SPEAKOUT

I'D JUST LIKE to praise the Lord that the war is over, but don't quit praying because our boys aren't home yet. Pray to God every day to bring them home safe and sound. Thank you.

I THINK A lot of this credit should go to Reagan for what he wanted: this high-tech warfare. He got a lot of the reservists to join up and he made America proud. I think a lot of credit on winning this war should be given to Reagan. Thank you.

I JUST WANTED to say a big thank-you to Roy Rhodes for all his help in putting the parade together on the 23rd of February. Thank you.

THE WAR IS over and we are indeed grateful. Our troops will be returning home. God bless and be with the families of those not returning from war. They will never be forgotten. Thank you.

THIS IS TO the building manager, David Ross, and the Show Me Center Board of Managers. If it is complaints that you need to keep beer from being sold at the events held there, then I want to challenge all ministers to stress to their members to call or write you. Please, Christians, and anyone who is against beer and any alcoholic beverage being sold at these events, let them know. We surely have more than 5,100 Christians in this area. Also, are most of the good musical groups and singers just for Sunday? We who go to church on Sunday nights would like to attend on Friday or Saturday nights. Let's keep this Show Me Center drug-free and alcohol-free now and in the future. A concerned Baptist. Thank you.

I WOULD JUST like to ask a question. How come the people who backed this Show Me Center didn't let us know in advance that it would be turned into a beer joint? I certainly wouldn't have voted for it if I had known anything like that would happen. Thank you.

IT SEEMS LIKE the mother of all battles decided to abort her child. It is just too bad that Saddam's mother didn't make the same decision.

I HAVE A few comments to make about the Middle East war. I'm sure thankful to God that Michael Dukakis didn't get elected and George Bush did. George Bush, Cheney, Powell and Schwarzkopf have done a great job on this. I thank President Reagan for his 10 years of buildup on the military services. As far as the oil wells, I would like to see them pushed over with sand and new wells drilled. I think sand would put out the fires. I'm sorry about all the deaths, but they have not died in vain. Maybe we'll have a thousand years of peace after this. The Arabs and Jews are going to have to negotiate and settle the Palestine problem. Both of them are going to have to give. Thank you very much.

THE NEXT BEST parade I've seen compared to the one in Cape Girardeau and Jackson over the weekend is the one now taking place they're showing on CNN News. They're parading freedom through Kuwait. It's wonderful. Thank you.

I'M CALLING IN regards to the person who called in about the military draft. I don't know how much you know about war, sir, but, between the men we have there and our military capability, we outnumbered the Iraqis five-to-one. How many people do we need to send over there? Give me a break.

I SAY SADDAM Hussein should be killed. I wish I had the money to go get him; I'd kill him myself.

I'M A DEMOCRAT and proud of my party, but there's one thing I've got to say: Bush is a great president when it comes to fighting a war. It takes a man like Bush, someone who has fought in a war, to know what war is all about. I'm glad that he was in there. If we'd had Dukakis in there he probably would have let them go. If we'd had Quayle we know he would have let them go because he dodged the draft. So I'm glad to say that Bush was in there. I would vote for Bush if he would come up again on one condition: he'd leave Medicare alone and quit cutting Medicare on the old-age people and disability people. He needs to cut welfare out completely and let those people go to work. That's what he needs to do. Thank you.

THANK GOD DESERT Storm has now turned to desert peace and Kuwait is free. Now our troops can come home soon. Let's give them the welcome home that they cannot believe. Those families whose sons, daughters, husbands and wives who won't be coming home, let's keep them in our prayers and help them because theirs don't come home. Thank you.

PRESIDENT BUSH WILL go down as one of the greatest presidents of the United States. He's done a great job throughout this war. Congratulations to the troops, and let's bring them home with a sounding victory. Thanks.

I WOULD LIKE to comment on the Desert Storm support rally and parade that was held in Cape on the 23rd of February. I was disappointed by the very small turnout of people who were there to show support for our troops. For a town the size of Cape I expected a lot better showing. There has been a lot better response from the small towns in the area for their parades than there was for ours here in Cape. If not for the veterans organizations and the people who have family and loved ones over in the Persian Gulf, there would not have been anyone in attendance. I think we need to be more involved in showing our support for our service personnel. After all, if it wasn't for our war veterans, whose flag would you be saluting today? Thank you.

I SEE THE golf course board has elected to do nothing again. I just don't get what they're trying to prove. The issue is what the players want and expect for their money. The city should take this cow pasture and build an apartment complex there, and do away with the playhouse we have. It seems to me the taxpayers are going to have to take control of this town. We elected the council to run our town, and, when they get their little special interest taken care of, they do nothing.

I'M DEEPLY DISTURBED at reports that thousands of Iraqis were slaughtered while trying to flee Kuwait. One person described it as a massacre. One allied commander described it as shooting fish in a barrel. Well, I'd just like to say that these weren't fish, these were human beings. Now more than ever we need to remember that. Thank you.

