Doc Farmer has two stories in his article this week. The Sailor will be posting more on the Brooklyn fiasco later today. - Sailor
Two War Stories
Written by Doc Farmer
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
In the last week, I came across two stories involving the War on Terror. One angered me beyond words; the other uplifted my belief in the honor and humanity of our troops. You probably won't hear about either one in the mainstream media, but I figured they were worth sharing.
The first story came out on Monday, via the New York Post. Apparently, one of our troops based in South Korea, only ten miles from the North
Korean border, received a package from school children. Pfc. Rob Jacobs, whose home is in New Jersey, had received a bunch of letters from the William Alexander School (JHS 51) in Brooklyn, New York. As any soldier will tell you, letters from home, even those from strangers, are a blessing to receive. They break up the boredom of the lonely off-duty hours. They make you feel just a little less isolated when you're thousands of miles from home.
Or at least, they should have that effect. Sadly, however, this was not the case for some of the letters in this particular batch. The teacher of this particular social studies class, one Alex Kunhardt, apparently instructed his class to write the letters, but didn't seem to give much direction as to how those letters should be tailored. Out of 21 letters, nine of the students decided to go into an anti-war, anti-Iraq, anti-Bush diatribe. I am guessing that they may have been coached. They berated this lone soldier for his involvement
in the destruction of mosques, the murder of civilians and the usual lib/dem/soc/commie diatribe we've come to expect from the MSM and the NEA.
Perhaps someone should have informed Mr. Kunhardt that American soldiers are not destroying mosques, nor are they murdering civilians. Further, he should buy a map. The war his students were decrying is going on in Iraq. Pfc. Jacobs is based in South Korea. Despite the same last name, there is a significant geographic difference between the Middle East and the Far East. Lastly, for middle school students, their spelling and grammar is atrocious. It's even worse than mine!
Now, think about this for a minute. You're a Private in the United States Army. You're farther away from home than you've ever dreamed you'd be in your entire life. You're less than a 20-minute drive from a country run by an incompetent whack-job despot with nukes, missiles, and not a whole hell of a lot to lose. If Kim Jong (mentally) Il decides to make a
first strike, chances are you'll either be overrun by about a hundred thousand starving, well armed, and seriously honked off North Korean soldiers, or you'll end up as a shadow on the concrete wall behind you. Throw homespun hate mail into the mix, and chances are this is not going to do much for your morale.
Pfc. Jacobs, indeed all of our US military, deserve a major apology from this sorry excuse for an educator and those seriously deluded students who decided to attack a man whose job is to keep them safe. Jacobs deserves better, as does the rest of our military.
However, as angry as this situation makes me (and, I hope, you as well) another story gave me hope. It was in the form of a letter, but not from students to a soldier. It was, instead, a soldier's letter about students. Iraqi students.
A fair number of the posters on the ChronWatch Forum are fans of a certain talk radio personality. No, this time it's not El Rushbo. In Atlanta, there's a talk show host by the name of Neal Boortz. I've never heard his show, but from what many of our posters say, Mr. Boortz is the bee's knees. I've read his website (http://boortz.com) and it's very informative, funny, witty and infuriating in its accuracy of displaying the worst of lib/dem/soc/commie ''culture'' (and I use that term culture such a growth or colony of bacteria). I sincerely wish that his show were broadcast where I live. Well, maybe someday.
Anyway, Mr. Boortz does a daily update on his website called ''Nealz Newz'' - ah, another bad speller like myself - and he had a letter that he included from a soldier in Iraq:
- Dear Mr. Boortz,
My name is Sgt. Lamar Price I am currently with the 278th. Regemental Combat Team at Camp Caldwell Iraq. I am writting to ask you for help with a project I am trying to start here. A few weeks ago the 278th. opened a school in the area near here. I became aware that a lot of the children did not have shoes and were going to school barefoot in 50 degree weather. I am asking people to mail one pair of children's shoes to my address in Iraq. They can be any size boys or girls. They do not have to be new just servicable. I will then collect them and give to our patrols and convoys to pass out. My address is Sgt. Lamar Price RHHT278RCT PLT7 Camp Caldwell Iraq APO AEO 09374 As you know the United States does more good for the people of Iraq than ever gets reported in the media. Mr. Boortz, any advice or help you can give to get the word out will be deeply appreciated.
Thank you
Sgt. Lamar Price
Here's a soldier smack-dab in the middle of a war zone. He's just one of over 140,000 men and women dedicated to protecting America and ensuring the freedom of 25 million people. Is he asking for sympathy? Is he asking for support? Is he asking for armor for
his Humm-V? Is he asking for Fig Newtons? No. He's asking for shoes. Shoes for Iraqi school children. Boys or girls, new or used, fancy or plain, doesn't matter. He puts his life on the line every single day, like every one of his compatriots over there, and his thoughts aren't for himself. They're for the kids he helped free, to make sure they don't burn their feet when they go to the schools that US soldiers have either rebuilt, or started from scratch.
I'm planning to write to both Mr. Kunhardt and Sgt. Price this week. For Mr. Kunhardt, I'll be filing a complaint to his principal and his district supervisor, asking how they could allow an educator to use a social studies project to spit vitriol at a brave American soldier. For Sgt. Price, I'll be heading over to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple of pairs of kids shoes, and a great big Thank You card.
Two men who represent the worst America has to offer, and the best.
~~~~~oo0oo~~~~~
If you'd like to
complain to the school and the district about Mr. Kunhardt's heartless class project, here are the addresses -
- Mr. Alex Kunhardt &
Mr. Xavier Castelli, Principal
William Alexander School
Junior High School 51 (Park Slope)
350 Fifth Avenue
BROOKLYN, NY 11215-2813
Phone: (718) 369-7603
Fax: (718) 499-4948
Joel I. Klein, Chancellor
NYC Department of Education
52 Chambers Street, Room # 320B4
New York NY 10007
Phone: (212) 374-0200
e-Mail: JKlein@nycboe.net
http://www.nycenet.edu/webforms/chancellormessage.aspx
You can also send a complain to the independent InsideSchools organization at:
http://www.insideschools.org/so/complaints_form.php?id=434&name=M.S.%2051%20William%20Alexander%20School
~~~~~oo0oo~~~~~
That address again for sending children's school shoes (boys or girls, new or nearly new):
- Sgt. Lamar Price
RHHT278RCT
PLT7
Camp Caldwell
Iraq
APO AEO 09374
About the Writer: Doc Farmer is a writer and humorist who is also a moderator on ChronWatch's Forum. He formerly lived in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but now resides in the Midwest. Doc receives e-mail at docfarmer9999@yahoo.co.uk.
This Article Was First Published In ChronWatch At: http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=13231
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