LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: VETERANS GROUPS NEED TO SPEAK UP

To the editor:

From retirement, John Blue has once again loosed his mighty pen in support of a noble cause.

My heartiest congratulations to him for his July 6 letter to the editor in which he supports most county residents' position that the veterans memorial in County Park North remain in place and that the Conservation Department's proposed nature center not be built anywhere near the memorial.

John Blue has retired from the newspaper business, but he never left his sense of right or wrong behind. He possesses leadership and exercises great moral authority. When John talks or writes, people listen. If they don't, they certainly ought to. I say hooray for John Blue.

It seems to me that the local veterans organizations ought to be taking a public stand on whether to protest the Conservation Department's proposed relocation of the veterans memorial or to go along with the relocation. If the veterans organizations go along with the relocation proposal, it would be akin to trading an ordinary silver dollar for a shiny new penny, gold for dross or, like Jack of beanstalk fame, trading a valuable milk cow for a handful of beans. It is rumored that the American Legion posts in Cape Girardeau and Jackson will soon take a stand. Let's hope both posts have read John Blue's letter.

EMORY P. HINCKLEY

Cape Girardeau, Mo.