By Michael Stark Santa Monica
I must take issue with the two op-eds (the Daily Press) printed on Memorial Day. In the first (“Arlington West exploits the dead” by Bill Bauer), the writer complained about the Arlington West memorial being too close to people attempting to have fun at the beach. God forbid that people be reminded that, not only are we at war, but that we are still losing more than three soldiers every day in that war. The writer obviously prefers that people ignore those facts.
The second writer (“It’s time to respect Memorial Day” by Paul Morin) decries the attempt by (John) Edwards to stop creating more people that will be memorialized in the future. I can think of no better way to honor our fallen soldiers than by trying to keep more from joining them.
It’s time for the citizens of this country to take a long, hard and honest look at what is going on in Iraq. Acting as if it isn’t happening is about the least patriotic thing that we can do.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 29, 2007. Read the original PDF.