WHAT IS THE proper etiquette concerning an engagement ring? If the engagement is called off, should you return the ring? Isn't the ring a gift? Are you supposed to return gifts? What if there is a divorce in the marriage? Do you return the wedding ring? With all the torment you sometimes have to go through, there is no ring on Earth with a price tag high enough to pay that price. Thank you.

THANK GOD AND George Bush and our troops that the war is over in the Mideast. Now bring our boys and girls home.

THIS COUNTRY HAD better thank Ronald Reagan for arming it like he did. If it hadn't been for that, Russia would have joined Hussein and we'd had another Vietnam.

I'M SURE GLAD the war is over and I'm glad we won. I'm tired of people sitting around watching it like it was a sporting event. All I could think about was somebody's dad or brother or son dying over there.

I WOULD JUST like to say I think the 24th Mechanized Infantry fully humiliated the Iraqi elite guard. Great going, dudes.

I WOULD LIKE to thank KFVS-TV for having Blues highlights lately. There are a lot of Blues fans in this area and we appreciate it. Thank you.

I'D LIKE TO say I'm glad George Bush did what he did. Thank you.

TO THE SCOTT City Lady Rams: I am very proud of a prosperous season, and I'm very proud of everything you've done in winning the districts. Good luck in the future.

I FIND IT so pleasing and gratifying to see so many American people display their loyalty to our country and their servicemen and president by displaying the yellow ribbon and American flags. People of both political parties have laid down their particular belief and ideas and have displayed their wholehearted loyalty to our country and no way have we heard anyone upholding the enemy forces. In my lifetime I have seen two vicious and inhumane dictators rise to power and try to enslave the entire world. However, when we were in war with Hitler, many American citizens were not loyal to our country. Some even upheld the Nazi party and many severely criticized our great presidents, Frank D. Roosevelt and Harry S Truman, for doing the very same thing President Bush has done defending our democracy.

HAVE YOU THANKED a veteran lately? Should you meet a veteran or a service person, thank them.

I JUST WOULD like to say one thing about this war and the American performance. We've got one person to thank for all of this fantastic equipment. He suffered a lot, and that was Ronald Wilson Reagan, the greatest president we've ever had. He did his buildup, which a lot of people said was unnecessary, but you now see what our buildup has brought us: the lives of young men who are being saved. Thank you.

IF THAT PARADE would have been held in Jackson, the whole town would have turned out because there's nothing else to do in Jackson.

THIS IS DIRECTED to the people who are making comments about smokeless tobacco chewers at the Show Me Center. Lay off their backs. If they want to do that let them do it. It is a freedom that we Americans have. If they want to kill themselves by getting this fluid into their body let them do it. My boyfriend does it, and, first, I didn't like it, but it's his choice and I think he should be able to do it if he wants to. Yes, it's rude for someone to do this in public, but I think you should lay off their backs. It is really none of your business what they do. Thank you.

ONE OF OUR biggest problems in this country is the fact that low- and middle-income people live beyond their means because we all want to keep up with the Joneses and have all the luxuries. We over-extend ourselves instead of getting along on what we have, thanks to the elusive and false American dream. That's exactly why so many low- and middle-income people are complaining about their bread winners being in Saudi Arabia: they lived beyond their means as we all do. Thank you.

WELL, AT LAST and it took a long time for me to ever be able to say this I want to congratulate Peter Kinder on his article today. It will be well for everybody to read it. For once it seems that he opened his eyes and said something worth reading. Thank you, Peter, you're going to end up making a better writer than I ever expected. Your article was very interesting and to the point today about Gorbachev. Keep up the good work. Thank you.

I WOULD LIKE TO compliment our news people for their gallant effort to let Gorbachev save face and remain in good standing in Iraq. You sure tried your best. Thanks.

THIS ITEM IS directed to those voters who have used this column to express their opposition to the proposed senior-citizens service tax issue on the April 2 ballot. Please call me, and I will personally invite you to have a meal at the nutrition center, if you will agree to go with me on my route to deliver meals to shut-ins. When you actually see how the home-delivered meals benefit these people, whose health has failed them, and hear their remarks of appreciation, I think you will have a different picture of the tax-levy issue. Call me at home, 334-3950, or at the nutrition center, 335-1352. John Seay, volunteer.

REGARDING THE PARADE in Cape Girardeau on Saturday in support of troops in the Persian Gulf, and the light turn out of that parade: Perhaps it was, as it was when the bikers came through Jackson, that the turnout was very light as far as bystanders, but the parade was, with the bikers leading and everyone following in their vehicles behind the bikers, really great. Therefore, we had a great turnout. Maybe Cape was too.

AS A MEMBER of Southeast Missouri Hog Harley owners group, I'd like to thank the Southeast Missourian for their coverage of our support-the-troops rally motorcycle parade. We really were pleased with the article that they put in the paper and were really surprised and happy about the picture in the paper. Thanks ever so much.

WE HAD A wonderful parade with hundreds of bikers come through from Cape County Park through Jackson on Sunday, and it was truly a sight to behold. I want to thank them for the support they're giving our troops in the Mideast. Thank you, guys and girls, and God bless you all.