submerged three months out of every six over the following four years.
Although every man and woman’s military experiences are unique to them, the sacrifice they and their families make on a daily basis is not unique. Seven hundred dollars a day, much less seven and change, is not enough compensation for missing your child go from crawling to walking, grow from 24 inches to 36 inches, go from pee-wee sports to a higher level, from one birthday party to the next, from one holiday to another.
Not only are our soldiers, marines, sailors, guardsmen, airmen, coast guardsmen all heroes, so are the families who support them stateside.
— Chuck Hughes
Salisbury

Last Friday (6-20-14) Carolyn Osian wrote a letter the post labeled “God created man and woman for procreation.” In this letter, she expressed her belief that a certain lifestyle was against the laws of God by quoting from a book in the Old Testament of the Bible. And she is right, there is a Jewish story about God destroying a city called Sodom in that book. But was that the only time that that has happened in Human history? No, the Egyptians practiced what we call today “homosexuality,” and they were not punished for it. Nor were the Greeks, Romans or the Europeans during the middle ages. In fact it was not until after the great reformation that created the protestant movement that the word homosexuality even existed.
If I remember my Bible teachings, Jesus Christ came to save us from the false teachings of the Pharisees who wrote those stories to keep the children of Israel under their control. In Luke chapter 10, Jesus said himself that there are only two commandments to follow: Love God with your whole body, mind and soul, and your neighbor as yourself. Carolyn, if you are really a Christian, then you must really hate yourself very much to hate your neighbors that bad. So I ask God to forgive you and one day let you find his love for all man, as his son did when he died on the cross for ALL our sins.
— Julian Torrey
Salisbury